Newest Acquisitions (Virtual "Show & Tell") ~ part 324

Today's featured new acquisition is a distinctive-looking vintage fountain pen belonging to VPC member Christopher...

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

Christopher writes: "Near the beginning of the Second World War, the US Armed Forces approached the Morrison Pen Company in support of a special writing instrument which could be individually branded for each of the services. The Morrison Company, delighted with being selected for this extremely profitable opportunity, rallied with one of their models, which they had been applying successfully to the civilian market. And the model name was perfect for military issue. 

The Morrison Patriot did require modification and the Morrison Company came up with the novel idea of changing the flat topped cap by cutting the flat top at a 45 degree angle and inserting the military emblem of each of the services with a raised metal cameo. They also made the finish on the US Army, Air Force and Marine Corp. in a olive drab colour, while they stuck with a jet black for the US Navy. The Cameos atop the pen caps were beautifully made and, in some cases, 14K gold filled and even enameled. The clips were the standard Morrison ball ended ones and the caps also sported a rather thin cap ring."

"The filler in this fine pen, because it is covered and located inside the barrel, is a rather neat mechanism. The barrel simply unscrews from the grip section and a clear plastic tube inside can be filled by a rod, which sticks out from the end of this tube. The tube is well sealed at the rod end and with a further seal on the rod, so that it can be pushed in to express the air and drawn back to effectively fill the pen with ink. 

Because the US was at war, materials like rubber were considered limited by the US military, so much so that the idea of a lever filler was out of the question for the Morrison military Patriot. Still, once properly serviced, this syringe filler works well. As for a suitable nib, again steel in war times was limited, so the Morrison Pen Company did not scrimp and simply applied one of their 14K gold, good quality large ones. All in all these were and still are magnificent fountain pens. "

"But I would like to add that this is not the first military Morrison Patriot I came in contact with for in 1956 while living with my Grandfather in Short Hills, New Jersey he was a major General in the US Army and President Eisenhower’s aide. So it was on his desk that I first saw the military Patriot in all its splendor and olive drab finish. Not that I was allowed to touch it, but I sure knew that it was there.

Finally, and to honour the US Navy’s finest hour during World War 2, I featured my newly acquired Military Morrison Patriot with an image of the USS Missouri defending the cause. This was a battleship that my wife, Chris and I toured while in Hawaii years ago."

For more information on this interesting wartime pen model, check out Richard Binder's article - Profile: Morrison’s Patriot. Our thanks to Christopher for sharing his own fine example with us!