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View Full Version : A gift to those who study Sheaffer 1930s sub-brand WASP pens.



david i
October 31st, 2014, 04:59 AM
I was browsing closed sales on ebay and stumbled across a terrific two page Sheaffer/WASP (W. A. Sheaffer Pen) ad for one of the most well-known Celluloid patterns, what collectors call "Circuit Board". Besides evolutionary tweaks during the 4-year (or so) run that started in the mid-late 1930s, a key collecting notion is that the pens were offered in regular and deluxe lines (deluxe with fancier cap-band and with two-tone nib).


A few "circuit-board" WASPS from my collection
http://vacumania.com/penteech2/wasp_circuitboard_4pens600.jpg

A plethora of period adverts can be found, but most show the pens from the deluxe line closed, not showing the upscale nib. PCA (soon to be offered to the general public too) has an online public domain Sheaffer pamphlet/page in raggedy photocopied shape that shows the nibs open.

I had the great fortune a couple years ago to get a monstrous two page full color ad showing said pens with open nibs. A rare piece of company literature. I have not gotten around to scanning it yet.

Well, the ad I found on ebay today shows a wide range of the first generation WASP "circuit board" pens, open and closed, both regular and deluxe line. Good resolution, too, on that image. I thought I'd offer it here, as it was easy to download. For those of you who like to know period context for your pens, this stuff is golden.

The page was attributed to a Becken 1940 catalog.

I'm not sure how many Sheafferers here are into this level of study, but if any of you are... have fun :)

Pic to follow. I reduced it a bit to fit the screen width.

regards

David


http://vacumania.com/penteech2/WASP_catalogue_pages_1940flatforweb800.jpg

Roger W.
November 1st, 2014, 02:33 AM
I love that 290C5 is clearly Pedrara but, described as black carrara - classic attention to detail ad department!

Roger W.

david i
November 1st, 2014, 04:13 AM
Credit where credit is due. Roger might be the only fellow in the hobby to pick up that detail ;)

-d

jouesdeveau
November 30th, 2014, 11:58 AM
David:
I appreciate this because WASP typology remains a mystery to me.
So, pace p.290 bottom, the "Standard Wasp Clipper" retailed for $1.95 with a JUNIOR point, but the "Wasp Clipper" with a plain ol' point went for LESS:$1.25. Does this make sense? Or do we have an example of confused advertising?
Gerry B.

david i
November 30th, 2014, 12:24 PM
Hi Gerry,

There are couple axes of potential fuzziness, in no small part because I have not memorized the info from a range of other ads and brochures I have on hand. I have enough pens and enough paper to do a profile or magazine article, but I have I fear many other things on my To Do list before sitting down to fully integrate the WASP material. I have some wonderful color material that details I believe every model/variant from the 1st Generation WASPS. Have not memorized it.

Trade catalogues can be a challenge to use as source. While I suspect the info in them comes mostly from manufacturers, I suspect there is risk for errors. Or, maybe not ;) This catalogue page comes from a trade catalogue so is not directly from Sheaffer.


Keep in mind that in the following "I don't recall" indicates dangerous terrain. I'm not sure I'll be able to help much here.

Anyway...

First, one quirk of the series is that one of the slender-long pens (maybe the plunger filler) uses a WASP Junior nib, while identical size pen with lever-filler uses WASP (Possibly #4) nib. IIRC both have same price code on barrel. Presumably, the Junior nib was a cheaper nib for Sheaffer (I need to measure the visible portion, but likely never will have chance to weigh one or measure thickness). I don't recall the pens being advertised as different tier/nice (the pen was not called a WASP Junior iirc). I've wondered if the plunger-filler cost Sheaffer a bit more cash to manufacture, and if it tried to save money on this very cheap pen by cutting corners on the nib, noting all other Sheaffer pens have same price though for the two filling systems.

The pen was offered in three diameter: slender, standard, oversize.

The ad shown above does not make clear which is which. Lady should be short/slender and looks that way in the above ad. The pen above it called "standard WASP clipper" actually looks like a long-slender despite the "standard" name in the trade catalogue.

That bottom "$1.25" pen looks like a standard-diameter WASP Clipper that typically had $2.95 price and matching 295 barrel code (once those numbers started use). I don't recall other ads showing $1.25 circuit-board pattern pens, and as this one is heftier than the smaller $1.95 pen, I do wonder about typo. Also note that in the SETS presentation, that the same name is applied to the set that costs more than the 1.95 pen. The $1.95 pen in set has $2.95 set price while the "$1.25" set has $3.95 set price.

So, while plenty of challenges lurk for me with this series, I do think that "$1.25" is an error.

I am truly overdue to offer at least a basic Profile on this sort, showing the sizes, colors, core prices, perhaps with a hint of 1st vs 2nd generation info.

regards

d