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The quality is just so-so, with a cap that isn’t even quite the same color as the barrel. But “Liberty” is such a great name for a pencil:
When I went to track this one down, I found some conflicting sources. There was both a “Liberty Fountain & Gold Pen Company” and a “Liberty Fountain Pen Company” in New York. In 1917, The American Stationer published a directory in which the former was listed under gold pen points (nibs) at 380 Canal Street, New York, while the latter was listed under fountain pens at 69 Cortlandt Street:
American Writing Instrument Trademarks 1870-1953 was particularly helpful with this one.
The trademark was registered on August 10, 1926 as number 216,284. It was filed by Edward Turnberger, President of The Liberty Fountain & Gold Pen Company at the Canal Street address. He claimed that the company, and its predecessor, G.F. Barrett, had used the name since August, 1911.
I think the two companies were one and the same, notwithstanding the separate listings in The American Stationer. Prior to 1916, the Liberty Fountain & Gold Pen Company was located at 69 Cortlandt, as shown in thiese advertisements:
The Bookseller, Newsdealer and Stationer reported on May 15, 1916 that the Liberty Fountain & Gold Pen Company had relocated to larger quarters at 380 Canal Street:
And then there’s this, posted by user Bordeaux146 over on The Fountain Pen Network:
The box uses the abbreviated name at the Canal Street address, while the instructions identify the longer version – at the same address. The answer to the question “Which Liberty?” is . . . both.
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