Anyone who collects has had the experience…a few
pieces come together and interest is piqued. Slowly the
group expands as more examples fall into place and in
the process knowledge builds about the subject. Over
time, with luck, curiosity and perseverance a collection
develops along with an understanding of the time, the
maker, the materials, the process and perhaps most
maddening, what is missing and needed to make the
collection more representative of the whole.
In
his family history William John Tully, Jr. great grand
son of Joseph Patrick Tully, the man who established
Eclipse’s Canadian operations in 1925, provides an
overview of the pens made in Canada by Eclipse, and
mentions…
“Joe went on to develop pens for ‘tiny
hands’. There were two pens that we know of, one was
called the ‘MaryJane’ and the other the ‘Margie’.
(MaryJane and Margie were Joe Tully’s daughters. ED.)
These were pens for children and small women who could
not grasp the standard pens that were really built for a
man’s hand. Joe Lee has one of two Mary Jane pens that I
am aware exist and I do not know for certain of any
example of the ‘Margie’ pen.” (Joe Lee is the son of the
Margie for whom one of the pens were named. ED)
In an article about Eclipse models posted a few months
ago,
Eclipse
Models I chose not mention MaryJane or Margie pens.
Based on William Tully’s comments, I assumed that they
were made in such limited quantity, perhaps as novelties
for family and friends, that they were not put into
general production; they would be a permanent blank in
the collection.
That was a bad assumption.