We first encountered Chilton pens by accident. We were attending a country auction so that Ann could bid on some great clocks that were there. Arvin had just begun to collect fountain pens and they happened to have two up for auction. They were of a name not known to Arvin; but since they were really beautiful and seemed to be extremely well-made, Arvin bid on them. He got one for $4 and the other for $6. It's a long time since we've found any Chiltons at prices anywhere near those! We took those pens home and began a quest for more Chiltons then and there.
The precurser to the Chilton Pen company was the Crocker Pen company. It was started in 1902 in Massachusettes by Seth S. Crocker. The small company made high quality eye dropper and blow filler fountain pens. The company was taken over by Seth's son Seth Chilton Crocker. He moved the company to New York City. In 1923 he started a second company in Boston called the Chilton Pen Company. In 1926 the company moved to Long Island, New York and combined production with Crocker. The last line of fine Chiltons were called Wing Flows and featured inlaid designs in gold. In the thirties the company began to go downhill. The quality of its pens declined and finally the company folded around 1941. The last pens made by the Chilton company were Quill and Chiltonian pens. You may also find some pens marked "Sears" that closely resemble Chilton pens. These are named for Seth Sears Crocker, the original founder of the company, and have nothing to do with the Sears, Roebuck company.
Here are some pictures of some Crocker, Sears and Chilton pens from our collection:
These are the Crockers we've collected. The ones with the little bumps on the ends are blow fillers. You blow on the end to compress the rubber sac inside. When you release your breath, the sac fills with ink.
Here is a Sears pen. It fills just like the Chilton pens do.
Now come the Chiltons. Be prepared for some pentacular beauty!
Here's one of the two that started it all. Little did we know when we bought them for so little that they would be the beginning of a passion for Chiltons.
This beauty is a large Boston Chilton. It's big, beautiful and writes like a dream!
Here is a rare navy blue Chilton Wingflow pen. This one was owned by Pauline F. Johnson, one of the co-owners of a pen manufacturing company in Massachusettes called Bay State Pens. Fortunately the same dealer who sold us the Chilton had a Bay State pen and great ephemera. We added them to our collection to display with this Chilton. Included is a post card of the Bay State factory at work and business cards of Pauline F. Johnson and her husband Paul.
