Esterbrook
Pens and Ephemera

Vintage pencil collectors might find the charm in this 1950s Esterbrook Deluxe pencil. It is a nice clutch/click pencil with a 1.1mm lead. The grey is perfect for that gray-flannel suit so popular in that era. This one comes with spare leads and a hardened eraser. It shows a little wear but nothing egregious. A nice, user-grade classic. 12.2cm.

Black hard rubber Esterbrook Dollar pencils are a great early pencil, especially when they have an early clutch lead-advance mechanism. This one is a little weathered looking with wear to the nose cone. However, there are no cracks, and the click advance works well. This one comes with a 1.1mm lead preloaded. No eraser or spare leads. 12.2cm.

Add a minty green zing to your writing this summer with this Esterbrook SJ fountain pen. We restored this vibrant, happy vintage pen with a new ink sac. No cracks will be found in the pen. It only has some light surface wear from use. You might notice its nib doesn't have a number on it. That is because this replacement nib came toward the end of the line for Esterbrook. Esterbrook got bought out in the late 1950s and the company that bought it wanted to simplify the nibs to just a small handful instead of 3 or 4 dozen. This nib was simply "Medium." And it is. You will write a very smooth line that might lean closer to a fine side of the medium spectrum. SJ means it was the smaller size J-model that is easy to pack for all of your summer adventures. 12cm capped.

Deeper than your average sapphire blue Esterbrook SJ, our vintage pen looks like the ocean in the moonlight from the deck of a ship. The undulations in the color look like miniature waves in your hand. We restored this pen with a new ink sac. One of the most popular pens of the 1950s, it remains in good working order without any cracks -- just a little wear from use. The worst cosmetic flaw is its black top jewel that looks deformed...possibly at the tip of a cigarette. Click the headline for close-ups. It has a 1555 Gregg nib, which was intended for practitioners of the Gregg shorthand writing method. We find it writes a dry, fine line. 12.1cm capped.

Reminiscent of a summer sunset in the painted canyons of the American Old West, this Esterbrook SJ is real easy on the eyes. We restored this vintage pen with a new ink sac. You might find a scratch or two and some wear from use, but it is as dependable a work horse as any you find hitched to a Wells Fargo stagecoach. No cracks, either. You will write a surprisingly smooth medium line with its steel 1551 nib. It gets a little scratchy on the ascenders and descenders, but you'll find the sweet spot soon enough. Click the headline for a close-up. 12.1cm capped.

Can you spot what makes this Esterbrook Dollar Pen so special? Need to click the headline for a close-up? Need a clue? Look more closely at the bottom of the cap. 3 incised cap bands! This is one of the rarer features to be found on an Esterbrook Dollar Pen. We restored this vintage pen with a new ink sac, and it is in great working order. The cap is crack-free with minimal wear. Unfortunately, there's a scar the wraps a quarter of the way around the barrel between the threads and lever. You can see it in the photo. Unlike most 1551 nibs, we find this one to be an insanely smooth, wet medium writer. The pen itself is the long-skinny version of the pen. Were it the J-series, it would be an LJ, but we aren't sure of the Dollar Pen designation. 12.1cm capped.

As Esterbrook switched from Dollar Pens to the J-model line, they ran out of Dollar Pen caps to match with the Dollar Pen barrels. For a brief while, they married the new supply of J-pen caps to the Dollar barrels. This is one of those pens known as an Esterbrook Transition pen. It is SJ sized in the world of J-series pens, the shorter, skinnier model. We restored this vintage pen with a new ink sac. You'll find a little wear and a couple bite marks on the pen. No cracks. Some people actually like scratchy nibs, and they will love this scratchy extra-fine 2556 nib. If you aren't a fan of scratchy nibs, the beauty of these pens is that the nibs unscrew easily for replacement with smoother tips. 11.6cm capped.

Esterbrook fanatics, click the headline for close-ups and pay special attention to the nib! YES! It is a rare "sunburst" 3550 nib! These are highly sought-after nibs. Plus, it comes in a very nice junior-sized minty green Esterbrook Dollar Pen! The vintage pen looks great with only light wear. We restored it with a new ink sac. You will write a firm, extra-fine to fine line with its osmiridium nib. A nice, shiny addition for your desk. 12cm capped.