Pen nib box
George W. Hughes
Category
Education objects
Date
circa 1920 - circa 1960
Materials
Cardboard and metal
Measurements
65 mm (width); 22 mm (height); 45 mm (depth)
Place of origin
Birmingham
Order this imageCollection
Sudbury Hall Museum of Childhood, Derbyshire
NT 666642
Summary
A small cardboard box of pen nibs manufactured by Geo W. Hughes and probably mid 20th century. The box is whitish coloured with a yellow, black and white label with white and black printing. The box is sealed with the original wrapper and does not appear to have been opened and presumably contains pen nibs. The label on top of the box reads 'Geo. W. Hughes No. Breadth 5, Football Pen Birmingham'. At each end of the box the label reads 'No. Football Pen 1325, Trade Mark (with a fox holding a goose over its shoulder beneath words), 1 Gross'. The label on the back of the box reads 'Caution' followed by a warning against using imitations of the genuine article. George W Hughes started (in the 1850's) in small premises in St. Pauls Square and later (1893) moved to a larger factory, called St. Pauls Penworks, in Legge Lane, Birmingham. They also had agents or premises in London. Their Trademark was a runing Fox carrying a Goose over its shoulder. Geo W Hughes had a reputation for making very high quality 'pens' and was also know for only making nibs with his own name or 'imprint' on them. (i.e. E J Arnold were stationers not pen makers but they had nibs made with their name on). Geo W Hughes also made penholders, metal buttons and metal fasteners, they ceased production in the 1960's.
Provenance
'Derbyshire Museum Service History of Education Collection' - a collection established by Derbyshire Museum Service (through gifts from individuals, Derbyshire schools and purchases) in the 1940s and stored at Sudbury Hall from the early 1970s to 2012. The National Trust managed the collection between 1991 and 2012 when legal ownership was transferred from Derbyshire County Council to the National Trust. Archival records information - "The collection was established as a result of isolated gifts in the 1940's, and the 'savings' of certain school records (now passed to County Records) during wartime paper salvage." "During the 1950s it was L.E.A. practice to hold an Easter Course for teachers, and the County (Derbyshire) Museum arranged a special exhibition for teach course. As by the mid 1950s quite a collection had already accumulated, it was decided to produce an exhibition on the history of education with special reference to Derbyshire. Consequently, further material was purchased, from which items were selected. The exhibition was subsequently shown at a number of centres, and after disbandment, additions continued to be made with the aim of eventually producing a reconstructed classroom as a base for research. The Derby Bishop Lonsdale College of Education has frequently made use of the collection in various ways."
Makers and roles
George W. Hughes , manufacturer