Sheaffer Flat Top, What have I bought.

[kirchh]

I've been pondering whether to call that style of Junior a "streamlined flat-top" in the mode of Parker's '30s Duofolds. If I do so publicly, I'll be very careful to keep it in lower case letters

While it is commonly called truncated I wouldn't have a problem with streamlined flat-top though, it is a carry over from another brand. We do have a huge problem with the Parker carryover in general due to the fact that they actually had the gall to call their short duofold "junior" which is why so many people call the SC Sheaffer models "juniors". Sheaffer actually called particular other pens juniors and short flattops aren't them.

Roger W.

Terminological crossover is a problem -- witness the generic use of "Flighter" and "Signet" for pens of brands other than Parker. This cripples the expressive power of the terminology by broadening it excessively (and misleadingly).

--Daniel

[david i]

Mapping of terminology from one pen/series/brand to others offers both advantages and disadvantages to the structure of collecting. Terminology crossover thus offers good and bad. Best not to be too concrete about it.

-david

[kirchh]

An article I wrote and shared a while back about Sheaffer's defense of its Balance design patent has some examples of W. A. Sheaffer's use of the term "flat tops" to refer to pens we call flat tops.

--Daniel

[david i]

I'm glad we provoked some data. That's usually how it has to happen when some play...

-David

[kirchh]

David;

A flat top also has flat sides. Perhaps we should be calling them "flat ended cylidricals" that would be much clearer to aliens intercepting our transmissions.

Roger W.

An appropriate observation, in particular in view of certain other discussions. NPD has challenges, one of them being grappling with labeling, and retrospective designations complicate things further. Sometimes it takes some study to discern things accurately.

Sheaffer did a reasonable job overall with new product names, I think, but there were some interesting wrinkles along the way at times.

--Daniel

[david i]

Actually, a flat top is independent of shape of sides.

Just sayin'...

-David

[kirchh]

Paul -

I'll also observe that the gripping section on your pen is of an earlier style that is consistent with the nib.

--Daniel

[david i]

Ok so if it is a 3-25SC, then if I understand it correctly it has the wrong cap, what would the correct cap look like.

Thanks

Paul

Who said it has the wrong cap?

--Daniel

Why would anyone have to have said it has the wrong cap?

-David

[david i]

A useful image regarding the use of industry/hobby jargon vs actual geometry regarding flat tops.

Note how the lack of square, "flat" sides or of overall cylindrical shape (were these 3-D images) do not impact the flatness of the top.

regards

david

[kirchh]

Sheaffer's apparent penchant for implicitly demeaning their competitors' products by positioning lower-line items as parallels in some way with others' higher-end products might also be in evidence with the shaping -- and not only the naming -- of the semi-Balance Junior. That model, one of Sheaffer's least expensive, was only "semi-" -- a "semi-Balance", merely "semi-streamlined". But its top (and bottom) were tapered in a manner generally similar to the top and bottom of the "Streamlined" top-of-the-line Parker flagship, the Parker Duofold. The similarity in the tapered but truncated shape of the tops of those two makers' models might have served to pull down the prestige and modernity of the Duofold, or so Sheaffer might have hoped.

--Daniel

[david i]

Note that what we call semi-streamlining was a big thing in the 1930's, no doubt in part to escape Sheaffer's litigious tendencies. The Gold Bond Hercules and (get this, 10 years before Sheaffer used the name) Triumph were semi-streamlined in 1930, mimicking Parker. One can hypothesize a range of intentions for Sheaffer, which need not be mutually exclusive, but it certainly is possible that with the introduction of Sheaffer Junior in the early-mid 1930's, that Sheaffer did not wish to use the word/concept "Junior" with its lofty Balance line, thus offering what appears to be a chopped Balance, permitting separation from Balance, while going with the hot streamlining trend. By mid-later 1936, Junior of course would be incorporated in the Balance line. Too bad, really.

Note, do see PENnant's next issue (free with annual membership to Pen Collectors of America) for a defining article about Gold Bond pens from 1930, including the Triumph)

As to Duofold by Parker, it is worth noting that with what might be Sheaffer Junior's peak appearance in company info (a hefty catalogue), Duofold already was old news, and Sheaffer Junior had little in common with Parker's ascendant Vacumatic. It is likely, to degree Sheaffer's blue generally was an "earlier" color, that Junior appeared before the 1935 catalogue showing. Perhaps someone has that info? Will it be volunteered, hidden, or provoked? Heh. It is known that Sheaffer was a bit insecure about Parker, going to lengths including publishing pamphlets noting why Balance was better than sacless pens (suggestive of Vac) even while racing to play catch up to introduce its own sacless pens.

Parker did a much more comprehensive stratification of niche/cachet by series within the brand than did Sheaffer. Sheaffer by the mid 1930's had a wide range of Balance pens covering prices at least $3.50-3.75 or so right up to $20+ for gold appointed pens, perhaps up to $80 if solid gold Masterpiece actually preceded catalogue appearances (hey, whaddoEyeknow? I just dabble at Sheaffer, though I probably sell more old Sheaffers than anyone), relegating the low end to Junior and to a an evolving range of sub-brand pens that largely hid their Sheaffer connection. Parker offered several distinct families of pens representing tiers/price-point/cachet, and pretty well correlating to position in company catalogues, in which all the series were represented (unlike Sheaffer with its low price sub-brands). Parker in 1935 offered Vacumatic from $5-10, Challenger Family pens below that, and Parkette Family pens priced below Challenger. Balance was rather more all over the place.

