51 replies to this topic

[david i]

I've been attending the Washington DC Supershow for about 14 years. This year's show (August, as always) was solid. I enjoy this show, usually buying and selling old pens with some success, though the presence of serious and skilled competition for old pens means I usually bring home somewhat fewer pens than I do at some of the other shows. That's fine. All that "serious competition" are pen friends with whom I share meals and pen show-and tell We have a nice time at DC. This year the big thing was the public acknowledgement-- which took place at the traditional scotch-and-cigar nighttime patio party-- of the Black Pen Society. Prior to this acknowledgement, those who babbled too much about the organization tended to... disappear.

To see the Black Pen Society (run by His Grand Pewbs, Paul Erano) Facebook Page, log in to Facebook then goto this Facebook web address

https://www.facebook.com/blackpensociety

Too, my show took a bit of a surreal turn, when a longtime dealer took ill. I'd just flown home from my hospital work out west and after 14 straight 12 hour nights, was a bit groggy, but reflexes do take over. I'm thankful all turned out well. I ended up a bit distracted and probably did not maximize the pen haul, but I do have some nice show and tell for you.

So here is the challenge.

Can you ID the pens in the pics?

Can you identify interesting features, things that add cachet, rarity, etc?

Also, feel free of course to ask anything about the pens shown. I (and I hope other readers too), will do best to answer.

--------------------------------------------------------

Here is the first image of Davey's Pen Haul: Everything here ranges from interesting to awesome, no joke.

Have at it

regards

David

[david i]

Here is the 2nd image of Davey's Pen Haul: Note that the brown pen that looks like a Wahl-Eversharp Skyline has the word "DORIC" on the clip.

Can you ID the pens in the pics?

Can you identify interesting features, things that add cachet, rarity, etc?

Also, feel free of course to ask anything about the pens shown. I (and I hope other readers too), will do best to answer.

--------------------------------------------------------

Have at it...

regards

David

[david i]

Here is the 3rd image of Davey's Pen Haul: The Wahl-Eversharp Skyline is poorly imaged (And the cap is not cockeyed. The image is distorted at edges), but the pen is an all gold-filled version in the dart/chevron pattern. A better Skyline.

Can you ID the pens in the pics?

Can you identify interesting features, things that add cachet, rarity, etc?

Also, feel free of course to ask anything about the pens shown. I (and I hope other readers too), will do best to answer.

--------------------------------------------------------

Have at it...

regards

David

[david i]

Here is the 4th image of Davey's Pen Haul: The silver pen in the second slot from left actually was from the last show I attended, Raleigh (June 2013), but I never got around to showing it in detail so here it is.

Can you ID the pens in the pics?

Can you identify interesting features, things that add cachet, rarity, etc?

Also, feel free of course to ask anything about the pens shown. I (and I hope other readers too), will do best to answer.

--------------------------------------------------------

Have at it...

regards

David

[david i]

Here is the 5th image of Davey's Pen Haul:

This one is a bit special. The pens all are Sheaffer Thin Model Touchdown (TM TD) from 1951. Essentially mint, nearly all have special nibs.

The pen at left is a Point-of-Sale item, a working TM TD with Sheaffer's "rule of four" printed on barrel. It is one of the cleanest examples I've seen

The other pens special nibs include, Flex Fine, Flex Stub, Broad Flex, Broad, and so forth.

The flex and semi-flex pens (as per our discussions of 1952-9 Sheaffer Snorkel nibs found in other threads) lack a stamped line separating the white from yellow portions of the nib.

regards

David

[david i]

Here is the 6th image of Davey's Pen Haul:

My kind of find. An entire tray of mostly near-mint Sheaffer Balance (1930's) oversized parts. I have another tray at home of this sort. Caps and barrels that match will be fitted with levers and nib assemblies from donor pens. Whole pens will trickle into existence during, oh, a three-to-five year period. I love this stuff.

regards

David

[david i]

I forgot to shoot the three or four Parker 51 "first year" caps. That will have to wait for a couple weeks.

But, I will share this shot.

While showing my wee baby Growler to pen photographer Bill Reipl, I received a call from a nurse practitioner from my hospital out west. Caught up in the conversation, I didn't notice Bill take a candid Iphone shot.

So... A Doc and his semi-vintage Jag

regards

David

[AeRoberto]

1st tray, from the right there are three Vacumatic with the Vac band, the black one seems a Senior Maxima, while the green one seems a Slender Maxima and the golden one a Major. Then comes a Schnellspen (extremely clean, and in green jade, which I've never seen even in photo), then there is a barrel of a Balance, but I don't get the special feature (I don't have a lever fill Balance), maybe the cap threads indicate something.

I am too ignorant to recognize the last three, I guess Eversharp Plunger filler, but dunno the model. In the third tray I see a third generation Maxima (rarer than the 2nd generation), but it could be a Major, I'm not so good at recognizing proportions. Nearby there is a demonstrator (Eversharp?). Oh, and that Parker, is it a Duofold?

