3. Mabie Todd Pens - Pens for Sale
Mabie Todd & Co. Ltd was originally established as Mabie Todd and Bard of New York, USA in 1873. Initially pens were produced and distributed in the USA but by 1884 a small office had been established in the UK. The UK operation grew and by 1905 was making its own pens under licence from its American owners although they were still importing nibs.
The US operation started to suffer under intense competition from the more aggressive and innovative companies like Parker and Sheaffer, Mabie Todd were very much trend followers rather than trend setters and tended to be slow to develop new products.
In contrast the UK operation grew rapidly thanks to an intensive marketing campaign and the British preference for conservative design and reliability.
The UK operation bought out the US operation in early twenties and Mabie Todd became a wholly owned British comany.
Mabie Todd have produced many hundreds of different designs and their modest styling, competitive pricing and perhaps most importantly, their ability to market their products effectively kept them at the forefront of British Pen Manufacturing for several decades. The years between the Wars were very kind to the company and it was during this time that they produced some of their most iconic and memorable pens. The larger Self Fillers, the unique Leverless pens and the wonderful Ink-Vue pens stand out and are still extremely collectable today.
