Mabie Todd Swan Visofil VT Series 1937–1942

by Jim Mamoulides, first published September 10, 2002, updates with Laurence Oldfield January 19, 2003, and May 31, 2003. with Steve Hull June 30, 2004, and updated on January 16, 2023

Mabie Todd Swan Visofil VT-Series V340/60 Black & Clear and V340/78 Black & Silver 

Moving Ink Visibility to the Barrel

The huge success of the Parker Vacumatic launched a period of filler and design innovation that would last well into the 1950s. Parker and Sheaffer sacless, visible-barrel pens were leading the market in premium pens. This led the market to produce more ink-visible pens, especially with transparent and translucent barrels.

Mabie Todd was no doubt influenced by this, and though the company had already had the ink-visible plunger V-Series Visofil in its lineup since 1935, the pen, essentially a cleverly modified sac filler with a long breather tube and an ink-visible plunger, was clearly behind the times in terms of marketability.

Visofil VT advertisement, dated October 29, 1937

In September 1937, Mabie Todd introduced its own ink-visible barrel pen, the Visofil VT. As Laurence Oldfield points out in his book The Swan Visofil VT Pen, the transition from lever-filler to the V Series to the VT Series shows the evolutionary path Mabie Todd took from sac pens to diaphragm pens, a microcosm of one of the changes going on in the pen industry in the 1930s.

The elegantly clever filling system of the VT Series pens was developed towards a decidedly Vacumatic-like plunger system. Instead of the open end of the diaphragm/sac being attached to the back of the section as it was in the V pens, it was attached to a point midway along the barrel so that ink was visible in the translucent part at the front of the barrel. The VT presents this new system without a blind cap, using a plunger that extends by unscrewing it on a coarse thread from the end of the barrel.

Visofil VT advertisement dated November 24, 1937

The Visofil line was made only in England and probably ceased production in early 1942, according to research done by Steve Hull:

The Blackbird BT series was available until the end of 1940 and the Swan VT series until early 1942; the dates of their withdrawal were presumably determined by the availability of finished stock at “out-of-town” locations following the destruction of the main factory at Barretts Green Road, Harlesden, NW (and the Sunderland House HQ, if it was still operational in 1939/40) in the Blitz of September 1940.

Since the pen was not a great success, and due to wartime needs, production was not revived, even after the war.

Illustration from the March  3, 1938 UK patent

The VT-Series Visofil—A Visible Barrel

This second-version Visofil, known as the VT Series or Mark 2, was patented in 1936 by Edward Sears, Leslie Johnson, and Mabie Todd and Company, Limited. Laurence Oldfield notes from his research:

The patent claims “an ink visible sacless pen with rapid filling (no small parts to lose) and greatest ink capacity.” It is similar to the Parker Vacumatic in that the ink is sucked through the ink channel into the pen barrel by the extension and release of a rubber diaphragm. However, the Visofil differs from the Vacumatic in several respects:

• the diaphragm is attached at the centre of the barrel rather than at the end
• the button return-spring is inside the filler
• a square section plunger-rod acting through a square aperture prevents rotation of the filler

There is no blind cap—the button being extendable on a high pitched thread to the position required for filling.

Mabie Todd Swan Visofil 'VT' Series V340/77 Ruby & Silver exploded view
Photo courtesy Laurence Oldfield

The Visofil VT was likely a rethink of the original design due to the great popularity of the Parker Vacumatic. It does improve the lost blind cap problem inherent in the V Series and in other blind-cap pens, and is more elegant in use and execution, but as Oldfield notes, “The fact that ink could come into contact with the spring cannot be good.”

Both pen series are stamped on the barrel in successive lines, positioned to the right side of the Swan logo and slightly above the upper half of the barrel.

Swan Visofil Pen

Patent Applied For

Mabie Todd & Co. Ltd.

Trade Mark Made in England

The clip is similar on both and has the Swan logo at the top. Examples of the V-Series Visofil that I’ve seen have a slightly shorter clip than the VT Series.

Mabie Todd Swan Visofil VT Series directions dated 1937 courtesy of Laurence Oldfield

Following is a field guide for the VT-Series Visofil, including spotting elements and colors available. Color names are the original Mabie Todd names and spellings. Visofil pens followed the Mabie Todd numbering system: for example, a Black & Silver VT-Series pen would be numbered as model V340/78, with the "V340" being the pen model. The “3” is the nib size, and the “/78” indicates the Mabie Todd color number.

An array of Mabie Todd VT-Series Visofil pens, described in detail below

1937 VT-Series Visofils

The VT Series was such a complete change in mode of operation from the V Series that they were in fact completely different pens. Almost all aspects of the design and materials were affected. In addition to the completely new filling mechanism, changes in the trim and materials make the pen visually very different from its predecessor. There should be no doubt which is a V-Series and which is a VT-Series pen.

