The Mabie Todd Swan Fountain Pen

Mabie Todd is one of the truly old makers of pens and pencils, dating back to 1860's New York.  Their first fountain pen, the Calligraphic, came to the market around 1878 and production of the San began in 1890. Early Swan pens required the use of an eyedropper for reservoir filling and overlaid specimens were among the most beautiful of the period.

Expert of Mabie Todd pens to Britain began early and a London office opened in 1884 to facilitate business in the United Kingdom.  Eventually Mabie, Todd and Company Ltd, as the British division was known, bought up all Mabie Todd interests outside the United States and by the late 1930's Mabie Todd had more or less become the "pen of the British Empire". Eventually Mabie Todd suffered the fate of most firms which strictly manufactured fountain pens, perishing at the point of the ballpoint pen.