A key sticking point has been caps found for Statesman vs Sovereign (the 1947+ non-bead-band, indeed post-bead-band-era variant).
It is brutal even setting the stage for discussion for someone new to the era or question at hand, given the huge amount of "required" context.
Still, I wish to address one key point and to toss off a question/challenge that might (maybe, perhaps, possibly, tentatively) shed light on the question.
The Question:
Why does Statesman 1945-1948 ($10 pen) sometimes appear with the cap (specifically the cap-band) documented by Sheaffer for the lower priced Sovereign ($8.75 pen) ?
Observations:
1) Sovereign, non-bead-band, is a relatively late player with the very crowded field of post-War, pre-Touchdown (thus 1945-1948, or 1945-1947 counting only celluloid variants). The bead-band Sovereign, the only white-dot bead-band pen was discontinued in fall 1947, replaced by the non-bead-band (normal-lip) version. Images:
Original Post-War Sovereign (also called Sovereign II, as there was a Balance Sovereign earlier)
Late 1947-1948 Sovereign II (now with normal-lip, but found- generally vs always- lacking white dot). This one is injection-plastic so dates to 1948.
Note that the Sovereign gains the conventional cap lip, seemingly loses the white dot and features "lower line" open nib instead of conical Triumph nib.
2) Complicating the above, is that the 1947 Sheaffer Workbook, shows the normal-lip Sovereign to have a white dot cap, though othewise pretty much as shown just above as the blue pen.
3) There are Tuckaway equivalents to Sovereign and Statesman, though given their different names (not called Statesman Tuckaway, etc) and uncertain times of issue, it is not clear that Sheaffer treated them exactly as niche equivalents to the full size pens. Still, the issues I raise seems to apply to them as well.
4) Sheaffer's pen one price point above the Sovereign is the Statesman. It has similar shape, but has conical Triumph nib, probably was released "well" before the normal-lip Sovereign, perhaps going back to the start of the post-War era, early 1945. Note Statesman in comparison to the late-introduced Sovereign. Statesman is a more expensive pen, has the upscale Triumph nib, is White Dot, yet has thinner normal-lip cap than does the cheaper Sovereign. That is... odd... though of course we recognize Sheaffer was able to do whatever it wanted. Still, this seems to violate usual trend of "fancier trim for more upscale pens".
$10 Statesman, as catalogued.
Compare to $8.75 Sovereign, as usually found, though I do note the caveat that the 1947 Workbook shows the pen with white dot, something I've not seen in the wild, and a key point/question to which I'll return. Note that the cap-band shown above is thinner than the cap-band of the cheaper Sovereign , below. Note that lever fillers tend to have longer barrels.
5) Matt raised the point in our earlier chat that white-dot, triumph-nib, $10 Statesman pens do turn up with the wider-lip shown for the cheaper Sovereign.
Here again is Statesman with the catalogued thinner band:
And a picture I lifted from ebay, from a seller showing no evidence of being a pen person, showing Statesman but with the wider cap-lip usually attributed to cheaper Sovereign
6) I vaguely recall Daniel mentioning that the normal-lip (post-bead-band) Sovereign allowed for several variants, given the catalogue shows a Lifetime (open) nib and White Dot. Presumably, since the pens I find in the wild are non-white-dot (unlike the catalogue images) and non-Lifetime nib, one can imagine forms including: a- White-Dot/Lifetime-nib, b- White-Dot non-Lifetime-nib, c- Non-White-Dot with Lifetime nib, and d- Non White Dot non Lifetime nib. Indeed, a prior thread stared with Matt's posting a non-white-dot pen with lifetime nib. But all this assumes the catalogue accurately shows the Sovereign when portraying it with white dot.
7) I looked through my hoard of 1940's Sheaffers. All the pre-Touchdown Sovereigns have NON-WHite Dot cap
End Observation
Again, consider the core question:
Why does Statesman 1945-1948 ($10 pen) sometimes appear with the cap (specifically the cap-band) documented by Sheaffer for the lower priced Sovereign ($8.75 pen) ?
Cue the speculation/challenge/questions
Have you seen Sovereign in the wild actually packing the white dot cap... ever?
If so, does it seem to have "early" or "late" features for barrel, nib, assuming we have those details straight?
Daniel, have you seen up to four types of Sovereign (Mixes of WD and Non-WD, LT and non LT nibs) or is that speculation, assuming of course I correctly recall your point?
I wonder if the White Dot cap never was used for Sovereign, despite being shown with it in the Sheaffer catalogue. Since Sovereign was being (thus, per speculation) released with lip wider than Sovereign but with no white dot, it is possible Sheaffer just used that basic cap for both models starting in fall 1947, just adding the white dot when used for the more expensive Statesman, giving us the "wider" lip Statesman seen in the green striped pen above, and unifying the cap-lip diameter for the two lines. Thus, early Statesman had thinner cap-lip, later Statesman had wider lip (which has been the general speculation, independent of explanation).
If a white dot cap was (presumably briefly) used with Sovereign (which IS after all how it is catalogued), then when giving up the white dot (a brief run given that Oct 1947 appears to be the intro for the non bead band Sovereign, given that most if not all the epns I see are NON white dot, and given that celluloid was discontinued shortly later in 1948), it certainly is reasonable that either left-over caps were used either to replace the previous thinner-band caps on Statesman (they fit), or were used in parallel simply as leftover parts. The pen still would meet standards, having a white dot and compatible thread, independent of lip size.
But, while any of us can mix together a pen, my first question is if any of you have found int he wild actual Sovereign pens with white dot caps. I believe I have not.
regards
David
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