Tibaldi
The Tibaldi was founded in 1916, and is one of the oldest manufacturers of fountain pens in Italy. The author considers the second among the oldest Italian manufacturer of fountain pens. If there were brands operating on the market since before this date, like Montegrappa or Nettuno, none of these can qualify in its early stages as a true fountain pens manufacturer apart Uhlmann's Eternal. After the death of the founder, the company underwent a period of decline, with a drop in quality and sales, failing to overcome the crisis of the advent of disposable ballpoint pens, closing its doors permanently in 1965, even if the mark has been reused in recent years for the production of some modern models.
The Tibaldi was notable for the production of quality pens that could enable it to compete with American products which were then imported into Italy. Although the company has not made significant innovations in technical terms, the pens produced have nothing to envy in terms of quality to those of other major Italian manufacturers, such as Omas and Aurora. Of particular value are the beautiful models in celluloid made in the 30s, which are considered among the most beautiful ever made transparent celluloid pens.
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History
The Tibaldi was founded in Florence on October 20 1916 by Giuseppe Tibaldi as "G. Tibaldi e C." with headquarters in Via Madonna della Querce. The company was bourne by collaboration between Tibaldi, who was behind a family business enterprise, and Giovanni Benelli, a technician with extensive experience in precision mechanics which became the production manager and the director of the factory.
Self-registerd as the First and most important Italian manufacturer of Fountain Pens the G. Tibaldi e C. is certainly one of the oldest factories Italian fountain pens; this record is disputed both by Montegrappa, which traces its origins to four years before, and Nettuno whose initial traces date back to 1911. Montegrappa, however, began production fountain pens only in the 20s, being born as a nibs manufacturer, and therefore cannot considered the first fountain pens factory, being in this back even to the Aurora. The Nettuno, from the limited data available, it appears to have been a simple family business where pens were assembled for their shop, the registration of the company is, however, as of 1916 for the Tibaldi and the actual production of fountain pens also in this case is to ask starting from the 20s, which again does not qualify as either factory fountain pens, nor as a producer to all effects. The only documented antecedent production is the Uhlmann's Eterno one, of which there are traces as early as 1913.
first produced models were black hard rubber safety pens, both plain and with metal overlay. Among these there were a special doctor's pen model that like the Omas one contained a thermometer inside the barrel. Tibaldi safeties remained in production with various modifications of the fall of Tibaldi until the 40s. It is also mentioned a Perfecta model, produced in the early 20s, with torsion filler that is the first example of automatic filling.
In this initial period, following a strategy adopted by many Italian producers, Tibaldi used an alternative mark, "The GTB Pen London", that following the xenophilous trends was masquerading itself as Anglo-Saxon company. With this mark were produced second tier pens, substantially identical, apart from the finish of the cap top and the knurls of the bottom, to the production marked Tibaldi.
In the 20s, following a common trend for the Italian market, which saw a plethora of Parker Duofold imitations, also Tibaldi produced a new series of lever filler flat top pens, clearly inspired by this model. The new pens were made initially in hard rubber, and in a second time in celluloid. A special feature of these models is the presence of a production of hard rubber pens in special colors (like yellow/green, or blue) that is found only[1] in the Waterman production.
The celluloid introduction corresponded to the launch of a new line of pens, called Infrangibile whose production was maintained until the 40s. Albeit with different restyling and technical changes, as the switching from lever filler to button filler. The Infrangibile was joined, starting from the second half of the 30s, by other two lines, called respectively Lusso and Impero. This last was the flagship model of the company and was produced in two versions, the rare multi-faceted Poligonale, and the round Trasparente. For these models, equipped with a special button filler akin to the Vacumatic, have been used the most beautiful semi-transparent celluloid.
Also in the 30s was performed a production diversification, with the creation of a special sub-brand, the Giti, clearly marked as Tibaldi production, dedicated to lower prices pens but still good quality. They were made with less developed finishes and poorer materials (with steel nib, plated or plain). These pens underwent many stylistic variations, reflecting those of the products of the leading brand, remaining in production until the 50s.
In 1935, with Giuseppe Tibaldi death, the company underwent a period of great uncertainty going into the hands of his nephew, Giorgio Schiassi, who didn't had great interest in fountain pens production, so activities continued for several years without significant innovations up to the sale of the company, which took place in 1957, to Remo Pagliuca, a wholesaler who had had good success in the field of writing instruments, distributing pens with various brands from the Settimo Torinese district.
After the war, production was centered on the Trasparente model, which was also restyled to take ogival shapes, more suited to new stylistic trends, remaining in production until the 50s. The pen has undergone several restyling, going to piston filler and, as a response to the Parker 51 success, it was also produced a version with hooded nib.
But competition from low-cost plastic pens, and the beginning of the spread of disposable ballpoint pen began to weigh significantly on the fortunes of the company, with the change of ownership Pagliuca tried to boost production going to fully ogival shapes and to decrease prices also sought to streamline production through the use of parts produced in the district of Settimo Torinese, at the expense of great quality which until then had been a feature of the company's production.
Le nuove linee, caratterizzate da forme ogivali, dalla presenza di penne con cappuccio metallico e pennino coperto, e dal passaggio ai materiali plastici a tinta unita non ebbero però un grande successo nonostante gli sforzi promozionali effettuati da Pagliuca. Negli anni '60 la Tibaldi subì un progressivo declino fino alla chiusura avvenuta nel 1965. Come per molti altri marchi storici l'azienda è stata fatta rinascere recentemente per poter sfruttare il prestigio della sua storia nella produzione di stilografiche moderne.
Cronologia
| Anno | Avvenimento |
|---|---|
| 1916 | l'azienda viene fondata da Giuseppe Tibaldi a Firenze come G. Tibaldi e C. |
| 1920 | l'azienda introduce le Perfecta |
| 1925 | l'azienda introduce modelli tipo Duofold (data indicativa, si fa riferimento alla metà degli anni '20) |
| 1931 | l'azienda introduce le Infrangibile (data indicativa, si fa riferimento all'inizio degli anni '30) |
| 1931 | l'azienda sostituisce la clip a pallina con una clip a goccia (data indicativa, si fa riferimento all'inizio degli anni '30) |
| 1931 | con l'abbandono di Benelli il marchio diventa semplicemente Tibaldi |
| 1934 | in Italia (R.D. 305 del 1934-02-05) tutti i pennini d'oro devono essere marcati a norma di legge con il numero di millesimi in una losanga |
| 1935 | l'azienda ristilizza le Infrangibile in tre versioni (data indicativa, si fa riferimento agli anni '30) |
| 1935 | morte di Giuseppe Tibaldi, la direzione passa al nipote, Giorgio Schiassi |
| 1938 | l'azienda introduce le Tibaldi Lusso (data indicativa, si fa riferimento alla fine degli anni '30) |
| 1938 | l'azienda introduce le Impero (data indicativa, si fa riferimento alla fine degli anni '30) |
| 1941 | l'azienda introduce i pennini in acciaio chiamati Tibaldi-iridal |
| 1946 | l'azienda ristilizza la Trasparente (data indicativa, si fa riferimento al dopoguerra) |
| 1957 | l'azienda viene venduta a Remo Pagliuca[2] |
| 1965 | l'azienda termina le attività |
Riferimenti esterni
- Sito ufficiale, solo informazioni sulla (alquanto discutibile) produzione recente.