For the others, enlighten me.

P.S. Nice car

Edited by AeRoberto, 23 August 2013 - 12:08 PM.

[David Nishimura]

So, looking for a sterling Crest cap?

David

[Rocco P]

4th tray, 4th from the left it's a dual nib Quadretti Colorado, an italian pen (page 229 of the Jacopini book, vol. 1).
You can always find a couple at every italian pen show.
You should try to find a Zerollo or an Itala Cromograf now, so to have a mini collection of Italian double nib pens!

Edited by Paolino, 23 August 2013 - 02:32 PM.

[IPD_Mr.]

If that is a new Schnell in the first tray, I bet I know who would like to buy the one in your collection.


Nice Postal in tray three. I do not remember the manufacture, but I got to look at Alan Hirsch's pen like in tray three last year, the one that splits apart. The corals in tray two are wonderful looking.

Oh and the array of mint stickered black Snorkels does not elevate your standing in the BPS.

[matt]

1st tray, 1st four are Eversharp Secretaries in nice condition. They also show up in several marbled colors in addition to the webbed.
2nd tray, a sterling Crest pencil on the right. To match the barrel in the first tray?
3rd tray, a blue stripe Eversharp Airlite? Oops, Pacemaker.
4th tray, an Eagle P&P set in a Sheaffer-like green marble and a (Sheaffer) Univer pencil in a Waterman-like? plastic?
nice stuff!

Edited by matt, 29 August 2013 - 12:32 AM.

[spotted and speckled]

At the Miami Pen show, Paul Erano was inviting some lady who was looking at one of his B&W pens to join the Black Pen Society. She wanted to know about meeting and benefits if she joined. Paul told her there were no benefits other than being a member and maybe getting one of the cool lapel pins (?) he was having made. She looked confused, like, why join something with no benefits. I told her the Black Pen society members were the Illuminati of the Pen World. He didn't skip a beat, but nodded, and then looked at me like I had outed him. The lady politely said no thanks and said she had a funeral to go to and made for the door.

Lovely haul, David. I'm not sure which one would be my favorite.

[Shadow Wave]

1377280388[/url]' post='27866']
At the Miami Pen show, Paul Erano was inviting some lady who was looking at one of his B&W pens to join the Black Pen Society. She wanted to know about meeting and benefits if she joined. Paul told her there were no benefits other than being a member and maybe getting one of the cool lapel pins (?) he was having made. She looked confused, like, why join something with no benefits. I told her the Black Pen society members were the Illuminati of the Pen World. He didn't skip a beat, but nodded, and then looked at me like I had outed him. The lady politely said no thanks and said she had a funeral to go to and made for the door.

I overheard part of that! I didn't see the denouement, though.
The Carter in blue Pearltex in Tray Three is gorgeous. Must be a rare color?
The Univer pencil in turquoise and bronze is quite eyecatching -- you see the plastic in various off brand makes from time to time. I'd be very curious about what makes the Eagle set special; it looks like the kind of thing that would sit in a dealer's tray for years at $40 with no takers.

Nice Hyundai, BTW.

[david i]

So, looking for a sterling Crest cap?

David

David Nishimura has a good eye for pens. Who would've guessed?

Yeah, the silver-pearl (gray striped) Sheaffer barrel/section (no nib/cap) in middle of Image 1 is a scarce item, a silver capped (if the cap were included) 1937-ish Sheaffer Crest, with gray barrel. The gray-barrel-silver-cap Crest was a briefly offered thing and is a very desirable variant, trumped among the First Style Crest family only by the Crest Masterpiece Honor Pen. Most Crests of course have gold-filled cap

David, I do have a cap for this pen, as I bought an intact pen about a year back with clean but somewhat worn cap, but with well more worn barrel. This will be a barrel swap for that cap. That said, if anyone has a decent spare sterling silver crest cap, I would not mind having two complete pens.

regards

david

[david i]

1st tray, from the right there are three Vacumatic with the Vac band, the black one seems a Senior Maxima, while the green one seems a Slender Maxima and the golden one a Major. Then comes a Schnellspen (extremely clean, and in green jade, which I've never seen even in photo), then there is a barrel of a Balance, but I don't get the special feature (I don't have a lever fill Balance), maybe the cap threads indicate something.

I am too ignorant to recognize the last three, I guess Eversharp Plunger filler, but dunno the model. In the third tray I see a third generation Maxima (rarer than the 2nd generation), but it could be a Major, I'm not so good at recognizing proportions. Nearby there is a demonstrator (Eversharp?). Oh, and that Parker, is it a Duofold?

For the others, enlighten me.

P.S. Nice car

Nicely done

As per my note just before this to David Nishimura, the barrel you see in the Image 1 is not a barrel from a Sheaffer Balance (a 1929-1941 pen) but rather from a Sheaffer Crest, in particular the first style generally done from 1937-1941, though this particular color/metal done only in 1937 or so.

