Fine Writing - Stylus Magazine

P r e s i d e n t a l P e n s
72 october/november 2003 s t y lu s
hundreds and the appointee gifts one
Parker 45 demonstrator
apiece. In the recent Hantmans Kennedy
Auction, two Senator pens went
for $600 and $420, and three Presidential
pens went for $780 and two
sold for $900. In the same auction an
Inaugural set went for $1,920. (All reported
auction prices herein include
the buyer’s premium.)
the esterbrook Bill signer
next is the pen commonly but somewhat
inaccurately referred to as the
‘Kennedy bill Signer’. this is an esterbrook
desk pen with a black nib holder
and a clear plastic taper imprinted
“the President – the White House”.
the pen appears to be a dip pen, but
the black nib holder assembly houses
a feed, so technically, it is a fountain
pen with limited ink-storage capacity.
there is a fair amount of mythology
about this pen. For instance, it is said
that JFK designed it. nothing could
be further from the truth; in fact, like
all Presidential Pens, it is a standard
commercial model, distinguishable
only by its special imprinting, which
dates back to eisenhower, who adopted
the pen and the imprinting as
his official bill signer. Following his
election, JFK continued to use the esterbrook
as his bill signer as did LbJ
for a year following his taking office.
thus the “DDe/JFK/LbJ bill Signer”
is the more appropriate reference. (It
should be noted that clinton used an
esterbrook for two bill signings to
make historical points.)
While at first glance all the esterbrook
bill Signers appear the same,
upon close inspection, one finds that
there are four significant imprint
variations. two have imprintings
measuring 33 to 34mm long, one in
gold and the other in white, which are
both attributable to DDe with some
carryover to JFK. the third, white
imprint variation is 39 to 40mm long
which appears to be primarily attributable
to JFK with some carry over to
LbJ. the fourth (with two placement