The Great War and the Trench Pen: Part II

The first trench pens did the job and did it well, but what would life be without competition?

Having seen the trench pen evolve from an everyday civilian safety pen to a pen that fitted like a glove into the routine of soldiers in the trenches of World War 1, let us turn to some of the competitors that went off to war after the Bicks pellet pen.

A somewhat more sophisticated version came from Mabie Todd & Company of New York City, New York (U.S. Patent No. 1,290,545, issued on January 7, 1919, to Walter Greaves). The Swan "Military" Pen had a screw-out knob attached to a hollow cylinder that disappeared into the barrel, with a hole in the side for dispensing pellets. It was a little more work to fill the pellet compartment than with the Bicks pen; but once filled, the compartment was much less likely to disgorge all of the pellets at once if the user slipped while dispensing one.

In 1918, Mabie Todd trademarked the words "Military" and "Trench" for use with pens, the former having been in use since 1917. As will be seen later, this might have had consequences for other manufacturers.

In the early decades of the 20th century, any pen with no opening in the barrel that could leak, and with a screw cap that sealed tightly, was a safety pen. This nomenclature, which Parker used for its Safety-Sealed button-fillers even before those pens acquired screw caps, had come into use during the 1890s with the introduction of screw-capped retractable pens made by the Horton Pen Company, Caw's Pen and Ink Company, and the American Fountain Pen Company.