My Earliest (pre) Mabie Todd

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I was trolling through some unmarked Victorian stuff the other day looking for a part that I needed, when I stumbled upon this tired little thing:

Sterling I suppose, and early . . . but unmarked and sporting a few little dents that relegated it to the parts bins.  The end pulls out and reverses to reveal a pen and dip pen combination, and the barrel has an extension tube for more comfortable writing:

I didn’t remember that nice little nib, which appeared to be unmarked but is in very good condition.  Since I’ve got a few combos missing their nibs, I pulled it out to see if the markings were concealed in the holder.  When I took a closer look, I knew this nib was going to stay right where it was, and this combo, warts and all, was going to be proudly displayed on the wall o’ pencils:

Bard & Brothers.  According to David Moak’s Mabie in America, Edmund H. Bard and James D. Bard formed Bard & Brother in 1848; in 1849 or 1850 they were joined by Jonathan Sprague Bard (who had been making nibs in Boston since 1846) and another brother, George J. Bard, and the firm was renamed Bard & Brothers.  In 1851, the firm was sold to William P. Smith, a clerk for Jonathan Bard during his time in Boston, and Edward Todd, one of the company’s traveling salesmen, and the firm carried on as Smith & Todd.  

Along came John Mabie, and the rest . . . is history.

My Bard & Brothers nib fits within that narrow window between 1849 and 1851, and the combo into which it is fitted is consistent with that era.  Therefore, it now sits at the very early end of the Mabie Todd wing at the museum.