Monday, March 26, 2018

What I Meant To Tell You

This article has been edited and included in The Leadhead's Pencil Blog Volume 5; copies are available print on demand through Amazon here, and I offer an ebook version in pdf format at the Legendary Lead Company here.

If you don't want the book but you enjoy this article, please consider supporting the Blog project here.

A couple years ago I picked up a few boxed fountain pen and pencil sets at the Ohio Show, putting them on display here in an article titled “Show of Sets” (the link is 
https://leadheadpencils.blogspot.com/2016/01/show-of-sets.html).  This was the first one in the article:


The pencil is a Magnum Pointer:


There was something more I wanted to tell you about that set at the time.  Unfortunately, I couldn’t for one simple reason:

I lost the damned paper that had the information, and I couldn’t remember what it said.

I knew that a few years ago at the Chicago Show, Terry Mawhorter had sold me a flimsy brochure that had the official name for these on it, as well as the name of these Eagle pencils, which are similar to other Eagles along these lines except for color and that bright silver trim



You’ve seen these two before – and heard my frustration that I couldn’t find the ephemera that revealed their name – at “A Different Take on a Familiar Name” last August (https://leadheadpencils.blogspot.com/2017/08/a-different-take-on-familiar-name.html).

I remembered the paper being very flimsy, like newspaper, and big – larger than would fit in the plastic protective sleeves in which I normally store such things.  I remembered finding a safe, out of the way place to put it so that it wouldn’t get damaged.

It has been so safe for three years that it’s even been safe from me.

Fortunately, when I went through the whole museum and straightened out everything, it finally turned up.  Here is the front page:


The brochure is for what prizes “Curtis Salesman” can receive, based on the number of sales they bring in.  For 10 sales, you could receive Eagle’s “Golden Canary” fountain pen - either the long or short model.  For three sales, you could win the lowly Eagle “Silver Canary” pencil, in either a long or a short model:


The back page is where the “Curtis Salesmen” reference is found – along with a reference to Eagles “Crimson” pens and Conklin pencils. 


In case you were wondering whether my Golden Canary fountain pen is properly matched with an Eagle Magnum Pointer, the top of this page answer the question:


For 22 sales, you could receive an Eagle pen and pencil set in pearl and black – and note that the same riveted-clip fountain pen is shown with a Magnum Pointer pencil.

No comments: