Roxy Fountain Pens c. 1946-1950

by Jim Mamoulides, May 2, 2025

Roxy Black Beauty fountain pen c. 1950

Absolutely fabulous!

Roxy fountain pens were a sub brand of the Morrison Pen Company of New York, New York. The company was founded by brothers Louis and Abraham Morrison in 1910. Louis had six writing instrument related design patents and one lever patent in his name from 1928 to 1949. The company focused on value priced pens and pencils, especially in the 1940s, until the company went out of business in the 1950s.

Advertisement announcing the opening of the Roxy Theatre in New York City

The Roxy Theatre in New York City was on the corner of 50th Street and 7th Avenue in Manhattan and opened on Friday, March 11, 1927. It was the world’s largest movie theater with seating for over 6,200 people, even larger than Radio City Music Hall’s 5,960 seats which opened December 27, 1932. Everything about the Roxy Theatre was over the top and gilded, with its owners proclaiming it “The Cathedral of the Motion Picture” in the age of silent movies. It had an enormous Kimbell pipe organ with over 5,000 pipes, 21 “cathedral chimes,” and three consoles in the orchestra pit, which could accommodate the theater’s one hundred plus orchestra and one hundred plus chorale. The artistic troupe also included 50 dancers. The building had a grand lobby, multiple foyers, and 55 box seats. It was as opulent as an opera house. Seeing a motion picture there was an event, a spectacle. The Roxy Theatre was closed and demolished in 1960.

Photo of Samuel L. “Roxy” Rothafel from 1925

The Roxy Theatre got its name from Samuel L. “Roxy” Rothafel, an entrepreneur, theater producer and innovator, and a well-known radio entertainer because of his variety show “Roxy and His Gang,” which was heard by eight million listeners over WEAF each week. His popularity was expected to draw people into the new Roxy Theatre. In 1925, Rothafel was managing the Capitol Theatre, located on Broadway just north of Times Square, a movie palace with over 5,000 seats and the flagship of the Loews Theatres chain. Intending to tap into that popularity, Herbert Lubin, the president of Associated Pictures Corporation, a producer and marketer of feature length motion pictures, signed a contract in late May 1925 to build the even bigger Roxy Theatre for an estimated six million dollars, which at completion was announced as ten million. The project was backed by a syndicate of investors. The Roxy Theatre was to be the first of six very large movie theatres, all associated with Rothafel.

Tapping into the Roxy vibe

After the opening of the Roxy Theatre and several other huge movie houses into the 1930s, Roxy became a popular name for movie and performance theaters elsewhere in the United States and overseas as far away as Australia and New Zealand, obviously seeking to capitalize on the grandeur of the largest of all and the original in New York.

Roxy Theatre program from April 13, 1929

Though Samuel L. Rothafel used the name “Roxy” as a play on his last name, the name is also a diminutive form of Roxanne, which is of Persian origin and means “dawn,” “star,” and “bright.” Is it possible he knew this and wanted that association with himself? It also is a British colloquial term meaning “flashy” or “glamorous” which according to the Oxford Press’ A Dictionary of First Names derives from the Roxy theaters, which is likely how it came to find its way onto a Morrison fountain pen. I found no association between the Roxy fountain pens and the Roxy Theatre, nor could I find anything that indicated how Morrison decided to use it. Morrison was not averse to using popular names on their pens, with “Black Beauty” with a horse head logo actually earning a 1933 trademark, no doubt trading on the popular 1877 novel by Anna Sewell. I have no doubt that Morrison was using Roxy in the same way but found no evidence of a trademark application.

For this article I am going to set aside the couple of references to Roxy branded pens in a handful of retailer advertisements in 1933 and 1934 because they don’t show the pen, and I have never seen an example. These may have been the first Roxy pens made by Morrison, but I have nothing to that verifies it. I’m sure they must have existed, but that will have to wait for another day.

Three Roxys

U. S. Design Patent D83,908, awarded to Louis Morrison, April 14, 1931

There are three types of Roxy pens that I have been able to identify from 1946-1950. All of them clearly identify the Morrison Fountain Pen Company as the manufacturer. The first is a plastic cap and barrel pen that was called simply the $1.25 Roxy Fountain Pen in 1946 retailer advertisements. Those advertisements also point out that the “Triangle” lever design is patented, which was U. S. Design Patent D83,908, awarded to Louis Morrison, on April 14, 1931.

The Indestructible Roxy

By 1949 the pen is call the “Genuine $5.00” Roxy Indestructible Self Filler Fountain Pen and sells for 99 cents, though in a single advertisement the price is 79 cents. It’s a lever filler and comes in a single “special size to be used for Ladies, Men, Boys, and Girls.” Morrison claimed it could write 25,000 words in a single filling, which could last for “one month” on a single filling. The company also claimed each pen was “Hand Made, Hand Turned, [and] Hand Polished” and warned prospective buyers to avoid “cheap, machine made pens on the market.” Wow those Roxy pens must be swell!

Roxy fountain pen in blue green c. 1946-1949

• Plastic cap and barrel with observed solid colors black and blue green
• Black plastic cap top and section
• Barrel imprinted (though not all samples have imprints) MORRISON FOUNTAIN PEN CO over NEW YORK next to the Morrison ‘M’ logo in a circle next to N.Y. U.S.A.
• Clip stamped USA over ROXY at the top
• Gold plated trim, including one cap band
• Patented “Triangle” lever
• Threaded cap
• Gold plated stainless steel nib stamped NICHRO over TIP over 5, though many may have generic “Iridium Tip” stampings
• Nib grades unknown, medium observed
• Lever filler
• About 5 1/4 inches long capped
• Retail price in 1946 was $1.25 and 99 and 79 cents in 1949
• Packaging unknown

The Black Beauty Roxy

Roxy Black Beauty fountain pen c. 1950

The second type is the Roxy “Black Beauty.” I found two December 1950 advertisements for the pen, and both have very similar copy as the previous year’s all plastic Roxy fountain pen, including the $5.00 value, nearly identical price point at 98 cents, and one size fits all pitch. The key differences are the chased chrome plated pull off cap and some models having at tapered section with a small stainless steel nib like a Waterman Taperite.

