Rare is a term that is used far too often these days, but I think that this pen deserves it. Why? Primarily because Charles H Ingersoll’s pens were twist fillers from the very first in 1924, continuing it would seem, all the way to the end of the company in the throes of the Great Depression. He insisted that his pens always have a 14K gold nib – not cheap gold-plated or plain steel – while managing to meet a cost goal to enable a “dollar” pen. The twist filler was one of his ways to hold down cost, and until a week or so ago, I had never seen nor heard of a Charles H Ingersoll pen with a lever filler, but here it is.
I have learned much of what I know about the Charles H Ingersoll (CHI) pens (not to be confused with the Ingersoll pens and pencils made in Minnesota) from a number of well-done posts on Fountain Pen Network by “Johnny Appleseed,” so when I saw this pen for sale, I consulted him before buying it. He assured me that he has a couple of CHI lever fillers in his collection, and speculated that these were made near the end of the company’s life in an effort to offer a more up-to-date product.
In my other posts here, I mentioned that the CHI line included all metal, celluloid, and bakelite pens, chronologically in that order. This lever filler is bakelite, so that fits the end of the company scenario. In addition, there are other touches that appear to me to be cost-saving measures.
The bakelite pens have a Waterman style pocket clip attached to the cap with a pair of rivets. This lever filler has that same style clip, but when it is compared to a slightly earlier pen, it is visibly cheaper – a simpler stamping, not gold-plated. Also, since the 14K nib was a major feature of the line, his nibs from the beginning were custom-imprinted with the CHI 14K logo, but this pen has a generic Warranted 14K nib – still 14K gold, but perhaps a bit lower cost than a custom imprinted one. Finally, it does not have a cap band at all, unlike the earlier bakelite pens.
Despite these cost-cutting measures and the more modern lever filler, the company must have found it impossible to compete in the difficult financial environment of the early 1930s, when even Parker and Sheaffer were struggling to stay afloat.
My Charles H Ingersoll lever filler is in excellent condition, made of bakelite in the color CHI called “Olive Green.” The Warranted 14K nib has a moderate amount of flex, and seems to be a fairly smooth writer. I have done a purely cosmetic cleanup of the pen, and it fairly gleams. It still needs a new ink sac and perhaps a little tweaking of the nib.
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Cigar Box Pen Storage 