Another Victorian Hoard (Twin Rabbit Holes)

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The online seller from whom I had purchased a very productive hoard of Victorian pens, pencils and fountain pens was back again a week later, opening an auction on a second batch of stuff:

From what I could tell, this bunch didn’t look like it was going to be as productive as that last lot - that would have been tough to top, with that Mont Blanc baby safety as the undisclosed icing on top.  Still, I saw a few things that looked interesting, and I was doing a much different calculation in my head than any other bidder was doing: I was averaging.

In my mind, the first lot was spectacular, and I underpaid by several hundred dollars.  If I overpaid for the second lot by several hundred dollars . . . well, in my demented mind I about broke even on the two lots.  Stupid, I know . . . but after that first lot was SO good, I knew how likely it was that there would be at least a few good things in this bunch, too.

In the end, I paid less than I thought I would have to.  One small pen proved to be a Wirt, and it found its way to a Wirt collector for a price that offset quite a bit of the cost.  Two tiny Wahl ringtop pens would make up the rest of the purchase price for everything.  The large silver pencil at center is marked Mordan, and if I ever find the right cap for it, I’ll be on the plus side.

Most of the early slider pencils were unmarked, so back they go into circulation, along with two run-of-the-mill Eversharp ringtops.  That ridiculous pencil with the tacky “overlay,” for a better word, went straight to the junk box. 

Yet three pieces out of this mess have found their way into my collection.  The first is a commanding magic pencil:

It’s marked “Simmons” near the top of the case:

“Convertibles,” I call these . . . although I don’t know if that’s just my nickname for them or whether I saw them formally referred to as such, somewhere along the line in this long adventure.  The name suits their function: the pencil can either be advanced into position and used within its case, or it can be completely removed from the sheath if it’s chained to your watch fob or necklace.  Here it is next to the other Simmons I’ve found, shown removed from the case:

I wrote about that other Simmons pencil here in 2018 (Volume 5, page 196).  I’ve retraced my steps to see if I have anything new to add, and I’m still only sure of two things: first, I’m sure it was made by Cross.  Second, I think it’s unlikely that this is the same “Simmons” for which a trademark was registered for pencils – the registrant, the Simmons Hardware Company, seems an unlikely producer of a luxury-level pencil like this.

But heck - it’s only been a couple of years since I set this particular fishing line.  Someone will know something.

Then there were two other things I added to my collection.  Only two.  After the first lot added several beautiful items to my collection, you might assume this was the lesser of the two mini-hoards -- but I don't see it that way.  With that first bunch, I was able to explain in just one article what was special about each of the items that went into my collection from it, because every one of them was just a little variation on ground I’ve already covered.

What made this lot special was that the two other items I'm adding to my collection from it turned over fresh soil.  After nearly 1,400 articles posted here over the years, it always amazes me that I’m still finding completely new territory to explore.  Explore I did, emerging from twin rabbit holes with two great stories – one about a name you’ve never heard before, the other exploring details I didn’t know about a well-known name.

Two great stories in one lot, numerous great artifacts in the other . . . I guess they are about even to me.

Needle In A Haystack

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.

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This one probably would have been slipped right on past me, had it not been accurately listed by an online seller:

If I saw this one at a show, I probably wouldn’t have given it much of a thought.   It looks like it was made by Cross, and it’s a magic pencil:

The pencil is as pristine as you’ll find – note even that the lead inside still has its presharpened point.  It also can be removed completely from the sheath:

However, there is no familiar AXT imprint to be found.  In its place is the word “Simmons.”

Pencils such as this were made, by Cross as well as by other manufacturers, over a period of decades, through as late as the 1930s.  Given the location of the imprint, I’m thinking this might have been a jeweler’s house brand . . . but with such a generic name and more than half a century of production, I haven’t been able to narrow this one down to any specific source.

I do have one clue, but it might be nothing more than a red herring.  In American Writing Instrument Trademarks 1870-1953, I did include a registration for a Simmons trademark in connection with pencils:

Registration number 138,922 was issued to the Simmons Hardware Company in 1920, on an application which alleged that this Eversharp-like logo (which is in turn Winchester-inspired) was used by the company since September 9, 1910.

It is interesting that Simmons claimed something like this before the Eversharp logo was adopted by Charles Keeran in 1913; however, I don’t think this one is much help for us.  Note the letters “E.C.” nested within the S, completely abasent from our pencil du jour – as is any other hint of this distinctive logo.  A check of E.C. Simmons advertising does turn up something interesting - the “Keen Kutter” logo that so closely resembles the Keen Point trademark Charles Keeran later adopted was for Simmons’ house brand of cutlery:

In fact, my book also includes the Simmons Hardware Company’s trademark of the Keen Kutter trademark specifically in class 37, for pencils:

One source (a history of the company compiled by Elaine and Jerry Heuring and posted at http://www.thckk.org/history/simmons-hdwe.pdf) indicated that a 1909 Simmons catalog was 5,000 pages long, so prolific was the company’s output.  Certainly the company could have had Cross make some pencils branded with its name, although these seem a little more highbrow than the company’s typical offerings.  Then again, if the Simmons Hardware Company went to the trouble to have pencils made with its name, why wouldn’t it ask that the imprint match its trademarked logo for pencils? 

According to the Heurings, E.C. Simmons went bankrupt in 1939 and was acquired by the Shapleigh Hardware Company in 1940.

I would estimate that this pencil dates to the 1930s, and there’s plenty of people out there who have Simmons Hardware catalogs from the decade . . . unfortunately, though, none have been posted online that I’ve found.   For now, while this is the best lead I’ve got, it’s an interesting possibility but not a particularly strong one.  With luck, someone with access to a later Simmons catalog will stumble across this article and verify whether pencils such as this one were offered by the company.