1920s Gold Bond Flat Top Fountain Pen - SUPERFLEX/WET NOODLE

Vintage: 1920s

Make: Gold Bond

Model: Flat top

Color/Pattern: Jade

Materials: Celluloid, gold-plated trim

Filling System: Lever filler (resacced and guaranteed to fill and write as designed)

Length: This short, standard girth model measures 4 1/2” capped and 5 9/16” posted

Nib: 14k Warranted #3 nib yields Super-Flexible variation with softness verging on that of a Wet Noodle. It lays down a smooth and consistent XF line that widens to a 4B+ (approx 2.4mm) under very light pressure.

Condition: Jade celluloid is often found have darkened/discolored to brown over the years. The color of this pen is superb by comparison to your typical example. It shows no obvious discoloration. Perhaps some very minor darkening of the middle of the cap(?), but this might be chalked up to factory color variation or the black inner cap changing how the color is backlit. At any rate, the brightness of the green across the pen is quite fetching in person. Gold-plated trim is clean with no brassing or other notable flaws aside from the typical spot of plating wear on the clip ball. Celluloid has a smooth, lustrous surface with no deep scratches or other noteworthy blemishes – scarcely even any microscratches. The nib has a couple pin-sized marks on the tines that have no affect on performance and the slit in the nib has a factory overcut past the breather – quite common on nibs across makers of this period – but I see no signs of a crack in this area. Manufacturer imprint on the barrel is deep and fully legible.

Details: Gold Bond was a sub-brand of the National Pen Products Co. of Chicago, a massive conglomerate known for Gold Medal and Lincoln pens as well as its collaborations with Parker, Wahl-Eversharp, and Waterman in producing re-branded Vacumatics, Dorics, No. 7s, etc. for large retail chains such as Montgomery Ward and Sears & Roebuck. Gold Bond's Stonite celluloid was touted as being hard as stone, hence unbreakable. While that's a little optimistic, these pens are indeed of thick and rugged construction.