10 replies to this topic

[penmanila]

i got a box from the states the other day and in it were some very nice vacs--a golden-pearl senior max that i had taken a chance on on ebay (blurred pic esp. around the crucial band area, but the nib and general contour looked right--nice broad-ish two-tone nib); a golden web that i picked up from a former pen repairman here in manila for $100 (but which cost nearly as much more to fit with a good lockdown filler and a replacement blind cap); and an emerald-green true slender max i got off ebay but had to find a new speedline filler for). all repair work was done satisfactorily by danny fudge.





while i was putting these pens away in their proper cases, my eye was caught by two other vacs i've had that, i think, don't get as much respect and attention as the maximas and oversizes, but nevertheless possess their own kind of (streamlined) beauty. you guessed it, they're streamlined standards in excellent shape (the green one sports a star clip, too): note how typically tighter the three cap bands on the black canadian-made streamlined standard are, compared to the US green one.

[NABodie]

Very nice indeed!

[penmanila]

thanks, norwood! you have some pretty nice ones yourself i'm hoping the good dr. i, when he's not too busy, can round up all his streamlined standards for a family portrait, since this is the vac i think we tend to know very little about. what colors and clips, etc. went with these?

[NABodie]

Thank you Sir. One of the interesting things about vac are the oddities that turn up.

[david i]

thanks, norwood! you have some pretty nice ones yourself i'm hoping the good dr. i, when he's not too busy, can round up all his streamlined standards for a family portrait, since this is the vac i think we tend to know very little about. what colors and clips, etc. went with these?

Ohhh, that could be dangerous

At least fifteen pens from the USA (three clips five colors), just among the double jewel. Then there are the late SJ third gen "short" streamlined Standards apparently 1945-7 zone. And so on. The tight Canadian ring pattern always adds charm.

-d

[matt]

Here's an odd one found on ebay. 1946, olive-y green. So why is it double jewel? I think it started out as a single jewel; the blind cap has a different taper right under the edge of the tassie, making the tassie a bit too big. But it was very well done - the blind cap has a shoulder for the tassie to sit on and is threaded to accept the black jewel; it's not a bull's eye pseudo-jewel.

[david i]

Here's an odd one found on ebay. 1946, olive-y green. So why is it double jewel? I think it started out as a single jewel; the blind cap has a different taper right under the edge of the tassie, making the tassie a bit too big. But it was very well done - the blind cap has a shoulder for the tassie to sit on and is threaded to accept the black jewel; it's not a bull's eye pseudo-jewel. Would be curious to examine the blind cap's end, to see how tassie fits, etc.

Hi Matt,

Putting aside the perhaps undisprovable (but still unhelpful) "Hey, how can we know the factory didn't do that one day", some thoughts...

There are late "short" streamlined Standard pens, essentially major/junior barrel, junior nib, cap of junior/major length with triple band and no white dot. All I've seen date- I believe- to 1945-7. As with earlier Stacked Coin Band and Jeweler's Band pens, I had figured these were not issued in green, though since that initial assumption I've seen total 3-4 green pens of this sort. But, as you note, one would expect single jewel this late.

First, check the main cap's length. If it is "long" Major length it is likely a cap swap on later barrel (not that this explains the double jewel). Assuming proper proportions and matching olivey green (vs earlier blue-green) hue, then need ask if blind cap has matching hue. If so, this is challenge, as a swap from double jewel USA pen would have earlier blue-green hue (made 1941 or earlier). However... I have seen double jewel canadian pens as late as late 1942, iirc. Unlike USA-made pens all with pseudo-jewel by mid 1939 (and all Juniors have it), the Canadian pens after 1939 still have true jewel with threads and non-press-fit tassie. I s'pose...

-david

[matt]

David,

The cap, barrel, and overall length are the same as a single jewel Jr/post '42 Major. The cap, barrel, and blind cap are the same olive-y green. Jr-sized nib. Just one of those mysteries.

Matt

[Bart]

... with triple band and no white dot. ...

Interesting. Did Vacs ever come with white dots? (I'm a novice and have only seen white dots on Sheaffers...)

[david i]

Interesting. Did Vacs ever come with white dots? (I'm a novice and have only seen white dots on Sheaffers...)

Well, i've seen some that had the diamond painted white..

Or... oops.

-d

[FarmBoy]

Well, i've seen some that had the diamond painted white..

Or... oops.

-d

Sheafferian slip no doubt.

Or

Snorkel on the brain?

Or

Dave scores a Touchdown?

Or

Triumph!