
When my husband was a schoolboy Queensways were the cheapest fountain pens money could buy. There was a reason for that: they were absolute rubbish. Nonetheless they sold in their thousands. Have a look in eBay, and not only in Britain; there are Italian and German sellers offering Queensways for sale.

This Dainty was probably aimed at the Conway Stewart Dinkie market. It measures 9.8cm capped. Perhaps it was left in the sun or maybe it’s just due to shrinkage but it has developed an interesting banana feature. The box is in very good condition but sadly there are no papers and I don’t think that there ever were, which is a pity as they might have cast some light on the mystery of Queensway’s original ownership.

The pen was probably little used. The cap retains its “gold-like” plating, as does the lever. The nib declares itself to be 18k gold plated, and it may well be – but very thinly!

In the unlikely eventuality that I have a quiet day I might service this little pen and see how well it writes. I have to say that despite the bent barrel it looks better than most of its ilk.
Thanks to Paul Leclercq for this interesting pen.
I have successfully straightened barrels with the aid of my hairdryer and some gentle persuasion!
I could give it a try with a dowel inside to stop it flattening.
How embarrassing! I didn’t even notice! I just think that I was (atypically) very patient and worked slowly.
Those cheap pens hold a special place for me. Not because of a fond memory but an appreciation that they manufactured a successful cheap pen. In the States this would be an Arnold pen. In the 60’s they sold for maybe 30 cents. I found a couple claiming to be never used. The ink sac looked good so I gave it a go. The pen held ink and wrote amazingly well – for rubbish. Have fun with it and be careful with the hairdryer. The cheap plastic loses its shape very quickly.
I write about cheap pens from time to time because though they have not survived well they were big sellers in their time and reflect what many people actually used.