Waterman v. Waterman's

[Mr. Scruffy]

Same manufacturer? Different?

I have passed over many Waterman's pens at antiques shops thinking they are cheesy knock-offs of Waterman pens. They looked cheesy, anyway.

Have I made a serious error?

 

[syngent]

L.E. Waterman's is an american company

http://www.richardspens.com/?page=coll/col_16.htm

Richards blog has info on it... same company, just had to wiki it

 

[nemo]

I always thought Waterman's were the older ones, I could be wrong. Like Sheaffer's and Sheaffer on the clip.

It's the Waterford ones to watch out for, tricky devils.

 

[syngent]

As I read it, it went waterman, then waterman's then subsidiaries and such leading to waterman paris

 

[Mr. Scruffy]

I have a Waterman Expert that I really enjoy and it has "Paris" stamped in the gold ring at the base of the cap. Always thought it was a French Company. After checking the website I see that the pens are made in France even though Waterman is owned by Sanford Brands and Newell Rubbermaid.

According to Wikipedia:

As the 20th century wore on Waterman's conservatism allowed its younger and more innovative competitors to gain market share -- Parker, Sheaffer, and Wahl-Eversharp, in particular. By the later 1920s, Waterman was playing catch-up; it continued to struggle through and beyond World War II before finally shutting down in 1954.
Waterman's French subsidiary, Waterman Jif (later Waterman S.A.), continued to prosper and eventually absorbed what remained of the American company and its British arm. Successfully weathering the challenge of the ballpoint pen, it was acquired by Sanford, a division of Newell Rubbermaid, in 2001, owner of The Parker Pen Company.

So I guess it's the same company, sort of.

 

[nemo]

1954 ... Interesting. I wonder when the Canadian plant closed.

 

[syngent]

I also didn't know they made the first converter system (if I read that right) while their crazy canuck brand still made the lever filler... maybe their last one ever made

 

[Snargle]

All my older (1960s and earlier) made by this company are labelled "Waterman's." I think they streamlined it about the time Sheaffer's went to Sheaffer...same company, different name.

 

[Alacrity59]

This is the back of the Waterman's plant in St. Lambert Quebec. I personally took dozens of the plant in the 1970's but lost almost all my pictures when I moved from St. Lambert to Toronto in the 1980's. The plant was built in 1908 picture is from the 1950's when they were producing the Taperite which was their answer to the Parker 51. According to this website the company went bankrupt in 1964 and was purchased by a new company Waterman Canada who only used the facility up until 1972.


In about 1972 I received a North Rite pen (ball point very much like a Parker Jotter) for participating in the local Lion's Club annual nut selling drive. They were being at least distributed from, if not made in this factory. More recently the factory has been converted into a condo.

This is from the Chambly County High school website (where I went to High School in St. Lambert)

It was after L. E. Waterman's death in 1901 that the company took off. Under the leadership of Waterman's nephew, Frank D. Waterman, the Waterman Pen Company expanded aggressively worldwide, and soon opened it’s very large Canadian factory in St. Lambert, which for many years was the City’s largest corporate employer. As the 20th. century wore on Waterman's conservatism allowed its younger and more innovative competitors to gain market share -- Parker, Shaffer, and Wahl-Eversharp, in particular. By the later 1920s, Waterman was playing catch-up; it continued to struggle through and beyond World War II before finally shutting down in 1954.

Interesting, I think my High School took the info from wikipedia and more likely it was 1964.

Here is a postcard from 1913 showing the building before expansion.

 

[syngent]

Whoa that was incredible...

Thanks Mike

 

[ChefJohnBoy-ardee]

Good stuff! Thanks for sharing

 

[rider4life]

Awesome info Mike! Thanks for sharing the old pics, looks just fantastic.

Cheers,

M.

 

[Alacrity59]

I was waxing nostalgic about my old hometown. I'm a bit disappointed that there are not more pictures on the internet of Waterman's in St. Lambert. I did find another post but the links to pictures are broken . . . thank you Photobucket %^&*()_.

The link

Conversion of raw rubber on the first floor. Preparation of 14k gold on the second floor. 400 employees . . . plant running on power generated on site.