SHEAFFER RED

I need info about this RED SHEAFFER.

It's an oversize, flat top, 7-30 nib, no white dot.

The color is a vivid red, no orange or other (se wtih other Sheaffer)

It's a LOANER???

It is a Sheaffer Secretary with the nib that replaces the Secretary the 7-30. The pen should have a Secretary nib which was used on a special chased black hard rubber pen first in 1923. The red radite followed in 1925 and was used into 1927. The pen came in the usual three configurations: Clip (yours), Short Clip and Ringtop. In 1928 the Secretary was replaced by the 7-30 which was simply a $7 pen with a 30 year gauranty and only came in jade or black radite and only in the fullsized clip model.

Roger W.



Two full sized stickered models



Two sets of Secretaries



A Secretary ringtop with the other true red flattop - the pigmy

I need info about this RED SHEAFFER.\ It's an oversize, flat top, 7-30 nib, no white dot.\ The color is a vivid red, no orange or other (see wtih other Sheaffer)

It's a LOANER??

Fabbale, No not a Loaner. Rather a Secretary, cherry red celluloid, albeit with replaced nib. Congrats. You found a great pen. Nib should be "Sheaffer Secretary", not the "7-30", which itself is a pretty good nib, far less common as the nib for oversized non-Lifetime pens from its era. That your OS Secretary appears to be a clean pen puts it in the minority.

I offer you first our thread on Cherry Red Sheaffers. This covers a great deal of the terrain.

Thread on Cherry Red Sheaffer Pens from 1920s-30's

and a recent thread on a Mabie Todd Blackbird in similar color


http://fountainpenboard.com/forum/index.php?/topic/567-monster-mabie-todd-cherry-red-blackbird-photo

I will cite just a passage or two from the Cherry Red Sheaffer thread and show couple images. I have more shots of the Secretary, which I'll post during next couple days.

From the prior thread:

The red Sheaffers are items of significant cachet. They are scarce. They appear in niche categories: Loaner Secretary Pigmy. The bright red (quite unlike the orange of Parker's "BIg Red", etc) was not used in any major series by the four other members of the "big five", though Parker's low-tier (appearing in huge color range) Moderne did see this color. The color is... fragile, subject to discoloration and to cracks. It is not easy to find clean pens. I have a largely complete collection of pens, hard fought. At least the range is relatively limited. While I have a number of pens shot in the photo lab, showign some nice features in detail, I'll toss up this rough shot, done at one of the Syracuse Pen Club gatherings. My Sony tends to show saturated reds, so this one pops a bit.

regards

David

I wouldn't "correct" this pen by replacing the nib with a SECRETARY nib. The Brontosaurus problem.

--Daniel

I wouldn't "correct" this pen by replacing the nib with a SECRETARY nib. The Brontosaurus problem.

--Daniel

Daniel;

I've noted your recent trend of "don't replace anything because it might have come that way". You might be taking that to an extreme. Secretaries to 7-30's are one of the clear break moments for Sheaffer - they happen very seldom I would readily admit. I would also say with old time collectors and pen shows the damage is very likely already done - the horse is out of the barn problem. I take your point but there is absolutely no way of knowing if this red came with a 7-30 nib originally and I don't think we will ever be able to know. All we truly know is that it is a Secretary and they came with Secretary nibs any other configuration is either "late" or an anomoly.

Roger W.

I concur wholeheartedly with Daniel on this. In fact, I've been warning against hasty "correction" of apparent mismatches since 1993.

Daniel;

I've noted your recent trend of "don't replace anything because it might have come that way". You might be taking that to an extreme. Secretaries to 7-30's are one of the clear break moments for Sheaffer - they happen very seldom I would readily admit. I would also say with old time collectors and pen shows the damage is very likely already done - the horse is out of the barn problem.

Roger W.

And the more pens that are "corrected", the "cleaner" these breaks will seem. When I have a chance, I'll present some counterexamples that demonstrate that what are accepted as clean breaks -- or mismatches -- may not be.

--Daniel

And the more pens that are "corrected", the "cleaner" these breaks will seem. When I have a chance, I'll present some counterexamples that demonstrate that what are accepted as clean breaks -- or mismatches -- may not be.

--Daniel

Daniel;

Again, I take your point and Nishimura's warning. As much as we love those pens that are out of the norm proof that they truly are such, as in this case, is impossible to come by. Sheaffer Secretaries have a very small pool to compare to to start with. I think we also need to consider the time as flattops were offered in the Secretary under an economically stabile time period whereas the later 7-30 and other late flattops were not which also helps late and variance pens flourish. That large red flattops may have come with 7-30 nibs I will grant you but, prove it! The only thing we can say with certainty is what the standard configuration was in 1925 anything after that is conjecture on this pen. Other pens we have other configuration evidence to base an argument - see the difference? That fine point does not hold with this pen.

Roger W.

Thank you all. Very interesting what you think about the quest for originality and perfection or be on leave everything as is.

Sorry for gitch in formatting of my post, above. On one of my browsers, Invision Power seems to have difficult time with edits, inserting code willy nilly in the final output. I've fixed the text.

-d

I didn't have a decent shot of the hard rubber Secretary before. Production pieces are always black hard rubber but a model was produced in red and what a stunning pen it is!

Roger W.



Note the special chasing designed late 1923. The lower is an unused RSec"y (Full sized clip model - look at those bright clean threads!)