Waterman's Hundred Year Pens

by Rob Astyk

Image by Henry Gostony

Waterman introduced the 100 Year Pens for Christmas, 1939. The standard size pen, called the "Men's" has no cap band(s) but has an arrangement of three bands forward (toward the section) of the box and lever on the barrel. The barrel bands are thin-wide-thin. The cap top is rounded and the clip attaches over the rounded top. The barrel end is translucent and distinctly pointed (first model, for a comparison with other models, see Chart 1 below). The names "Waterman" and "Hundred Year Pen" appear on the back of the cap and on the nib only. There is no imprint on the clip. The only location where an Ideal Globe appears is on the rear of the cap in the imprint.

The initial offering that December probably includes only the standard size pen. Those pens appear in four colors and two styles. Forest Green and Navy Blue pens could be had only with grooved caps and barrels. Burgundy Red could be had in both grooved and smooth caps and barrels. Jet Black could only be had with a smooth cap and barrel. (For measurements, see Chart 2 below)

Though not an overwhelming success, the new pens sold well enough to warrant going forward with expansion of the line for the following spring selling season. Waterman added two additional sizes and modified the cap design slightly. The over-the-cap-top clip was proving weak, a decades-old fault of Waterman clips, and difficult to install. The new "De Luxe" 100 Year Pens had a flattened cap top that was slightly recessed and notched. The clip is actually a washer style clip not very different from that on Parker Duofolds that was designed by the chief Waterman designer of the period, Gabriel Larsen. The washer fitted into the recess in the cap top as illustrated in his patent #2,048,127 that had been issued back on July 21, 1936.

Image by Henry Gostony

Also introduced at about this time is the "Ladies" small size that has the thin-wide-thin band arrangement at the cap lip rather than on the barrel. It is approximately 0.625 inches shorter than the Men's model but came in the same colors and models.

As best we can estimate now, during 1940, certainly by the beginning of 1941, the round top Men's pens disappear to be replaced with a version (the second model) with the same clip as the"De Luxe" and Ladies' pens. Just as the cap top became blunt rather than rounded, so the barrel ends lose their point and acquire the blunt profile that will remain with the 100 Year Pens until they are superceded in the late 1940s.

Waterman introduced a fifth color at this time. Hospital White appealed to the medical community. The pen in Hospital White was available in a Doctor's Set with matching pencil and thermometer in a matching case or as a separate item. Like the Jet version the White pens do not have translucent barrel ends. There does not appear to be a "De Lux" in Hospital White.

 The next change of models probably occurs during 1941 and is fully in effect by mid-1942. The Ideal Globe logo is removed from the blind nut holding the clip at the cap top and the clip is imprinted with the name "Waterman" (third model). The blind nut is imprinted with a series of concentric circles. In all other aspects the pens remain the same.

By the second Christmas of the 100 Year Pens (1941) the unreinforced caps were beginning to develop cracks at the lip. Waterman made the decision to move the bands to the cap lip for all models (fourth model) consolidating the three into one wide band. A further minor change turns the blind nut at the cap top into a rivet. There are pens that have bands on both the cap and barrel. Some have imprinted clips and pointed barrel ends. There are many variations which some marketer (in the very sleaziest sense of that term) will try to turn into "transitional models" for which he, and others with as few scruples, can overcharge collectors.

Image by Henry Gostony

The truth is that as many of these variants occurred in "the field" as occurred in the factory and we don't know which are which. I believe that it is safe to assume that pens with bands on the caps as well as the barrel are sporting replacement caps, as are pens with blunt caps and pointed barrel ends. In a pen whose life spanned nearly a decade and which had five or six models within four years it is very hard to say anything but that they are 100 Year Pens if so marked and let those of us in end-stage anal retention try to figure out the mess. In the meantime, presume that anyone trying to sell you a"transitional" or "prototype" 100 Year Pen is trying to pick your pocket.

Image by Henry Gostony

In 1942, not long after the War Materials Board declared acrylic plastics to be strategic materials, Waterman switched to a new series of plastics that were harder to machine because they were not as durable as the earlier acrylics. This material was already in use on the "New $5.00 Pen" introduced in 1941 that later became known as the "Commando". Styling remained much the same but the new plastics could not provide the jewel-like translucence of the original series. The cap band remained a single wide band and the colors on offer change to Deep Maroon, Navy Blue, Amber (brown) and Jet (fifth model). There is no green pen any longer though Hospital White remains an option. At some point before mid-1945 Grey became an option though I have only seen grey barrels on metal-capped pens.

There were precious metal pens in the Men's size with 14Kt gold overlay. There also may be all gold-filled models but none that I have seen have been earlier than the styling of the fourth model. That, of course, only means that I haven't seen any that are earlier, not that such models do not exist.

Finally, after the success of the Parker 51, 100 Year Pens appear with metal, caps. Initially these are screw on caps (sixth model) but quickly became slip-on caps (seventh model). The sixth and seventh models were sold concurrently with the fifth, their only difference being the metal caps. Some, I'm sure would simply make them a sub-model of the fifth. I have chosen otherwise which does not mean that my choice is correct or that someone else's is wrong, merely that they differ.

Also as a result of the success of the Parker 51 and because it cut costs, Waterman developed the Taperite pen with its vestigial nib. The Taperite is simply a standard Waterman 100 Year Pen with a tiny nib, miniaturized feed and a shell or cowl to cover the whole. In this it is somewhat like the Eversharp 5^th Avenue Pens.

Because the company now had two different pens in its line with 100 Year warrantees on the nib (not on the whole pen) management found a change in marketing strategy necessary. Further, the Parker Blue Diamond had caught on as a symbol of quality, like the Wahl double checkmark and the Sheaffer White Dot, just at the time when Waterman was de-emphasizing its fifty-year old Ideal Globe. At this juncture Frank D. Waterman, Jr. made a disastrous decision. The Taperites were still being turned out of plastic rod stock on high-speed screw machines as hard rubber had been decades before. The failure rate for barrels and caps was as high as 90% before a pen left the factory. So Waterman instituted a new open star "Emblem" and extended the unconditional warrantee to the barrels, caps and other parts except the sac. Thus Waterman substituted its familiar globe logo for a star that later became three stars on the boxes and literature. With that change the 100 Year warrantee remained but the pens became "Emblem Pens" and the last great name in Waterman pens faded out of existence.