Model V340 Identification Guide and Features

Mabie Todd Swan Visofil V340/76 Green & Silver

The V340 came only in one size and trim style. It’s about 5 1/8 inches long capped and 6 1/4 inches posted. Pens vary only in choice of color. Matching model A40 Fyne Point semi-automatic pencils were available for 10/-.

• Celluloid cap and barrel in the following colors, shown by the Mabie Todd color number and name: /60 (also /79) Black & Clear, /76 Green & Silver, /77 Ruby & Silver, and /78 Black & Silver (or Grey)—a Black & Clear pen would be model V340/60
• Cap and barrel end are matching opaque celluloid, barrel center is transparent patterned celluloid
• Two narrow, gold-filled cap bands: one placed mid-barrel, which separates the opaque and transparent sections, and the other at the barrel end after the button cap.
• Washer clip with Swan logo stamped at top and large ball end
• Conventional 14 karat gold nib, stamped: SWAN 3 14CT MABIE TODD & CO LTD
• Nib is Mabie Todd no. 3, which is stamped on the nib face
• Nib grades included extra-fine, fine, medium, broad, and oblique, in firm and flexible
• Swan Visofil imprint, with the Swan logo, appears on the translucent part of the barrel
• About 5 1/8 inches long capped and 6 1/4 inches posted
• Black section stamped "SWAN"
• Retail price for the pen was 25 shillings

Performance

Mabie Todd Swan Visofil V340/77 Ruby & Silver

While Visofils in general are very uncommon, VT-Series Visofils, though made longer, have been more difficult for me to find. Perhaps the very complex filling system doomed many older examples to the trash bin after they failed to work, and Mabie Todd would or could no longer repair them. Possibly they were traded in on newer models after the war. Except for those already in the hands of collector friends, VT-Series Visofils turn up very infrequently, and most often in the United Kingdom.

The VT has a more tapered and tubular look to it than the bullet streamlined profile that was in vogue in the 1930s. It’s a more conservative design, typical of Mabie Todd, along the lines of the streamlined Parker Duofolds of the early 1930s. As with many earlier Mabie Todds, the pen is decorated with several gold rings, a company style that started with the Eternals in the 1920s.

The VT sits fairly low in the pocket due to the washer type clip being positioned high on the cap.

It posts with no fuss and securely, but the barrel is long enough that it feels well balanced without. I've had the opportunity to test and examine all four colors of the Visofil VT and sample several types of nibs. Mabie Todd nibs have a deserved reputation for smoothness and availability of flexible and semi-flexible nibs.

Visofil VT pens are very uncommon, but I would not call them rare. A determined collector can locate them through UK-based dealers and collectors, though building a complete collection will take time. They will be rarely found in the United States, and will command a moderately high price, similar to high-end Vacumatics. If you want one of these unusual pens, make certain it has been serviced. This is a pen that very few pen repair people can service, and most of those who can are in the United Kingdom.

This type of Visofil may have special appeal to those who are attracted to Vacumatics, with its similar, but unique filling system. Wahl collectors may be attracted by the similar celluloid and the expressive nibs. A Visofil VT would make a high-quality addition to any collection.

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Acknowledgements

Warmest thanks to Laurence Oldfield. A great deal of the information used to update this article, especially technical details and model information, is from his article “Pen Mechanisms Revealed—1. The Swan Visofil,” originally published in the Journal of the Writing Equipment Society (UK), November 2002, and is used with the permission of the author. Dr. Oldfield repairs Visofils and can be contacted at his website, penpractice.com.

Also, many thanks to Steve Hull who supplied the color identification and detail information about the different models of the V-Series Visofil pens from his work on Mabie Todd pens, The Swan Pen, Mabie Todd in England 1880–1960, which has been available since 2019. The book has 400 full-color pages and includes images of the full four-model Visofil VT pen and pencil range. It can be obtained at englishpenbooks.co.uk. Steve supplied the advertisements and patent details for Laurence Oldfield’s original article.

Pennant Fall 2022

This story appeared in the fall 2022 Pennant, the magazine of the Pen Collectors of America (PCA). You can learn more about joining the PCA and subscribing to the Pennant by clicking the link.

References

Ashbourne Telegraph, October 29, 1937, p. 1

Evening Standard, November 24, 1937 p. 24

Great Britain Patent Specification 480,965, awarded March 3, 1938

Works by Laurence Oldfield:

“Fountain pen filling systems and ink capacity limits,” Journal of the Writing Equipment Society (UK), Winter 2020.

“Pen Mechanisms Revealed—1. The Swan Visofil,” Journal of the Writing Equipment Society (UK), November 2002.

“The development of ink visible ‘diaphragm’ filling pens,” Journal of the Writing Equipment Society (UK), July 2011.

The Swan Visofil VT Pen: The Pen Practice Manual for Servicing and Repair, Undated.