The best-known Dickinson Croxley is the gently tapering one with an angular clip screw. It’s the typical British pen, strongly reminiscent of the Summits to which it is related and like Mentmores too. It was made at a time – the late forties – when new designs were appearing but the company made the clear decision to stick with a traditional shape – a decision that was amply rewarded, so many Croxleys are there around seventy years later. The small breaks with tradition are in the clip and lever, a fine piece of late Art Deco.
Price may have contributed to the Croxley’s popularity, along with reliability and very good nibs, many with some degree of flexibility. Popular they certainly were, most in plain black, others in a particularly beautiful gold marble, yet others in bright blue marble. There were other Croxleys, the most common among them being one with a debt to the Sheaffer Balance, the Silvern Cap button filler and matching pencils for all these models.
In the midst of plenty, it seems, Dickinson closed down production. Were the sales beginning to fall away, or did Dickinson see the eclipse of the fountain pen by the ballpoint coming?The company continued to prosper as a producer of fine papers and other stationery products. Several take-overs later the Dickinson name continues, associated with a line of envelopes.
Quite by co incidence I was in Vienna and came across the only vintage pen shop (actually, blame the wife, I walked straight past the small display in the window). Inside Georg has three displays with some exquisite pens. But back to the subject, one of the Austrian pen’s had a Croxley clip. Whether a replacement or original I cannot say.
A small number of the ‘arrow’ pens have straight levers and ball clips, most rarely sporting a ‘C’ on the clip. My conjecture is that these were made by Lang’s before Dickinson’s bought their surplice equipment and introduced their own clip and lever.
I’ve never seen a clip that was Croxley-like so perhaps it was a replacement.
I’ve seen some of those Summit-like Croxleys though never one with a ‘C’ on the clip.