The Other Conklin Gliders? c. 1944-1946

by Jim Mamoulides, December 1, 2023

Conklin Glider-like pen in green marble and green web

Were Gliders Made Only In Stripes?

If you see and collect enough 1940s Conklin pens you will eventually run across a few that look just like Gliders but are not made with striped celluloid. Examples of these Glider-like pens can be found in both the standard and slender Glider size and have the same or a very similar Conklin stamped crimp on clip, the same single 1/16 inch wide plain cap band, and the same type of lever. The caps of these pens will swap onto the barrels of same size striped Gliders. These pens often show the same poor fit and finish and the same lightly gold plated trim that easily wears off. What nib will be found on the pens are inconsistent and many will have gold plated stainless steel nibs. This example has the same barrel imprint as the Glider, "THE Conklin PEN CO. over CHICAGO ILL. U.S.A. over REG.US.PAT.OFF".

Are these pens Gliders? There aren’t any Conklin catalogs or price lists available after 1938 and the few retailer displays are for other pens. In order to confirm them as Gliders or as separate models and to figure out dates for them, the next best source would be Conklin company and retailer advertisements from 1938 and into the 1940s. This would prove to be a mostly cold trail.

A Review of Advertisements

The first thing I discovered making this search was from 1938 to 1941 all available ads for Conklin pens are from retailers and the majority focused on closeouts of 1936 to 1937 Nozacs and other same year models. New Conklin products were certainly being made, but are evidently lost in the closeout frenzy, and if other Conklin pens are suggested or mentioned the retailer ads show no model names or images. Nozac closeouts continue in 1942 but there are only a few signs of any new models.

Advertisement, Daily News, March 8, 1942

A retailer advertisement in the January 19, 1942 Lincoln Star offers fine and medium point Conklin pen and pencil sets for one dollar in black, green and brown striped, but offers no illustration of the pen set. A March 8, 1942 ad in the New York Daily News shows a black Conklin fountain pen with an ink view section and an “iridium tipped point,” likely a gold plated stainless steel nib, selling for 99 cents as part of a one dollar deal packaged with a sterling silver ID bracelet or necklace. A similar ad in the September 27, 1942 Detroit Evening Times shows the same pen and a new one dollar deal, this time paired with a free men’s billfold.

Advertisement clip, Daily News, December 19, 1943

A retailer ad in the December 19, 1943 New York Daily News has a photo of a five dollar Conklin fountain pen with a 14 karat gold nib and an ink view section but no mention of colors. The clip looks like it could be the 1936 patent clip, which would be spring loaded rather than crimped on as on the Glider, but it is a fuzzy photo, so it's hard to tell. A retailer ad in the December 21, 1943 Buffalo Evening News offers a five dollar Conklin fountain pen with a 14 karat gold nib and an ink view section in a choice of green, blue, brown and red “mixtures.” Could these be marbled celluloid? This last ad is seven months before the first Conklin Glider “Names That Endure” campaign ad in the July 16, 1944 Philadelphia Inquirer, featuring Abraham Lincoln. This earliest Glider ad does say, “Available in many smart color combinations” but does that mean more than the four advertised striped colors? No ad from 1938 to 1943 mentions the name Glider and no Glider ad shows any pens other than striped ones.

It's A Really Close Call

Examples of these Glider-like pens came not only in solid black but a variety of colorful celluloids. There is an example made from alternating wide strips of blue marble and narrow strips of white marble similar to the c. 1938-1940 Waterman Blue Streak and also similar to some Moore, Eversharp, and Arnold pens from the same period. There is a red and gray marble example. In both of those cases, if one color exists, there are probably more. And finally, there are examples, such as the pen set shown in this article, made of alternating strips of green marble and green web separated with narrow black strips. I've also seen a pen with alternating strips of silver marble and silver web separated with narrow black strips. This last celluloid is very similar to celluloid found on the c. 1939 Eagle Prestige, which included a brown version. You can review some of these other pens in the links at the end of the article.

Conklin Glider-like pen in green marble and green web

Are these Gliders or not? Just as there is no mention of slender or oversize striped Gliders in Conklin Glider ads and those pens are clearly Gliders. Conklin's own ads state that Gliders were offered in four striped colors: green, blue, brown and burgundy. The Glider fountain pen sold for $2.75 and a pen and pencil set sold for $3.95. For these Glider-like pens there’s no information on manufacturing dates, pricing or standard nib types, and of course no information confirming if they were even called Gliders. Two things are interesting, though. Two of the celluloids mentioned above are very similar to or the same type found on late 1930s pens by other pen companies. Could that mean these Glider-like pens were made earlier than the Glider? Second, the design and parts on these pens are so similar to the Glider, that they confuse collectors. That would make me lean more to "made at the same time" as the Glider using earlier celluloids. Since there is no indication of other than striped pens being offered in company ads, I’m going to go with Glider-like pens, until more proof comes available. If collectors want to call them Gliders, it won't bother me!

Conklin Glider-like fountain pen and pencil set in green marble and green web

What about the price point? In reviewing 1942 and 1943 ads, one dollar gets a Conklin pen with a stainless steel nib and five dollars gets a Conklin pen with a 14 karat gold nib. The 1944 Glider, with a 14 karat gold nib, sold for $2.75. I would make a guess that these Glider-like pens, being essentially the same pen, would sell at the Glider price, $2.75 with a 14 karat gold nib and a dollar with a stainless steel nib. With no better information, there obviously will not be an identification guide yet. The pen and pencil set shown in this article was not serviced, and therefore not tested, so no performance review.

Gliders are lower grade pens saved by nice 14 karat gold Cushon Point nibs. These Glider-like pens have interesting celluloids but, I have only seen a few examples and all had stainless steel nibs. Since gold nibs get taken from Gliders as a service donation for a nicer Conklin, it makes sense if these pens originally had gold nibs, the same would apply.

I think it’s important to note here that there are other lever-fill Conklin Chicago pens made from the late 1930s into the 1940s that are definitely NOT Gliders. Some of these pens have an Endura imprint on the barrel, all have different clips, and all generally have nicer, better plated trim. More on these pens in future articles.

I would very much like to expand this article with more photos of these pens. If the reader would like to send images or loan pens for photos it would be appreciated.

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References

Advertisement, Buffalo Evening News, December 21, 1943, page 10

Advertisement, Chicago Tribune, June 12, 1938, page 15

Advertisement, Daily News, March 8, 1942, page 62

Advertisement, Daily News, December 19, 1943, page Q1

Advertisement, Detroit Evening Times, September 27, 1942, page 17

Advertisement, The Lincoln Star, January 19, 1942, page 3

Advertisement, The Evansville Courier, July 25, 1943, page 14

Conklin Glider 1944-1946, by Jim Mamoulides

The Conklin Legacy, by Alfonso Mur, Graficas Santacruz S. A., Madrid, Spain, © Copyright 2013, page 245-253

Eagle Prestige c. 1939, by Jim Mamoulides

Waterman Blue Streak c. 1938-1940, by Jim Mamoulides