Styles Of Sheaffer School/cartridge Pens

[bob_hayden]

I don't know about cheaper -- the cartridges were only 49 cents when the pens were a dollar -- but many of the stores that displayed the blister packs did not carry the cartridges (to say nothing of all the ink colors Sheaffer offered) so just buying another pen might be the handiest way to get more. In recent times even Staples does not always carry cartridges for the pens they sell.

[mrcharlie]

I have seen product pics on ebay where the pen comes with 2 carts, plus a $0.49 pack of 5, plus the reverse of the package has survey type thing that promises if you fill it out and mail it in they will send you another 5 pack (another 49 cent value). Since it was a 1960s era pen when the price of a first class stamp in the US was about 4 cents, you got a pen and 12 carts for $1.04 (if you sent the packaging survey in) which makes the pen effectively free.

 

I'm pretty sure by 1975 (plus or minus one year) when I bought my first, it cost slightly more than a dollar, and I think it only came with 2 cartridges.

 

A dollar pen seems sooooo cheap. But it is a dollar in 1960 terms, that is equivalent to about $8.00 USD in 2016. Even in the latter era of the 1960s a dollar was worth about $7.00 in current money.

 

To say nothing of the cost of the $2.95 version introduced in 1955; that was about $26.50 in 2016 terms.

Edited January 11, 2017 by mrcharlie

[bob_hayden]

Sounds like a deal!

 

I think when I got into these long ago the pointy headed version was current, though I do remember the cigar-shaped ones as well. I had some (presumably the flat-heads) still in blister packs with a $4.40 price sticker.

 

Even at $7 a pen that will last half a century is petty cost effective.

[pajaro]

You guys have piqued my interest. After seeing a desk version, I spotted this:

 

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Sheaffer-039-s-Cream-Colored-Cartridge-Fountain-Pen-Fine-Nib-/172475006096?_trksid=p2047675.l2557&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT&nma=true&si=ECvKxbv88JaSD7cUsq0Z%252B5tED6I%253D&orig_cvip=true&rt=nc

[bob_hayden]

Were you the winning bidder? It looks like somebody got a good deal for this unusual item. I am guessing this is the $2.95 pen that came right before the Dollar Pens.

[pajaro]

Were you the winning bidder? It looks like somebody got a good deal for this unusual item. I am guessing this is the $2.95 pen that came right before the Dollar Pens.

Yes, I was the only bidder. This is something for the shelf with the other desk pens. Unless my wife wants it.

 

It will probably find its way back to ebay in a few years when some estate sale miner puts it up for sale.

[bob_hayden]

Congratulations! Lucky for us the young folks don't appreciate such things and don't bid them up;-)

[mrcharlie]

Yes, I was the only bidder. This is something for the shelf with the other desk pens. Unless my wife wants it.

 

Neat. I like that base shape. I think the pen body is shaped differently (slightly) than the one I sent you; it looks like it might have room for the friction ring that would let it use a conventional cap? I'd be interested in any compare/contrast between the two you may do once you get it. I can see the base has "Sheaffer's" on it, so it is older than the black pen.

 

I hate to say "I told you so" about the difference between asking prices and selling prices ... but that is a lie; like most people I love to say "I told you so".

Edited January 14, 2017 by mrcharlie

[pajaro]

Re prices: sometimes you find something you like and nobody else is interested.

 

Sheaffer appears to have made a number of these bases for the desk pen version of the school pen, some blue and some red that I have seen. The blue and red ones I saw were for organizations like the University of Nebraska (red). Interesting, though, and I would never have noticed until I red this thread and read about the desk pen versions of the school pen.

[loulu10]

The semi-hooded thing appears in an ad in Life Magazine in August of 1964, so it's probably safe to call it roughly contemptoraneous with the v2. Speaking of which...

http://dirck.delint.ca/beta/wp-content/uploads/2011/09/Sheaffer-0119a.jpg

...it also appeared in yellow.

 

Holy cow! You just ID'd one of my Sheaffer school pens. Found it on ebay a while back. I'm new here - thx!

Edited February 21, 2017 by loulu10

[otw]

My thanks to those who've contributed to this thread, because it helped me identify a pen I found at a local flea market today.



