I was pleasantly surprised when I found a shoe box full
of Lindy pens in lots of shapes, sizes and colors at a recent estate sale. I happily bought the lot, only to get the
box home and discover that, of course, most of those old ballpoint pens didn't
write anymore. I figured I could buy
refills for some of them, but what to do with the others?
Remembering my friend Peggy’s conviction, “No matter what
it is, someone collects it!” I went
online to search for “Lindy Pens” and discovered a wonderful blog by a man
named George, who is a pen collector.
http://mysupplyroom.blogspot.com/ (And I thought I had a lot of pens!...) George’s blog says that Lindy pens were popular in the 1950s-1970s but a
lot of them were not refillable and thus didn’t make it to the 21st
century. The company went out of business in the 1990s. George helped me find homes for
many of the Lindys in the box, and most of the remaining pens (except the few I’m
keeping) ended up in his massive collection. (One of my convictions is that collectible items belong with people who can appreciate them.) I still have a few for sale on eBay.
Based on the number and variety of Lindy pens that I found
at the estate sale – including factory samples and seconds – our guess is that
the previous owner must have either worked at the Lindy factory or had a good
friend who did. The previous owner must
have had a good sense of humor, too – because in the box of pens I also found
this creature, made from removable metal clips on the Lindy pens.
Looks like Bevo to me!
ReplyDeleteWe used them in fourth grade while learning cursive I loved them and the special glossy paper we were issued I had every color they made my favorite was the pink one.
ReplyDeleteI still have a few from the 70s and they still work. A little piece of my heart dies each time one dries up (empties) and I throw it away.
ReplyDeleteTake a flame from a match to the nub of the pen. Don't leave it exposed to the flame too long or it will melt all, but it will more likely work after that, especially if you run that pen in circles for a few seconds to see if that melted the ink.
ReplyDeleteDoes anyone know when Lindy first introduced the "non standard" (blue, black, red, green) ballpoint pens? I'm trying to figure out when the pink, purple, orange, etc. came out.
ReplyDeleteWhere an you purchase one ?
ReplyDeleteeBay would be a good place to start!
ReplyDeleteDoes anyone know where I can find lindy pens?
ReplyDelete