Wearever Us Government Fountain Pen

[jonasgrumby2000]

I know how ubiquitous Wearever fountain pens are (I use an ancient one for my everyday pen), but I came across a Wearever pen stamped "U.S. Government", quotes and all.

 

I can't find any info on it at all, it's got the lever to refill, a clear feed and a "8361 US EXTFIN" nib. It reminds me of those black skilcraft pens one sees everywhere.

 

How, well...unique is this Wearever? Anyone seen one before? Many thanks!

[rickap]

 

Any chance of seeing some pictures?

[DwarvenChef]

Love to see it myself

[kiavonne]

They are still making the black skillcrafts? The last one I saw was so horribly and ridiculously cheap compared to the ones put out 40 years ago. I figured all the fed offices switched to the even cheaper "quality" stiks by now.

 

I would love seeing a picture of the Wearever, too.

Edited January 16, 2011 by kiavonne

[Vargouille]

I think I know what it is. Does the nib look like the pens here? If so, it is a Wearever Pennant. The clear feed was used to see when you needed to refill, which was when the ink began to "look pale" in the feed.

[jonasgrumby2000]

Thanks for the welcome! I've attached a picture, and yes the nib is very similar to the ones you linked to!

 

I'm delighted to find an unusual Wearever! (Kind of an oxymoron, isn't it?)

[kiavonne]

Thanks for posting the picture. It does indeed look like the old ballpoints from eons ago. I imagine this was that bp's immediate ancestor. Your Wearever is still going strong it would appear, so it certainly has outlasted its successors. If only history would repeat itself in this case and go back to the "U.S. GOVERNMENT" fp instead of these horrid stiks we're stuck with. Fortunately, I use my own pens, and no one has insisted on the stiks. (yes, I purposely misspell it as "stiks.")

[jonro]

This looks like it's pretty typical of Wearevers of that era. They are inexpensive pens, but often excellent writers. I'm not sure exactly which model Wearever it is, but it's probably a standard model that was sold to the government, similar to the black Esterbrook Js you see that are marked with "Bell Labs." The C-Flow (clear feed) was an interesting Wearever innovation that was designed to save money, but works well at letting you know when you are almost out of ink without adding an ink window.

[mstone]

They are still making the black skillcrafts? The last one I saw was so horribly and ridiculously cheap compared to the ones put out 40 years ago. I figured all the fed offices switched to the even cheaper "quality" stiks by now.

 

http://www.abilityone.com/OA_HTML/ibeCCtpItmDspRte.jsp?section=10222&item=452&sitex=10020:22372:US

 

It's always been more about creating job opportunities than cost savings.

 

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/04/17/AR2010041701297.html

[G Man]

Hello All,

As you all can see I'm new here and it's all because of this thread. That's a great Wearever "U.S. GOVERNMENT" lever fountian pen you have there. I'm in possession of two (2) brand new never used still in the boxes with Government labels on the boxes. One is grey and the other is a green(ish) color.

The label on the boxes read;

F.S.N.7520-664-5148

FOUNTAIN PEN,POCKET TYPE

MEDIUM POINT

1 EACH

CONT. NO. G. S. 005-40812.

This is not meant as an Ah Ha or mine is better than yours. Just thought you all would appreciate it (them) for what it (they) is.

Thank you for your great venue for Penophiles.

G Man

 

"The pen is only mightier than the sword in written word, not when used in a sword fight".

Edited June 2, 2011 by G Man

[Mike]

The label on the boxes read;

F.S.N.7520-664-5148

FOUNTAIN PEN,POCKET TYPE

MEDIUM POINT

1 EACH

CONT. NO. G. S. 005-40812.

 

FSN 7520-664-5148 became NSN 7520-00-664-5148; according to government database, that NSN was sourced via GSA, at a per-unit price of $0.83, and was cancelled/obsoleted in May, 1973 - replaced by NSN 7520-00-935-7136, PEN, POCKET TYPE, MEDIUM, RETRACTABLE, currently listed as $7.43/dozen. I presume that's the retractable Skilcraft pen we all know and love.

 

There are still fountain pens within the NSN, though. 6680009557825 seems to be the anonymous standard, at a cost of $35.51 each, sourced from the "Graphics Control Corp, Medical Products Division" (?!) in New York. 7520014651451 is the Parker Varsity with purple ink, of all things - sourced directly from Parker at $19.50/dozen. Go figure...

[Vulcan1066]

I didnt find the listing for the above post but I did find this at http://www.abilityone.com

 

NSN Part/No: 7520-01-451-2278

 

 

Classic fountain tip pen with no-mess ink cartridge design. The metallic barrel features classic gold accents. Complete with a cap and pocket clip. Also includes one blue and one black replacement cartridge.

 

 

 

 

 

•Minimum Order Quantity: 6

•Color: Blue Barrel, BLK and BLU Inks

•UOM Description: 6 pens/shipper

•Delivery Time: 7-14 days