-d

[david i]

So, no one wants to suggest the tops of these shapes are not flat?

regards

david

[kirchh]

The Sheaffer Juniors are an interesting item, with their tapered tops; Sheaffer used a similar design for their secondary line Vacuum-Fil Junior model, though the top of that pen, in addition to being tapered, also had a bevel and a squat cone. A later wartime WASP uses the simpler form of the earlier Sheaffer Junior, with a tapered and truncated top. Some other makers' pens had more elaborate tops during the '30s; some versions of the Wahl-Eversharp Coronet had a top that displayed an Art Deco flair that evoked the top of the Chrysler Building, with contrasting triangular inlays and staggered shapes; the Coronet bore one of the most distinctive and recognizable tops of any pen model, I would say.

Sheaffer was not above imitation itself, of course; it's earliest metal mechanical pencils had a top that mimicked the top of the then-dominant Eversharp pencil; the top had a flare edged in a decorative design quite similar to that of the top of the Eversharp item. Sheaffer later changed the pencil top to a simpler inverted bell shape devoid of ornamentation.

Parker appears to have been experimenting with all sorts of shapes when streamlining became the rage; along with variations of the tapered top, more radical designs were also looked at. And speaking of tops, the Duofold book shows a prototype pen with a cap having a squat, bulging barrel-shaped top edged with a gold band, though the date of this example is unknown.

--Daniel

[david i]

Do check out PENnant Magazine, free with subscription to Pen Collectors of America.

Since, we speak of beveled-end Sheaffer sub-brands, I note I had the charm last year to be the first person to bother doing a comprehensive article on the bevel-top Sheaffer sub-brand pens done in the Celluloid pattern known to collectors as Screaming Souls in Purgatory. They are fun pens. I'm impressed how many Sheaffer people seem to ignore them. Amazing how just dabbling can lead to articles.

Considering I'm just a wee Hack Amateur Newbie, I remain amazed no one else ever bothered to review these Sheaffer-made Vacuum, WASP Vacuum-Fil, and WASP Clipper pens.

We can talk about the Sheaffer Canadian Balance-era pens another time, though that article, what with being two years old already shows up in PCA's two-year-lag PENnant Archive

https://www.pencollectorsofamerica.c...=date&dir=DESC

Then we have the off-catalogue Balance cap-bands. Good thing I bought an interesting document (a non-Sheaffer jeweler's catalogue) featuring those pens. Backchannel charm. Plenty in the mag to lend context to those pens. And, I had the added charm of keeping that paper out of the hands of the hoarders.

With Fountain Pen Board (FPnuts) the place to focus on old pens, we have had some lengthy chats about Sheaffer Sub-Brands. Here is one about the Screamers.

http://www.fountainpenboard.com/foru...a-yeah-really/

Here be a pretty comprehesive Sheaffer (and non-Scheaffer) Screamer collection. Note how some are single-bevel, some double




regards

david

[david i]

I still haven't figured out how-- given my casual interest in Sheaffer compared to Parker-- i managed to end up with a better collection of off-catalogue cap-band Sheaffer Balances than even the Very Serious Sheaffer dudes. But, I don't complain about Lady Fortune. Those mini-collections (or would that be focused-collections) are the charm.

-d

[david i]

Ok so if it is a 3-25SC, then if I understand it correctly it has the wrong cap, what would the correct cap look like.

Thanks

Paul

Who said it has the wrong cap?

--Daniel

Why would anyone have to have said it has the wrong cap?

Crickets...?

-d

[kirchh]

Other makers also produced pens with interesting tops. Waterman's "checkbook" pen had a flared top; their earlier pens with color-coded nib styles had caps with a colored band at the top; and a legendary rare Waterman model incorporated a Stanhope (tiny photographic slide) in the top of the cap showing an image of the Waterman headquarters in New York City (here's an example in David Nishimura's catalog). Parker had its "turban top" models, which had tops with decorative roping designs and other embellishments.

--Daniel

[david i]

Ah, charming old news, those funny pen cap top shapes.

Do check out next issue of PENnnant. I took another cover and touch on just this subject.

Here are some cap mutations away from the cylindrical...



regards

david

[david i]

Ok so if it is a 3-25SC, then if I understand it correctly it has the wrong cap, what would the correct cap look like.

Thanks

Paul

Who said it has the wrong cap?

--Daniel

Why would anyone have to have said it has the wrong cap?

Crickets...?

-d

[Jon Szanto]

Ok so if it is a 3-25SC, then if I understand it correctly it has the wrong cap, what would the correct cap look like.

Thanks

Paul

Who said it has the wrong cap?

--Daniel

Why would anyone have to have said it has the wrong cap?

Crickets...?

-d

David, with all due respect, these repeated identical posts border on spam. If it is a technical glitch, I might understand. Otherwise, I think you made your point.

I might be jet-lagged from a quick turn-around trip to NYC, but it seemed worth noting. I enjoy the information on the pens, as always, but...