The 1st Style Crest can be readily differentiated from the Balance by presence of the hourglass gripping section with threads at end of section. As per my note to David, he gray-barrel-silver-cap Crest was a briefly offered thing and is a very desirable variant, trumped among the First Style Crest family only by the Crest Masterpiece Honor Pen. Most Crests of course have gold-filled cap

The Sterling cap for the Crest, which should match only to a gray stripe barrel is rare.

Indeed, there is a brown 3rd Gen Parker Vac Maxima, which is correct with the thin cap-band generally seen on Major. The cap-band switched when the third generation kicked in in 1942.

The Schnell is a monster. I won't repeat recent discussion on it, but I suggest you look at this very fresh two-page thread about Schnell, started by Ron Zorn. on the second page, I show my two jade color Schnells, along with some commentary.

http://fountainpenboard.com/forum/index.php?/topic/4799-once-in-a-while/

I'm not sure anyone previously has returned from a pen show with three of the scarce "Vac-Band" Parker Vacumatics, with cap-bands that have "Parker Vacumatic" marked on them. Happy David.

I'm not sure what you are suspecting of being a Demonstrator, but if you refer to the green pen with the big clear barrel, that is a Postal pen, noted for big clear barrels, but nearly always found black, not in Jade.

regards

David

[david i]

If that is a new Schnell in the first tray, I bet I know who would like to buy the one in your collection.


Nice Postal in tray three. I do not remember the manufacture, but I got to look at Alan Hirsch's pen like in tray three last year, the one that splits apart. The corals in tray two are wonderful looking.

Oh and the array of mint stickered black Snorkels does not elevate your standing in the BPS.

Hi,

While the oversize Jade Schnell will go into my collection, I cannot offer the smaller one. I would have kept it too, but I promised it to the family of the original owner.

The double-pen is a Colorado, once thought by many to be a vintage Omas product, but now known not to be.

regards

david

[david i]

SNIP

The Carter in blue Pearltex in Tray Three is gorgeous. Must be a rare color?
The Univer pencil in turquoise and bronze is quite eyecatching -- you see the plastic in various off brand makes from time to time. I'd be very curious about what makes the Eagle set special; it looks like the kind of thing that would sit in a dealer's tray for years at $40 with no takers.

Nice Hyundai, BTW.

Clean Blue Pearltex Carter pens are not so common. This one does not have perfect color, but it has quite decent color.

Yeah, before finding this one I'd never seen a Univer (a Sheaffer sub-brand) in blue/bronze. Now if only I could find the matching pen.

The Eagle is interesting, because it is a Sheaffer Balance knockoff, and literally resulted in a lawsuit against it by Sheaffer, which Eagle... lost. Its merit lies in the Sheaffer connection.

regards

david

[AeRoberto]

Nicely done

As per my note just before this to David Nishimura, the barrel you see in the Image 1 is not a barrel from a Sheaffer Balance (a 1929-1941 pen) but rather from a Sheaffer Crest, in particular the first style generally done from 1937-1941, though this particular color/metal done only in 1937 or so.

The 1st Style Crest can be readily differentiated from the Balance by presence of the hourglass gripping section with threads at end of section. As per my note to David, he gray-barrel-silver-cap Crest was a briefly offered thing and is a very desirable variant, trumped among the First Style Crest family only by the Crest Masterpiece Honor Pen. Most Crests of course have gold-filled cap

The Sterling cap for the Crest, which should match only to a gray stripe barrel is rare.

Indeed, there is a brown 3rd Gen Parker Vac Maxima, which is correct with the thin cap-band generally seen on Major. The cap-band switched when the third generation kicked in in 1942.

The Schnell is a monster. I won't repeat recent discussion on it, but I suggest you look at this very fresh two-page thread about Schnell, started by Ron Zorn. on the second page, I show my two jade color Schnells, along with some commentary.

http://fountainpenbo...nce-in-a-while/

I'm not sure anyone previously has returned from a pen show with three of the scarce "Vac-Band" Parker Vacumatics, with cap-bands that have "Parker Vacumatic" marked on them. Happy David.

I'm not sure what you are suspecting of being a Demonstrator, but if you refer to the green pen with the big clear barrel, that is a Postal pen, noted for big clear barrels, but nearly always found black, not in Jade.

regards

David

I've just peeked in the other page, I'm really amazed, the Schnell is a wonderful find, but I have a question, the first pen on the left of the second tray, it should be a Parker, but I can't recognize the model, is it a prototype? At a first glance it looked like a lockdown Vacumatic Junior, but the color and the ink window are obviously not of a Vacumatic.

Edited by AeRoberto, 24 August 2013 - 09:33 AM.

[Rick Krantz]

one more reason to get to a pen show. I saw most of these in real life. I even sold one or two to David in those trays. I do like the Schnell, that is a monster! the rule of 4 is super sharp, hardly seen that nice. Either way, for retail stock, or the collection, you made the most of the DC show. Good times, for sure. And I like that blue pacemaker, for those that know, they are terrifically difficult to find... nice.