…is not the model name of the pen, but it is what is embossed in the place one usually finds a maker’s imprint; the point bears the National Security marks. This pen was either bought for in-house use by Eccles Quilts, or for use as a promotional item. Since I can find no trace of this company in easily-found records, I can’t say for certain which it might be. I suspect, however, that they may have been in the business of making quilts.
The main reason I have this pen is the name Eccles, which was one of the characters on BBC radio’s Goon Show, something my parents got me hooked on as a child thanks to the magic of 33¹⁄3 LP recording. This may not be that Eccles, but the connection was irresistable. A foolish bowing to nostalgia.
Not that I regret it. The point is the sort of flexible object that so many vintage English pens sport, utterly delightlful to write with of one isn’t unnerved by flex. There is a certain irony in a flexible pen having a maker of carbon paper in back of it, one which I’m sure the troupe of Goons would have savoured.
Update: An informant reveals that Eccles Quilts mixed itself in with five other quilt-making entities in 1929 to become Quilt Manufacturers and later Vantona Textiles. This of course has nothing to do with pens, either this one or generally, apart from giving a very firm final date of possible impression. But knowledge is power, and now you’ve got a little extra– use it wisely.
Maker: National Security.
Production Run: c. 1920 – c. 1929
Cost When New: Unknown, but with an advertising impression like this one suspects it was a give-away.
Size: 14.0 cm long capped, 17.4 cm posted, 13.1 cm uncapped.
Point: 14K Gold (or 14Ct, for local preference).
Body: Chased black hard rubber.
Filler: Lever, approx. capacity 1.0 ml.
Could there ever have been a time when the security of a nation hung upon a pen like this?
The threads to hold the cap on the tail are interesting, but I'm always worried about forgetting that's how it works and yanking the cap to an injury
It's not The Famous Eccles, but it's Eccles enough to charm me into buying it
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