Sheaffer Snorkel Desk-Pen Deco Set

[FredRydr]

I thought I should share this set with you.

 

These were bought separately; the rocker blotter was first. I was attending the Columbus pen show several years ago when Tom Heath and I decided to take a break Saturday afternoon and go pen hunting in the antique shops south of the city. In an antiques co-op in a big old house, I spotted the deco rocker blotter, having no idea what it was. I just liked it, and it was in gorgeous condition with that huge block of celluloid. I bought it, saving it from the pen turners/repairmen who would cut it up just for that celluloid!

 

By sheer happenstance, I spotted the base and pen at a later pen show for not much money, and snagged it to put with the matching blotter. The condition was pretty good with no damage, except that the celluloid had ambered in comparison to the blotter. When I got it home, I placed the two together on top of the wooden filing cabinet in my home office, and I have yet to clean and polish the desk pen and base. I never gave them much thought, that is, until I bought my first two Snorkels last month!

 

A couple weeks ago, I moved the set, and when I pulled the pen from the base, I discovered it is a Snorkel with it's $15 price tag in place, model No. 121GKD. (The G is questionable; see photo below.) That number is not corroborated by the pen selection that's on the bottom of the base, which at $15, calls for a No. K108 740 pen. (Daniel, get your catalogues out.)

 

Here are the photos (pardon the dust!). Enjoy!

 

Fred

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited May 25, 2015 by FredRydr

[3rdlakerobert]

Very interesting find. My first thought was Olympics, but that logo has five rings. Then, being me, I remembered the Ballentine beer three-ring logo, but wrong arrangement of rings here. Do you know the logo or meaning of the rings on these?

 

I have a few of the desk bases, some with pens. I've been meaning to look into the catalogs and find out what goes with what--just haven't gotten to it. I bet Daniel will know.

[Manalto]

Do you know the logo or meaning of the rings on these?

 

 

I think the meaning of the rings is: Welcome to the 1930s!

 

Terrific looking set, Fred.

Edited May 25, 2015 by Manalto

[FredRydr]

 

I think the meaning of the rings is: Welcome to the 1930s!

 

 

If the Snorkel is correct to the base, then it'd either be welcome to the 1950s, or goodbye to the 1940s! However, the vendor I bought it from is capable of anything , so research really is warranted to match pen and base. I agree that the design appears earlier than the pen.

 

Fred

[Manalto]

Of course - I wasn't thinking about the timing of the Snorkel; I'll bet the pen and base are contemporaries. The pricing and coding on the bottom of the base may help to confirm.

 

There was an early 1950s style that I call (for want of a better term) Deco Revival; there's a theater near here that strongly evokes the Deco period although it's twenty years later.

[Ernst Bitterman]

I don't think the pen and its trumpet are contemporary with the rest of the set. The Snorkel desk pens had model numbers ending SKD, with that one is showing its 121SDK status on the sticker, and the Dry-Proof socket was a specific mechanism from the 1930s (and possibly a bit at the ends of the flanking decades; I'm not the local desk set expert).

[Roger W.]

1940 catalog set.

 

Roger W.

 

http://www.sheafferflattops.com/images/K113bothwpens.jpg

Related to the K103 are the K113 sets. The one on the left is fitted with mid 1940's socket and pen, a common practice at Sheaffer. Less likely to have been done with a snorkel but, I can't say it is absolutely not factory.

 

 

[pen2paper]

so the pens are later?

if this was deco revival, the material would be phenolic, not (old fashioned) celluloid, correct?

[Roger W.]

The pen on the left is later - mid 1940's or later than the set which is 1940. The one on the right is catalog with the pen being 1940. I believe Sheaffer kept sets in inventory and they were fitted with pen and socket when they were shipped out therefore, later sockets and pens are common on earlier sets. It is always incorrect to see an earlier pen and socket on a later desk set. Sheaffer calls the material at this point plastic.

 

Roger W.

[FredRydr]

Thank you, Roger. Our blotter tops and knobs are the same, except yours have the additional ornament.

 

Ernest, have you identified the socket in my photos as a Dry-Proof socket? I am not familiar with them.

 

Do Sheaffer bases from the 1930s to the 1950s have standard-sized holes that enable swapping of Sheaffer sockets/tulips/trumpets made throughout that period?

 

By the way, I just could not resist ignoring the caution printed on the label! No damage, though.

 

Fred

Edited May 28, 2015 by FredRydr

[Manalto]

 

 

By the way, I just could not resist ignoring the caution printed on the label! No damage, though.

 

Fred

 

You wild, woodland thing. Try that with a big old slab of marble and you may find yourself in the emergency room, getting your foot stitched up.

[Ernst Bitterman]

 

 

Ernest, have you identified the socket in my photos as a Dry-Proof socket? I am not familiar with them.

 

 

Not I. I'm getting Dry-Proof from the label, and since that socket isn't the correct shape and is willing to hold a Snorkel pen, I'm assuming it's part of the retrofit. That suggests that the mounting hardware was pretty consistent-- again, Roger's more the man for this than I, but it makes sense to me to not mess with that part of the affair once it's got sufficient engineering.

[Roger W.]

Your socket is not a Dry-Proof but a threaded snorkel type. Much like my picture - the one on the left is a threaded socket and the one on the right is a Dry-Proof II with the bell on top which is what yours would have if it were catalog issue though, as I said, they can be factory with later sockets.

 

Roger W.

[FredRydr]

Thanks for sharing that, Roger.

 

I really like desk pens with bases, but because of space demands, I (try to) limit my collection to deco designs. You should see the Wahl/Eversharp copper and brass deco desk lamp with dual pens that I'm patiently waiting for!

 

Fred

Edited May 30, 2015 by FredRydr