1936 Waterman's 92V *SOLD* $150 US

THIS PEN HAS SOLD!

Hello there. Welcome to my channel. My name is Doug, and I'm back with another pen resurrection Sunday video.

Today’s pen cadaver on the slab, ready for resurrection, is this 1936 Waterman’s 92V lever filler in green pearl celluloid. It took me quite a while to find the date and actual model number of this beautiful fountain pen. The model number stamped into the bottom of the pen is a 52V, but my research on the 52V doesn’t match this pen at all. My pen friend Murray introduced me to the website of the Pen Collectors of America, which I’ll include in the description. This website is an archive of pen flyers, manuals, catalogs, and pen company newsletters spanning decades.

Looking through the archived catalogs of the Waterman pens from the 1930s, I found a page from 1936 where the pen fifth from the left is identical to this pen. It’s the 92V. The 92 models were larger and had trapezoidal ball clips, while the models designated with the V were smaller and had the art deco style clip with a hexagon on top. They were considered modestly priced pens at $3.50, suitable for boys and girls at school. In today’s dollars, $3.50 would be around $82 US.

So, why is this one stamped 52V? I can only surmise that it was made in Canada, likely at the Waterman factory in Montreal. As we’ve seen with both Parker and Waterman, Canadian pen plants often operated independently, depending on the parts they had on hand from US operations and which parts they could manufacture themselves. This could explain some mismatched parts and the creation of very interesting head-scratching models. Well, that’s my guess anyway. 

THOUGHTS

So, what are my thoughts on the resurgence of lever-filling fountain pens? These pens are relatively easy to repair, especially when the nib isn’t twisted up like a pretzel. I was intrigued by the search for this pen’s actual model. The incorrect stamp of “52V” on the bottom of the pen led me down a dead end. It wasn’t until I found the 1936 Waterman catalog on the pen collectors of America website that I discovered the pen was actually a 92V. My best guess is that Waterman Canada was using up pieces from the discontinued 52-line of pens. The 52V was an ebonite lever filler made from about 1917 to 1937. In 1936, Waterman changed the model to celluloid, but it wasn’t included in the 1936 catalog or subsequent ones. While I may not be entirely certain about the reason for the mislabeling, I’m pretty sure this isn’t a 52V, but a 92V. Regardless, it’s a lovely example of a celluloid lever filler from the mid-1930s. Made in 1936, during the Great Depression, it’s unlikely that the $3.50 (50 cents) price tag was affordable for most boys and girls. The average wage in 1936, for those fortunate enough to have jobs, was around 43 cents an hour. It would have been a rare gift to receive a pen worth $82 in today’s money to take to school.

Today, this restored 1936 Waterman 92V is even more expensive, as I’m selling it for $150 US plus shipping. If you’re interested in purchasing this pen, please send me an email at inkacquiringminds@gmail.com with your name and address so I can provide you with a shipping quote. And there you have it. If you enjoyed this video, please like and subscribe. Don’t forget to ring the bell to receive instant notifications whenever a new video is posted. I guarantee I’ll respond to your comments in the comment section. You’ll also receive cool emojis, badges, sneak peek unboxing videos, and instant access to my videos the moment I post them. Thank you for watching!

And that's all she wrote.