Stratford Warwick 1948-c. 1953

by Jim Mamoulides, November 3, 2023

Stratford Warwick burgundy fountain pen c. 1951-53

The Stratford Taperite Citation

Warwick was a sub brand of the Stratford Pen Corporation, previously known as Salz Brothers and located at the Salz Building at 44 West 28th Street in New York City. The earliest mention of the Warwick brand I’ve found is an advertisement in the Boston Globe on September 16, 1947 for a new hooded nib pen selling for 50 cents. The 1947 Warwick has a threaded plastic cap and ribbed barrel in black, maroon, or grey, a hooded gold plated stainless steel nib, gold plated trim, and WARWICK stamped on the clip. It was advertised as the lowest price point hooded nib pen available. Although this was the first Warwick branded pen I've been able to identify, this article will focus on the next versions, which resemble the 1947 $8.75 Waterman Taperite Citation. If the reader would like to loan one of these early Warwicks, I would appreciate being able to add and credit photos to this article.

Advertisement in the The Daily Oklahoman, December 4, 1947

Identification Guide and Features: 1948-1950 Warwick

This second version of the Warwick fountain pen can be seen advertised as early as November 14, 1948 in the Baltimore Sun and continues to be offered through 1950. An ad in the November 17, 1949 Chicago Tribune calls the pen the “Warwick ‘Silent’ Fountain Pen,” a reference to the quiet writing point. This feature is mentioned in other ads, though without implying a “Silent” branding. The few Warwick dealer displays I’ve seen simply call the pen Warwick, with no other model name. Almost all 1948-1949 advertisements for this version of the pen state that the pen comes in four colors, but the available colors vary in some ads. Five colors are listed in total: black, maroon (or red), gray (or grey), green, and blue (or blue-gray). All advertisements I reviewed show this version with a smooth metal section to the cap. This does appear to be the case on pens with the anodized aluminum cap, but I have seen several examples of the gold plated cap pen with ribbing at that base of the cap, as shown in this article. I have not seen any with completely smooth gold plated cap.

Stratford Warwick grey fountain pen 1948

• Cap is two pieces: body color derby top and a wide metal piece made either of anodized aluminum or gold plated metal, probably brass
• Available colors shown in 1948-1949 advertisements were black, maroon (or red), gray (or grey), green, and blue (or blue-gray)
• Anodized aluminum cap pens have a silver color clip and lever, gold plated cap pens have a gold plated lever and clip
• WARWICK stamped on clip
• Threaded cap
• Hooded 14 karat gold plated stainless steel nib in unknown grades, medium confirmed
• Nib has folded tines instead of tipping material
• Lever filler
• About 5 1/4 inches long capped
• Price was $1.00 for a boxed pen and pencil set, 50 cents for the fountain pen alone
• Pencil is a propel, repel, expel type
• Pencil has a lead magazine space in the barrel
• Pencil has a built in eraser

Stratford Warwick blue fountain pen - this is possibly the 1948-50 gold plate version

In 1951 Stratford updated the Warwick pen. The bottom of the two piece cap is now a ribbed gold plated metal piece, probably brass, and the injection molded plastic colors are updated to black, red (also called burgundy or maroon), blue, and green. A boxed pen and pencil set sold for $1.00 in 1951 and the pen alone still sold for 50 cents. The Warwick is also shown offered with a matching ballpoint pen in a three piece set for $1.50. I haven’t seen one of the ballpoint pens, so I don’t know how it operates.

Identification Guide and Features: 1951-1953 Warwick

The first advertisement of the new style Warwick can be seen in the Chicago Tribune on November 25, 1951. This ad is also the first I found that says fine, medium, and broad points were available and the first mention of a matching ballpoint pen.

Stratford Warwick blue fountain pen c. 1951-53

• Cap is two pieces: body color derby top and a wide gold plated ribbed metal piece, probably brass
• Available colors were black, red (also called burgundy or maroon), blue, and green
• Gold plated lever and clip
• WARWICK stamped on clip
• Threaded cap
• Hooded 14 karat gold plated stainless steel nib in fine, medium, and broad grades
• Nib has folded tines instead of tipping material
• Lever filler
• About 5 1/4 inches long capped
• Price was $1.00 for a boxed fountain pen and pencil set, $1.50 for a boxed fountain pen, ballpoint pen, and pencil set, and 50 cents for the fountain pen alone
• Pencil is a propel, repel, expel type
• Pencil has a lead magazine space in the barrel
• Pencil has a built in eraser

Stratford Warwick black fountain pen c. 1951-53

From 1948 until the Warwick was discontinued, dealers offered two and three initial personalization on the barrels at no additional cost. It makes me wonder if Stratford provided an initial stamping tool as part of the dealer kit. The last advertisement I could find mentioning the Warwick pen is in the September 10, 1953 Eugene Guard, with the pen being offered at 59 cents and still offering free initials. I could not find any later references to the Warwick fountain pen so my date range for this version is 1951-1953.

Stratford Warwick green fountain pen c. 1951-53

By 1953 the company was featuring push button ballpoint pens and began offering a new Stratford Retractable Ballpoint Pen for $1.00 that featured a mechanism that operated by pressing the top button to extend the tip and pressing the clip to retract. Stratford advertisements show a shift in emphasis to ballpoint pens from that time forward.

Performance

I have quite a few of the later Warwick pens that I picked up as new old stock from a former distributor’s inventory. My first impression was, wow, these are really cheap and almost like toys. The fit and finish is very similar to a Wearever Supreme, meaning that it all comes together but not a whole lot of attention was made on how tight it all fits. Amazingly, most of the pens have supple and working ink sacs, so I was able to pick one for a test drive.

Stratford Warwick blue fountain pen and pencil set c. 1948

The Warwick is a light pen in the hand and the cap posts securely on the barrel. The gold plated hooded nib has no tipping. Instead, the tines are folded over, common on really cheap pens and no surprise on one that sells for 50 cents. The nib is very firm and writes reasonably smooth. I've noticed that a lot of these pens have fair to poorly finished clips, with a coarse surface and faintly readable WARWICK stamping. Many examples show a rough spot where the plastic part was removed from the sprue after the molding process, indicating that sanding or smoothing this was not a part of the production finishing steps.

The Warwick is a typical inexpensive post war fountain pen and many that I have seen have not aged well. Serviced and ready to write, they would make a decent and inexpensive starter pen or a good pen to learn basic ink sac replacement. Are they collectible? Anything is collectible. A collection of Warwicks wouldn’t be too hard to put together, even for a completist, nor would it be expensive. I think the Warwick would appeal to someone who is interested in the history of Salz Brothers / Stratford Pen Corporation and wants to fill out a collection with examples out to the end of the company.

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References

Advertisement, Baltimore Sun, November 14, 1948, page 10

Advertisement, Boston Globe, September 16, 1947, page 9

Advertisement, Boston Globe, December 5, 1948, page 2

Advertisement, Chicago Tribune, November 25, 1948, page 5

Advertisement, Chicago Tribune, November 17, 1949, page 13

Advertisement, Chicago Tribune, November 25, 1951, page 41

Advertisement, Collier's Weekly, May 24, 1947, page 68

Advertisement, Evening Star, September 9, 1953, page 9

Advertisement, The Call, December 17, 1948, page 6

Advertisement, The Daily Oklahoman, December 4, 1947, page 9

Advertisement, The Eugene Guard, September 10, 1953, page 4A

Advertisement, The Philadelphia Inquirer, December 14, 1948, page 20

Warwick counter display, undated but probably 1947, Stratford Pen Corporation

Warwick counter display, undated but probably 1951, Stratford Pen Corporation