A Couple of Couples

Over time, they say, married couples begin to look like each other, but these couples looked similar from the start.  They are both a set of lady and gentleman's pencils from Waterman, from the mid-1930s and early 1940s.

Above are pencils in the 1930s "Thorobred" line in green & bronze agate.  The gent's pencil has silver trim, while the lady's has gold.  The lady's pencil has a brown celluloid tip, while the gent's has a black one.  Both the pencils above are imprinted on the removable cap, which contains an eraser:  "Waterman's /Reg. US Pat. Off. /Made in U.S.A."  They use 1.1 mm lead and are characterized by a totally flat top.  They are 5 and 4 & 1/2 inches respectively.

Sad to say, the lady's pencil has lost its clip, which fitted into the top like the Lady Patricia's clip (shown top-most, above). The Lady Thorobred pencil has a narrower band than the Lady Patricia, and a stubbier tip, but longer point.

In the 1940s, Waterman's continued to cater for both men and women with their mid-range "Commando."  Here is a man's in black and a woman's in striated gold, both with gold-tone trim. While they look like repeaters, they are actually nose drive pencils, measuring 4 & 1/2 and 5 inches.

The clips fasten onto the flat tops, and have an aeronautical feel to the design. Only the clip carries the Waterman name.  Although it was available, Waterman's had not yet moved to the thinner 0.9 mm lead for these pencils.

Two Waterman couples, enough for a table of bridge.  Who's keeping score?  

Later, I was able to find this Thorobred lady's pencil with clip intact; here it is:

See my blog about Waterman's products during the second world war:  WWII and Waterman's