Newest Acquisitions (Virtual "Show & Tell") ~ part 74

We're back to fountain pens now, specifically, these two cute vintage fountain pens acquired by René... 

(all photos courtesy of  René ~ please click on images to enlarge)

René:"Presenting the Ratner Flapper and friend: I have found little information about the company so far, except that the full name is, "M. Ratner and Sons Pen Company," of New York. They seem to also make regularly-sized pens and possibly have several sub-brands, including one called, "Yours Truly."

"The Flapper is a really tiny pen, as you can see, and is a ring-top, so you can have it hanging from around your neck or a button on your coat or something. I can imagine, that, at its size, it's a very subtle and useful accessory to have, but will have to be posted to write with. Posted, it actually fits nicely in a small or medium-sized hand to write with."

"Being so small, it would be difficult to have any other filling mechanism than as an eyedropper (the nib and section unscrews and you fill the entire body with ink), and it is indeed one. The nib is a very flexy 14kt gold one, a bit scratchy, but very usable. The Flapper is probably from about the 1920s and is made of plastic, but it can also be found in hard rubber."

"I got this pen from VPCer Christopher, and, amusingly, he quickly found a similarly-sized pen and gave that to me for fun as well. The other pen is more or less the same size, is also an eyedropper and is plastic, and a ring top with a flexy gold nib. It has no markings, but, then again, it seems the Flapper wasn't alone in being the tiny pen of the era. Companies such as Diamond Point apparently made them too."

 

Big thanks to René for his "little" contribution to our online 'show & tell' ;) We'll be featuring more of René 's recent pen-related finds in the days to come!