• Plastic barrel in solid black
• Chased chrome plated metal cap with CHROMIUM P_ stamped on the front cap lip below the clip
• Black plastic section
• Barrel imprinted MORRISON’S over BLACK next to a horse head next to BEAUTY
• Clip stamped USA over ROXY at the top
• Chrome plated trim
• Patented “Triangle” lever
• Pull off cap
• Small plain stainless steel nib in tapered section or open nib stamped NICHRO over TIP over 5 in standard section
• Nib grades unknown, medium observed
• Lever filler
• About 5 1/8 inches long capped
• Retail price in 1950 was 98 cents
• Packaging unknown

The lined cap Roxy

Roxy gold plated cap fountain pen in blue c. 1950

The third type is similar to the Roxy “Black Beauty” except it has a straight line chased cap in chrome or gold plate, with matching color nib and trim. I haven’t found any references to this pen in advertisements, but it is so similar to the “Black Beauty” that I think it was made at the same time. This single example of the gold plated cap pen with a blue barrel and section has no barrel imprint. I’ve only seen one of these and it has the tapered section with a small gold plated plain stainless steel nib. I've also only seen one of the chrome plated cap pens of this type.

The last advertisement I could find for Roxy fountain pens was in the September 3, 1953 Nashua, New Hampshire Telegraph, simply stating Roxy fountain pens in assorted colors for 39 cents. This may be near the end of the Morrison Pen Company's existence.

Do these Roxy pens live up to the name?

Would Samuel L. Rothafel have been impressed with Morrison’s Roxy pens? I seriously doubt it. Considering the off the charts nature of the Roxy Theatre, I would expect Rothafel to want a top notch and ornate pen from another New York pen company, specifically Waterman. There’s no record of what Rothafel thought about these pens, if anything, so this is my take.

Roxy fountain pens are simply rebranded Morrison fountain pens. In some cases, the caps swap leading me to believe the only difference is what’s stamped on the clip. Morrison’s Macy’s pens look just like the Roxy Black Beauty, except for Macy’s stamped where Roxy would be. If you like Morrison pens from the 1940s, these are exactly the same.

The fit and finish is about the same as brands selling at the same price point. They probably looked pretty when new, but the all plastic Roxy fountain pens are about the same quality as all plastic Eagle fountain pens from the 1940s, except with a fancier lever. The metal cap pens actually look a little higher in value than their 98 cent price point. The chasing is quite deep and at least in the case of the chrome plated pen, the plating is very good. The fit and finish are good for the price point, so the buyer probably walked away thinking they got a decent value.

Being lever fillers, they are simple to operate. Dip the nib in ink, flip the lever, wait ten seconds, wipe, and write. I test wrote with the tapered section Black Beauty and can say the stainless steel nib writes evenly, but has folded over tines instead of tipping, which was probably a decision to save money and hold the dollar price point. The earlier all plastic and the gold plated cap Roxy fountain pens have tipping material on the tines. The Black Beauty is pleasant enough to write with and it could be a decent, but not great, daily user.

Are Roxy fountain pens collectible? I started picking them up because I liked the name, and they are rather uncommon. If you collect Morrison or other similar pens from the 1940s, Roxy branded fountain pens will cost about the same. A collection of all types won’t be expensive but will likely take some time, especially to find nice examples.

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References

A Dictionary of First Names (2 ed.), by Patrick Hanks, Kate Hardcastle, and Flavia Hodges, Oxford University Press, 2006

Advertisement, Daily News, New York, New York, March 6, 1927, page F19

Advertisement, Democrat and Chronicle, Rochester, New York, October 26, 1950, page 28

Advertisement, Lincoln Journal Star, Lincoln, Nebraska, March 31, 1949, page 9

Advertisement, Lincoln Journal Star, Lincoln, Nebraska, April 1, 1949, page 5

Advertisement, Lincoln Journal Star, Lincoln, Nebraska, April 2, 1949, page 7

Advertisement, Nashua Telegraph, Nashua, New Hampshire, September 3, 1953, page 19

Advertisement, The Courier, Waterloo, Iowa, March 24, 1949, page 18

Advertisement, Wilkes-Barre Times Leader, the Evening News, Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, September 26, 1946, page 25

American Showman, by Ross Melnick, Columbia University Press, copyright 2012, page 251

“Imagination Back of Roxy’s Rise” New York Daily News, New York, New York, March 1, 1925, page 18

“Macy’s Fountain Pens” by P. Munson, Fountain Pen Restoration, February 21, 2015

“Rothafel to Have 6 Big Film Houses” New York Times, July 20, 1925

Roxy Theatre Program, April 13, 1929, front cover

“’Roxy’ to Have Own Movie Home” Brooklyn Eagle, Brooklyn, New York, page 3

“Sawyer & Lubin Form New Producing Organization” Moving Picture World, October 14, 1922, page 568

“Theater to Seat 6,000” Cleveland Plain Dealer, Cleveland, Ohio, June 4, 1925, page 3

U. S. Design Patent D83,908, awarded to Louis Morrison, April 14, 1931

U. S. Trademark 336,508 for Black Beauty, awarded to Louis Morrison, April 6, 1933