Tag Archives: vintage Esterbrook pens

Esterbrook has those ‘Biloxi Blues’

By on January 5, 2015
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Neil Simon is one of my favorite playwrights, and I wasn’t 3 minutes into the film adaptation of his autobiographical “Biloxi Blues” (1988) when I spotted an Esterbrook LJ in the hands of Matthew Broderick, the star of the film playing Eugene Jerome (a.k.a. Neil Simon) as a young, wise-cracking soldier from New York experiencing bootcamp in Biloxi, Mississippi.

Not quite as funny or famous as Simon’s bigger hits, “The Odd Couple” or “Barefoot in the Park,” “Biloxi Blues” is the quasi sequel to Simon’s “Brighton Beach Memoirs,” which follows the early adolescence of Eugene.

In both films, Eugene is constantly dreaming of becoming a writer and scribbling down all of his observations in his diary.

“Biloxi Blues” starts on the overcrowded troop train heading south to Mississippi, where Eugene is desperately trying to collect his thoughts while surrounded by young recruits from all over the country with whom he has nothing in common. It is mid-1945, and Eugene and his fellow recruits are training to be part of the invasion of Japan before the nuclear bombs are dropped.

The movie is a fun coming-of-age comedy, and Christopher Walken practically steals the whole show as Eugene’s strict authoritarian (and slightly insane) drill sergeant. Toss in a light romance with Penelope Ann Miller, and you’ve got a solid 90-minute movie experience.

Of course, true pen fanatics will see the vintage pen discrepancy immediately. The film takes place in 1945. The Esterbrook J/LJ series didn’t launch until 1948. Don’t let that spoil your fun with the film, and if you want some colorful Esterbrooks of your own to play with, click here to see our rainbow of Esterbrook options.

Esterbrook Nibs: It’s Time for a Change

By on March 31, 2014
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The Esterbrook pen company made myriad nib sizes and styles to customize each of the pens they made to the needs of their users. Best of all, they did it with an easy twist out nib assembly anybody could manipulate.

The Esterbrook pen company made myriad nib sizes and styles to customize each of the pens they made to the needs of their users. Best of all, they did it with an easy twist out nib assembly anybody could manipulate.

Although every fountain pen manufacturer for the past 100 years has made specialized nibs for almost every occasion, only Esterbrook and Pelikan have made it easy to exchange nibs on one pen you already love.

Both companies have made simple complete nib unit assemblies that are easily screwed into and out of the section (grip) of every one of their fountain pens. Esterbrook was the most famous for doing this in the United States from the 1940s into the 1960s. Their line up of nibs included dozens of different sizes and strengths for different jobs.

Whether you wanted to switch from a fine point to a stub for caligraphy or you stabbed your nib into the desk top out of anger or frustration, all you had to do was unscrew the old nib and replace it with a new one.

Each Esterbrook nib had a model number that indicated what type of nib it was. A 1550 was an extra fine “Durachrome” (aka thin steel) nib intended for bookkeeping. A 9314F was a “Master Durachrome” (aka a much thicker smoother writing steel) nib that wrote a fine stub line for a fancy writing effect or caligraphy.

The 9000 series of Master Durachrome nibs was the very best Esterbrook had to offer, and now we offer nearly 100 replacement nibs spanning 7 different models on our Inkwells & Blotters pages. We only show 1 of each of the 7 different models, but you can order several of each.

These 9000 series nibs are getting increasingly rare. Once we run out, we don’t know how soon we will be able to find more.