Esterbrook’s own pen booklet, as an instant download.

Drawlet Pens (1925) is the Esterbrook Pen Manufacturing Co.’s own booklet for its Speedball-competing lettering pens — part catalog, part instruction, all period trade ephemera. A short, charming piece of pen history for lettering collectors.

Inside this 1925 manual:

Written when the Speedball pen was the working tool of every lettering shop, this 1925 manual teaches the pen the way tradesmen learned it: Speedball pen nibs and poster-pen alphabets, alphabet construction and letter spacing. Lettering artists, sign painters, and show card writers building a reference shelf will reach for it every time a job needs a period-correct hand.

Details:

• Complete 1925 edition scan — 20 pages
• Original Esterbrook manufacturer booklet
• Pen history and lettering instruction in 20 pages
• Practice plates drawn for the Speedball and poster pen — work them with any broad nib
• Alphabet construction, spacing, and commercial layouts in lesson order
• Two files included: the original scan, cleaned of dust, stray marks, and handwritten notes, and a cleaned white-background edition that's easy on the eyes and the printer
• PDF format, instant download after purchase — no physical book ships