nitty-gritty:The Wahl-Eversharp Equi-Poised Purse Pen

by David Isaacson

A key series from a respected “Big-Five” pen manufacturer, the Wahl-Eversharp Equi-Poised pen (1929-1932+) is highly sought today by vintage pen collectors. The rapid evolution during its three-plus year run yielded variants of markedly different appearances, and the series is bracketed—indeed overlapped—by the perhaps better-known and earlier Wahl “flat top” pens and by the later Wahl Dorics. The Purse Pen is the smallest of the final style group of Equi-Poised pens, and it generally has flown under collectable pendom’s radar. This is a tad surprising, as it has characteristics that appeal to collectors, including scarcity, unusual colors and diminutive size.

Equi-Poised—a high-quality celluloid pen—appears in just two known Wahl catalogs, one from 1929 and the other from 1932, though period advertisements from the intervening years do provide modest supplementary information. Most Equi-Poised pens are top-tier Wahl products, carrying the classic roller clip (save, of course, for ring-top variants) and marked by Wahl’s characteristic Gold Seal. The Gold Seal is found on pens of both moderate and large girth. However, a cluster of second-tier Equi-Poised pens, comprising slender models of three different lengths, is found so far only in the 1932 catalog. These lack both the roller clip and the gold-colored seal. The Purse Pen is the shortest among these.

 It’s in the Details
The Equi-Poised Purse Pen is a lever-filler, unsurprising for a Wahl product from 1932. Though it cites all the known colors, the 1932 Wahl catalog illustrates just several of them; it does nicely display the model’s patterned short “clasp” clip, the matching patterned lever and the single decorative cap band. The Purse Pen, along with the other slender models, has a 14-karat gold No. 2-size nib marked “Wahl-Eversharp” in banner style.
Anomalous pens have been found, adding charm and challenge to collecting this model. First, scarce un-cataloged ring-top and even roller-clip pens are known. Second, strongly (though perhaps not absolutely) linked to color, some pens have the smooth double cap bands routinely found with the other two sizes of slender Equi-Poised pens. Third, also perhaps linked to color, some pens have the smooth non-patterned lever found on other Equi-Poised models. Fourth, and perhaps most surprising, Gold Seal pens appear, violating (as do none of the other anomalies) the expected market niche and perhaps price point for this pen.
Some collectors opine that these non-catalog forms should not be considered Purse Pens. I disagree, since the key features of the Purse Pen are size and contour, noting that Wahl did at times issue trim variations for other models as well. Too, one catalog snapshot is all we have for these pens. Thus I strongly consider these anomalies to be Purse Pens. One can speculate: trim evolved after the 1932 catalog appearance; specific trim was associated with certain colors; variant pens were made for special markets.