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If you troll the antique stores of America searching for great deals on vintage pens, you cannot help but come upon those seemingly ubiquitous small pressed glass ink bottles by Sanford. They have myriad colored caps. Maybe you run into the Sanford Pen It inkwells and towers.
The Sanford Ink Company is one of the oldest ink companies in the world that is still in operation. They made many colors of fountain pen inks since 1857, and they invented the Sharpie in 1964! This Sanford Ink display is a metal carousel that is most likely from the late 1940s or early 1950s.
The more I found, the more I asked: Who and what was the Sanford Ink Company? Why aren’t they still around? Did their ink perform so terribly that they went out of business…just not before making billions of bottles of ink to litter our antique malls?
My ignorance got the better of me a few months ago when I was asked to sell a display carousel of those little cubed 1oz ink bottles. It had close to a dozen different colors on an aluminum spinner that appeared to be straight out of the late 1940s or early 1950s. I finally had to breakdown and research the company if I had any prayer of selling this thing. It was perhaps my happiest discovery about the ink world this year.
Sanford inks didn’t suck. They are so good that they are still the bestselling in America today. They just don’t sell fountain pen ink any more. You will better know their universally famous product: the Sharpie Marker. With its nearly indestructible permanent black ink markers and other colors, Sharpie is in nearly every home and office.
The Sanford story is actually a very interesting one. Sanford dates all the way back to 1857, before the Civil War. They made ink and glue in Massachusetts before moving to Chicago in 1866, just 5 years before the great fire burned the city to the ground. Sanford actually survived the tragic fire only to be burned down by another blaze a very short while later. The company rebuilt and became one of America’s largest ink manufacturers and suppliers by the end of the Great Depression. The only ink company we know that has been in the game longer is Pelikan, which got its start in Hanover, Germany, in 1838.
The Sharpie marker can write on most any surface with a permanent ink. This older Sharpie still shows the Sanford coporate logo.
The invention of the ballpoint pen during the 1940s spelled doom for the fountain pen (and ink) industry. By the 1960s, the Sanford Ink Company was looking to emerging markets to find a new product to keep the company afloat. The Sharpie marker was born in 1964—50 years ago this year! It could write on glass, paper, rocks, just about any surface. It was quickly endorsed by late night talk show comedians Johnny Carson and Jack Paar.
These days it is the “pen” of choice by many star athletes and performers for signing autographs on everything from footballs to glossy photos. Roughly 200 million markers are made every year, according to the Sharpie website.
In a bizarre twist of pen fate, Sanford was bought by Newell Rubbermaid in 1992. Newell Rubbermaid also owns the brands: Parker, Waterman and PaperMate. So, in a sense, Sanford has never fully left the fountain pen ink business. It is now owned by the same people who own what would have been some of Sanford’s greatest competitors 60 years ago.
This is very interesting. I consigned a Sanford’s Fountain Pen Ink in the original box. It looks to be around 1930’s or 1940’s. It is in near mint condition. If you would like to see pictures please e-mail me at: scamp45450@aol.com. I will be listing it on E-Bay today. Sandy
I used to work for Sanford Ink Company in Bellwood, IL, during the early 1980’s. I was about 20 at the time. Back then, it was a union shop & they were in close ties with the local union. They would hire you for skimpy wages & just before you achieved your 30th day of new employment, they would lay you off & the union kept your joining fee & you were never called back. Sanford Ink is long gone & I believe the Bellwood,IL, factory has been demolished. A very crooked company to work for. I try to steer clear of their products to this day.
I found what looks like a very old leather button. On the front it says Stanford’s ink on the back there’s a fleur-de-lis. Have you ever heard of this kind of thing?
It was found at the old camp Floyd in Utah county, Utah.
Thanks,
I am afraid I don’t know anything about it, but it sounds cool.
I have a friend who got a square ink 276 bottle at a garage sale. I can’t believe I never knew about this, I love history and finding out about this stuff! Awesome!
I used to be so in love with Sanford until 2002. They took xylene solvent out of the permanent markers. I no longer buy any more Sharpies. I look for old markers now. This was the worst mistake they ever made. The new markers believe and they absolutely stink. I will drop $20 on a good old fashion Sanford marker before I buy any of their new Sharpies.
Found an old Sanford 219 glass ink well. Any idea of its value?
Howdy Glenda! Thank you for writing to us. It is tough to gauge value. Is it full or empty? Is there a label on it? If empty, does it still have its cap? Can you send a photo? It is likely anywhere from $0.25 to $25. I hope this helps.
Thank you for sharing this. I was intrigued by the company and now I know!
Trying to find out anything about Sanford’s Show Card Colors Gold & Silver. 5 ink bottles of gold and silver powder 1/3 to 1/2 full. 4 wooden canisters that screw together (hand carved screw section. From Chicago. Been unable to find anyone who knows about the canisters.
Thanks
Hi Deborah, Thank you for writing. I really wish I knew the answer to your question, but, unfortunately, I do not. The biggest Sanford expert I know is Lisa Anderson. You can likely reach her at Anderson Pens.
I have these two bottles that when I dug them, they were connected together with a rusty ba d of iron
They had eye droppers in them and one of them had silvery colored powder in it. They are embossed first and the other bottle second on them just under the necks and they are around two inches tall. They are also embossed Sanford on the bottoms. What are these as I can’t find them anywhere online? They are shaped exactly like those old green brown and clear Antrol ant poison bottles
I’m sorry to say that I’m not familiar with them.