(Transcription) Writing this with one of my very first wild pen finds! It’s a Sheaffer cartridge school pen circa 1965. The nib is not flexible at all, but it’s smooth and has just the right amount of feedback. Someone stored this pen away inked, which had dried all up in the section and feed. I gave it a good soak and cleaned it as best I could, and now it writes like this! Not bad for $4.

[pajaro]

A very nice pen. These are among the best performing pens I have. It seems funny that these pens perform as well as many pens I paid twenty times more for.

[bob_hayden]

What color is this pen? In the photo it looks like a translucent dark reddish-brown but I do not recall that being a color option for these. I do seem to recall that when new these were rather rough writers that calmed down with use, as though Sheaffer did no final polishing of the point in order to save some money. Once broken in, they were excellent writers, and very sturdy and reliable, and that is based on owning dozens over the years. I think that experience is one thing that makes me less enthusiastic about Chinese pens than many at FPN. They just do not seem to have the quality and consistency that these Sheaffers of 50 years ago had.

 

I would have to disagree slightly about the flexibility of the nib. I always found them more flexible than their main competitors from Parker, and certainly than the Lamy Safari family, which I find very uncomfortable to write with. OTOH, the Sheaffer nibs were strong enough to take considerable abuse.

[otw]

Apologies for the poor lighting in the photo, the pen is black. My desk lamp tints everything yellow.

 

I'm probably not the best judge of nib flexibility. I naturally write with a very light hand, and though I know it's irrational, I'm scared to push down too hard.

 

I'm really impressed by this little workhorse of a pen!

[pajaro]

What color is this pen? In the photo it looks like a translucent dark reddish-brown but I do not recall that being a color option for these. I do seem to recall that when new these were rather rough writers that calmed down with use, as though Sheaffer did no final polishing of the point in order to save some money. Once broken in, they were excellent writers, and very sturdy and reliable, and that is based on owning dozens over the years. I think that experience is one thing that makes me less enthusiastic about Chinese pens than many at FPN. They just do not seem to have the quality and consistency that these Sheaffers of 50 years ago had.

 

I would have to disagree slightly about the flexibility of the nib. I always found them more flexible than their main competitors from Parker, and certainly than the Lamy Safari family, which I find very uncomfortable to write with. OTOH, the Sheaffer nibs were strong enough to take considerable abuse.

 

I would guess that the people here who wax enthusiastic about Chinese pens don't have the advantage you have had of using the older Sheaffer pens. So they just don't know better. Personally I have little use for Chinese pens. The old Sheaffers are easier to ink up and run with. The Chinese pens were sort of usable after I replaced the converter and the nib.

[bob_hayden]

These Sheaffers have a stiff but springy nib. The Safari has no give to it while other pens I have had would bend but did not spring back. I think Sheaffer nailed it for such a utilitarian pen that might well be used by children. My more expensive Sheaffers often have more flexible nibs which I like even better but which might not take as much abuse.

 

I have some usable Chinese pens, even with their original nibs and converters. I just never know just what I will get from China. I always felt when buying these cheap Sheaffers that I would get a good pen. Alas, toward the end of USA production some of the medium-priced Sheaffers were iffy. Perhaps the cheap ones remained good because the process had been automated and about all they had to do was keep the machines running.

[pajaro]

I don't know what you think is flexible, but I think the nibs discussed are springy, but not flexible in the sense that you would use them for flexible writing without damaging the nib.

[bob_hayden]

By "flexible" I just meant you can bend them without damaging them. They flex far enough that I can triple the width of the line. I just tried half a dozen other pens and they could double the width if that. OTOH the Sheaffer is stiff enough that you would not want to write more than a few words varying the pressure that much, and it could be hard on the paper;-) It would be hard on the pen as well; that is how I wore out so many of these in my youth. However, despite my violence, these would stand up for three years or so of heavy use. I had other pens die after more like three weeks.

[amberleadavis]

Totally cool. Thank you.

[otw]

I don't know what you think is flexible, but I think the nibs discussed are springy, but not flexible in the sense that you would use them for flexible writing without damaging the nib.

 

Ahh, springy vs flexible! "Springy" is a better description of what I felt using this pen. Thanks for helping me improve my pen vocabulary.