Last night (3/31/13) about 10:00 PM EDST a 27 piece lot of fountain pens - mostly Sheaffers, but the lot included an unusual black Welty flat top fountain pen - was sold on ebay. If you purchased this lot and see this post, would you please PM me after you get the pens from the seller? I believe this Welty pen is a cousin of the Autopoint fountain pens which I collect. It very well may indicate once and for all who produced the Autopoint fountain pens we so far know very little about. This is by no means an April Fool's thaaaannnngggg!
- - - Thanks in advance, Jim
Welty Flat Top in 27 piece ebay lot
Started by Autopoint, Apr 01 2013 09:42 AM
4 replies to this topic
#2
david i
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Posted 01 April 2013 - 02:03 PM
Last night (3/31/13) about 10:00 PM EDST a 27 piece lot of fountain pens - mostly Sheaffers, but the lot included an unusual black Welty flat top fountain pen - was sold on ebay. If you purchased this lot and see this post, would you please PM me after you get the pens from the seller? I believe this Welty pen is a cousin of the Autopoint fountain pens which I collect. It very well may indicate once and for all who produced the Autopoint fountain pens we so far know very little about. This is by no means an April Fool's thaaaannnngggg!
- - - Thanks in advance, Jim
Hi Jim,
I didn't grab that lot. Might have a Welty buried in pen pile somewhere, but truly no idea where. If it turns up, I know I could part with it.
What is the connection (or suspected connection) between Welty and Autopoint?
regards
david
David R. Isaacson MD. Website: VACUMANIA.com for quality old pens with full warranty.
Email: isaacson@frontiernet.net
Email: isaacson@frontiernet.net
#4
philm
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Posted 01 April 2013 - 07:04 PM
Are you thinking that Welty produced pens for Autopoint? Would this have been when he was in Iowa, or after he moved to Chicago? I seem to remember reading somewhere that he did outside production when still in Waterloo, before teaming with Moore, then selling out to Moore, and moving to Chicago. After his move, and subsequent settling in Chicago, I have only one pen and here is a photo, if it helps you ~
This is one of his from the Iowa days, when partnering with Moore,and still producing in IA and not MA.
I hope this helps, if you don't get a hold of the ebay buyer.
Let us know the results of your research....
Phil
This is one of his from the Iowa days, when partnering with Moore,and still producing in IA and not MA.
I hope this helps, if you don't get a hold of the ebay buyer.
Let us know the results of your research....
Phil
#5
Autopoint
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Posted 01 April 2013 - 09:00 PM
Gentlemen, thanks for the comments. Here's a picture of the Welty fountain pen in the "27 piece lot" that sold 3/31/13 about 10:00 pm EDST on ebay:
I don't know if the similarities are obvious to other collectors. But, note that the cap top of this Welty pen is "domed". That's a distinct, identifiable property of Autopoint's late 1920's or very early 1930's fountain pens. In addition, note that the bottom of the barrel has a blind cap. According to the seller, under the blind cap is a deep slot with a lever that moves side to side. That also is a distinct, identifiable property of Autopoint's late 1920's or very early 1930's fountain pens. Obviously the end of the section at the nib, the cap band, and the tapered end of the cap below the cap band, as well as the pocket clip, vary from Autopoint's pens. But to my knowledge no other fountain pen from about 1930 shares the "domed" cap top and the "lever under a blind cap" filling mechanism exhibited on this Welty pen. So I'd certainly suspect that William A. Welty, during the period he operated his pen business in Chicago, had something to do with assembling or manufacturing the Autopoint fountain pens of that period. This suspicion is strengthened by the fact that many Autopoint fountain pens have had their Autopoint barrel logo overprinted with "Welty Pen Co. Chicago - Guaranty for Life", which probably means that Welty somehow took over Autopoint's stock of unsold pens and parts, and sold them to the public when Autopoint got out of the pen business. (I did review Fultz's Pen World article on the Welty Pen Co., but there were no pens of this particular design featured in that article. And I communicated with Fultz over a period of time about this possible Autopoint/Welty connection, but Fultz believed that by 1930 William A. Welty had moved on to the radio and vacuum tube business, and therefore likely didn't have anything to do with the Autopoint fountain pens. I do wonder what he'd have said today, had he seen this particular Welty pen.)
I'm attempting to contact the buyer of that ebay lot, to make sure he actually wanted the Welty pen, and/or to request a nicer picture of the overall pen and the filling mechanism.
If you have any pertinent information, please don't hesitate to add to this thread or to contact me directly.
- - - Thanks in advance, Jim
I don't know if the similarities are obvious to other collectors. But, note that the cap top of this Welty pen is "domed". That's a distinct, identifiable property of Autopoint's late 1920's or very early 1930's fountain pens. In addition, note that the bottom of the barrel has a blind cap. According to the seller, under the blind cap is a deep slot with a lever that moves side to side. That also is a distinct, identifiable property of Autopoint's late 1920's or very early 1930's fountain pens. Obviously the end of the section at the nib, the cap band, and the tapered end of the cap below the cap band, as well as the pocket clip, vary from Autopoint's pens. But to my knowledge no other fountain pen from about 1930 shares the "domed" cap top and the "lever under a blind cap" filling mechanism exhibited on this Welty pen. So I'd certainly suspect that William A. Welty, during the period he operated his pen business in Chicago, had something to do with assembling or manufacturing the Autopoint fountain pens of that period. This suspicion is strengthened by the fact that many Autopoint fountain pens have had their Autopoint barrel logo overprinted with "Welty Pen Co. Chicago - Guaranty for Life", which probably means that Welty somehow took over Autopoint's stock of unsold pens and parts, and sold them to the public when Autopoint got out of the pen business. (I did review Fultz's Pen World article on the Welty Pen Co., but there were no pens of this particular design featured in that article. And I communicated with Fultz over a period of time about this possible Autopoint/Welty connection, but Fultz believed that by 1930 William A. Welty had moved on to the radio and vacuum tube business, and therefore likely didn't have anything to do with the Autopoint fountain pens. I do wonder what he'd have said today, had he seen this particular Welty pen.)
I'm attempting to contact the buyer of that ebay lot, to make sure he actually wanted the Welty pen, and/or to request a nicer picture of the overall pen and the filling mechanism.
If you have any pertinent information, please don't hesitate to add to this thread or to contact me directly.
- - - Thanks in advance, Jim
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