Waterman collectors -- even those who like pencils, like myself -- tend to refer to Waterman pencil models in reference to the fountain pens they were meant to accompany. For example, there was never any such thing as a "Waterman 94 pencil"; while the occasional advertisement would offer an illustration of the Waterman 94 pen only and casually mention in the text that there were "pencils to match," Waterman's mechanical pencils during the 1930s did not share the same model numbers as their bedmates. The pencils that were boxed up alongside Waterman 94 pens were, in fact, the Model 95.
Mostly.
This is the crowdsourcing part of writing a book about Waterman's pencils. What follows is a draft of the images and captions I plan to use in the book regarding the Model 95, and I welcome any comments, additions or corrections.
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| 94-1 The February 1931 issue of The Pen Prophet, Waterman’s internal newsletter, featured this full page announcement for a new model using a recycled name: the Model 94 pen and its companion pencil, the Model 95. Three colors were offered, with the unimaginative titles of brown, grey, and blue. |
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| 94-2 National advertising for the new Model 94 and 95 began on April 7, 1931. This one was published in the Brooklyn Eagle. |
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| 94-3 Gabriel Larsen applied for design patents to protect the new line’s appearance on May 4, 1931. Patents for the pen and pencil were issued on August 25, 1931, as Design Patents 84,943 and 84,944, respectively. |
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| 94-4 Advertisements for the 1934 shopping season indicate that “Moss Agate,” the green and bronze celluloid introduced on the Patrician line in 1932, was available on the Model 94/95 series. This excerpt, from an advertisement published in the New York Daily News on December 23, 1934, suggests that brown and blue had been dropped, and the Model 94/95 series was available only in Moss Agate, Pearl Gray, or Jet. |
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| 94-5 This excerpt, from the Christmas, 1935 edition of The Pen Prophet, appears to confirm that brown and blue had been discontinued in the 94/95 series, leaving only Moss Agate, Grey, and Black. |
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| 94-6 Model 95 pencils. At top are the original colors of brown, blue, and gray, introduced in 1931. At bottom is “Moss Agate,” a color introduced on the Model 95 in 1934; note also the different proportions of the Moss Agate example. |
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| 94-7 No Model 95 pencil in black or “jet” is shown in the company’s 1931 catalog. In 1933, Waterman dedicated this full page to the Model 94/95 series in black, but the pen wasn’t designated Model 94. Instead, it was given the flashy name “the Number Five” since it retailed for five dollars – never mind the fact that the Model 94 pens that preceded it also retailed at the same price. The matching pencils, however, were designated Model 95, just like their more colorful siblings. |
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| 94-8 Waterman’s 1936 catalog confuses matters further. While reiterating that the only three colors remaining were Moss Agate, Grey, and Jet, the designations were changed: in Moss Agate, pencils were Model 95-M; in Grey, Model 95-G. In Jet, there were now two options: borrowing on Waterman’s earlier model numbering conventions, those with gold-filled trim were designated Model 0795-J. A new addition to the lineup, with chromium trim, was added: the pens were Model 5-J, and the pencils were Model 95-J. |
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| 94-9 The Model 95 Jet, as cataloged in 1933. In 1936, the Model 5 pens were redesignated the No. 94-J, and the matching pencils were renamed No. 0795-J. The prefix “07" had been used earlier on Waterman’s hard rubber pencils to denote gold-filled trim. |
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| 94-10 “Reverse trim” is a term used by collectors to refer to those instances when the color of a pen or pencil’s trim is the opposite of what is expected. Gray pearl usually has chromium or silver-colored trim; however, as shown here, some were fitted with gold-filled trim. This was not a cataloged option; however, the 1936 catalog designation for black pencils as “0795-J” suggests that if this variant ever had an official designation, it would have been Model 0795-G. |
