Pelikan aviation advertising 1928
One of my side interests in the fountain pen collecting hobby are the aircraft and advertising vehicles used by various pen manufacturers. I have documented all of the Parker Pen Co. aircraft and made replicas models from 1928 to the 1960’s.
Many years ago I saw a grainy halftone image of a 1928 Pelikan advertising aircraft in a pen collecting book Collecting Writing Instruments by Dietmar Geyer (Schiffer Publishing, Ltd. 1990).
I started to search for information by writing to Pelikan, several times, but never received a reply. I was interested not only because of the fountain pen collection, but also because this aircraft was a powered glider, sometimes used as a trainer for pilots and my father was also a glider pilot and Flight Officer Trainer in the RCAF (Royal Canadian Air Force) in World War II.
As best I could determine, the decoration on this aircraft has the post 1924 logo design on the side of the fuselage with the lettering below that may be simply Gunter Wagner * Hannover. Little did I know that there really was a closer connection to me than I thought.
Historical Data:
The L20 was the first successful Klemm aircraft, which was serial produced. The initial prototypes were equipped with Harley Davidson motor cycle engines, as well as with Daimler F6902 and F46756. Also test flights in glider versions were performed with the prototypes. The center wing section and fuselage had a fixed connection, while the outer wings could be mounted to the center wing section with four screws. Also the tail unit could be separated from the fuselage for better transportation on the ground.
Coincidently Parker took to the air at the same time, December, 1928 with their Fairchild FC2 monoplane called the Duofold. The Pelikan Klemm L20 was purchased in June, 1928 and both aircraft had significant aviation flight achievement records.
My friend Dieter Kuhse provided me with some technical information on this Pelikan aircraft.
Engine: Daimler F7502
Registration Date: June 1928
Owner: Gunther Wagner
Sold 1930
May 1932 "Sturmvogel" Berlin
December 1933 DLV Ortsgruppe Bernburg
Fate: 1939 none information after this date
Besides piloted Pelikan aerial balloons and decorated automobiles the Pelikan Klemm L20 powered glider must have brought them considerable attention, quite the same as the famous 1924 Montblanc LVG C VI doppledecker.
Balloonists c1910
Advertising automobile c1928 – the year of the first Pelikan fountain pen.
Image of Pelikan Klemm L20 from Geyer’s Collecting Writing Instruments
A few days ago my good friend Miroslav Tischler from Zagreb, Croatia sent me an image of a post card he recently acquired. This is the same aircraft, the Pelikan Klemm L20 and I am able to finally see what the imprint lettering is on the wings.
The left wing lettering: Pelikan Schreibband. The right wing lettering: Pelikan and I believe the word Kohlepapier which according to pen collector Gerhard Brandl tells me means carbon paper, an office product which Pelikan also produced at that time. This lettering is also on the bottom of the wings so it can be read by people on the ground. Since this image is 1928 I am surprised the decoration is not their first fountain pen which was introduced that year.
Back side of post card, and I appeal to anyone who may be able to give me a translation. Miroslav, Gerhard and another friend are working on this for me also.
Quite the coincidence, and slightly off topic, the closer connection to me….
the post card is addressed to a person named Popp. Not far from where I live in Long Grove, IL was a farm of about 300 acres that was settled in the early 1860’s by farmers & craftsmen from Alsace – Lorraine and they named the area Muttersholz, after their former European home. Among the new settlers was the Popp family. The Popp farm lasted until about 1990 when the family retired and moved away. Three beautiful large barns sat there, made from hand hewn white oak beams that were from a foot to a foot and a half square, they looked like they were made yesterday and I could still see the hewn axe marks as fresh as the day they were shaped almost 150 years ago.
The barn foundations were made entirely of local field stones. I found one smooth worked stone that happens to be a beautiful example of an early American Indian stone axe and another nicely shaped ball with a depression that was used for grinding grain. I pulled out a few of these loose foundation stones as souvenirs along with a few oak pegs that joined the massive oak beams that were cut away and they have a place of honor in my home. I appealed to the County that bought the land to buy some of the oak beams I wanted to use in my home, but the reply was absolutely not, they had other plans.
Soon after this visit several local fire departments gathered, they torched two of the three barns and the original home which quickly burned to the ground…before they could even practice with their fire fighting equipment. A few days later I was able to enter and inspect the third barn. What a piece of history, I love old barns. The County bulldozed the barn to the ground, buried it in a big hole in the ground and then rolled a big boulder over the top, like a grave stone, which had a short commemoration that this site used to be the Popp Farm. The site was bulldozed to add a few more lakes for storm water retention, prairies, a small forest planted and hiking trails.
A few years later I met one of my son’s friends from college, his name was Popp. I mentioned about the Popp farm nearby and he replied….”Yes, I heard about that from someone in the family, I don’t really know who the relatives were.”
Hopefully, altogether this is an interesting story about a Pelikan powered glider and an Illinois farm.
I was very disappointed the young Mr. Popp had no interest in his early family history.
(c) 2008 Len Provisor
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