Asco
| Asco |
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| Brand pages |
| Brand advertising |
| Brand photos |
ASCO began as an Aurora sub-brand in 1929, more or less simultaneously with the sister Olo and with the release of the Duplex celluloid model. The new sub-brand, an abbreviation of the name "Advertising Service Company", was born in the offer diversification strategy adopted to cover the market of company promotional objects, dedicated to the production of advertising pens. In reality, ASCO fountain pens had a much wider spread, going to cover the lower end of the market and the distribution via illustrated catalogs.
As for Olo also ASCO began as a brand completely independent of Aurora, but contrary to it, it always continued to remain so. The ASCO pens marketing was in fact entrusted to the "Agenzia Supera", which operated independently having its own headquarters in Turin, in Galleria Umberto I.
The choice of an English name, which was confirmed also by the engravings in English on the pen body, was trying to capture (as other Italian companies did in the same period) the public interest in a product that initially entered Italy as an imported product. In addition, the name itself recalled advertising services, which was the market segment addressed by the ASCO production.
The ASCO production was still directed to the budget end, in an attempt to realize an economic pen able to reach the general public, providing a common object and not a luxury one. This was ensured through mail order catalogs in a monthly edition, and also through the so-called propagandists, essentially the same buyers that were turned into agents with incentives in the form of pens tribute based on the sold volume.
The ASCO production is very diverse and difficult to classify despite the sale catalogs, since the monthly publication did not cover all the possible models. In general, however, these models reflect their Aurora analogous in the same period. The initial models are basically safety identical to A.R.A. 3, but branded with the ASCO logo (a horizontal lozenge containing the words A.S.CO.) And the terms Fountain Pen and Trade Mark reported on two lines respectively to the two sides.
A queste seguirono penne con caricamento a levetta o a pulsante di fondo, prodotte nei colori rosso, verde, blu ed nell'onnipresente nero. Queste penne sono molto simili alla Duplex, in particolare quelle con caricamento a levetta in cui quest'ultima è identica a quella presente sulla Duplex eccetto che per l'assenza di incisioni. I modelli venivano prodotti in due misure grande e media, denominate Senior e Junior per i modelli a pulsante di fondo e Businnes e Standard per le versioni a levetta.
Nella prima metà degli anni '30 venne introdotta una nuova linea di penne con caricamento a pulsante di fondo, con linee più affusolate ed testa e fondello di forma conica, prodotte sia in celluloide marmorizzata che a tinta unita. Questi modelli vennero sempre prodotti in due dimensioni, grande e media e denominati rispettivamente Modern 23 e Electa 21. A questi si affiancarono, nella seconda metà degli anni '30, modelli prodotti da tubi di celluloide in molteplici colorazioni marmorizzate, di qualità inferiore.
La produzione delle penne ASCO venne interrotta nella seconda metà degli anni '30. Nonostante si tratti di penne rivolte alla fascia più bassa del mercato, la qualità costruttiva ed i materiali restano di ottimo livello, tanto che c'è chi sostiene che la ASCO, più che una sottomarca, debba essere considerata come una linea di produzione indipendente.
Riferimenti esterni
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