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| 94-11 Although the Model 94/95 series was marketed as a budget-friendly alternative to Waterman’s higher-priced models, the company’s 1933 catalog includes a page of “Solid Gold Mounted” pens and pencils, including a Model 94 pen with a wide, 14k band. The matching pencil is described only as “pencil,” but there’s no reason to believe it wasn’t also known as a “Model 95 Jet, Solid 14-kt. Mountings.” |
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| 94-12 An undated dealer’s price sheet preserved in the Pen Collectors of America’s Reference Library shows the 14k-banded models in the series, but here they were designated “Model 94J, 14-kt. Mountings.” The J suffix suggests that this sheet was printed closer to 1936. The matching pencil is not illustrated, but is designated Model 95J. |
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| 94-13 This example is neither illustrated nor described in any known catalogs, but would also likely have been described as a Model 95J. It shares the same wide band as the sold gold-trimmed line of 1933-1936, but the fittings on this pencil are sterling silver. |
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| 94-14 Detail of sterling-marked center band on the pencil in the preceding image. |
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| 94-15 Collectors typically disfavor personalization, but in this case the 25th Anniversary of the “B.M.B.P.A.” yields valuable historical information concerning this undocumented Model 95 variant. Assuming this pencil was promptly sold and marked for its new owner, the sterling-trimmed Model 95 was available in 1936. |
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| 94-16 The Christmas 1936 edition of The Pen Prophet was the last official mention of the Model 94/95 series. Note that in black, there was still a Model 5 Jet set retailing at $8.00, and a Model 94 Jet set for $9.00. Presumably, the Model 5 set was the Model 5-J pen and 95-J pencil with chromium trim described in the 1936 catalog published earlier that year, while the “Model 94 Jet set” was formerly described as the Model 94-J pen with gold-filled trim accompanied by the Model 0795-J. |
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| 94-17 In a throwback to Waterman’s earlier hard rubber days, the company offered metal overlays over hard rubber barrels fashioned after the Model 94 and 95 in 1936. The Christmas 1936 edition of The Pen Prophet included an announcement of the new sterling overlay “Bay Leaf” pens and pencils. Model numbers were adapted from Waterman’s earlier model numbering conventions, adding a leading 4 to create the Model Number 494 fountain pen and 495 pencil. |
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| 94-18 An undated dealer’s sheet in the Pen Collectors of America’s reference library includes two overlay models based on the Model 94/95; excerpted here are the Model 494P F.C. (for “Plain Full Covered”) and Model 494 B. L., for the “Bay Leaf” pattern from the previous figure. Pencils (not illustrated) were Models 495P F.C. and 495 B.L., respectively. Note that the section on the Model 494P F.C. fountain pen is overlaid with sterling, while the Bay Leaf pen has a typical hard rubber section. It would be interesting, when a Model 495P F.C. pencil is found, to see whether the usual hard rubber nose cone is similarly overlaid. |
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| 94-19 The Waterman Model 495 pencil in “Bay Leaf,” 1936. |
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| 94-20 These three interesting variations of the Model 95 were likely cobbled together using leftover parts after 1936. The top two have been fitted with the same clip found on the Ink-Vue pens and pencils introduced in 1935 (see Image), and these same clips were also used on Waterman’s low-budget “Skywriter” pens and pencils as late as 1941 (see Image). The bottom example is an odd mix of features: it is included here because it has a typical Model 95 band and the grey pearl plastic does have a few red spots, as seen on the cap. The mechanism, however, is the cheaper one-piece nose drive. Were it not for the trim band, this would be included with the “Skywriter” pencils on page ___. |
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| 94-21 Detail of clips on Model 95 pencils. At top is the typical Model 95 clip, while the center example shows the Ink-Vue clip found on some closeout Model 95s. At bottom is the clip from the bottom example in the preceding Figure. |
Your input is appreciated! If I'm missing something or something here isn't right, please light a candle rather than curse my darkness by dropping me a line at jveley@jonathanveley.com.
