INVITATION TO NEW PEN BOARD: The Fountain Pen Board.

I've involved in the creation of a new pen board for discussion/sales etc.

Please peek in

http://www.fountainpenboard.com

also as

http://www.fpnuts.com (because we'd have to be, and because the URL is shorter)

Found a Monster Sheaffer WASP collection at Raleigh

  Click on the pic to open in new page, then click on it (if your browser shrinks to fit) to see full size.

Had Great Time at Raleigh Pen Show

Thanks to Terry et al for a quite nice Raleigh Pen Show.

Embassy Suites continues to provide what I consider the best hotel environs for pen shows. Huge lounge space for downtime, nice unlimited breakfast incorporated into reasonable room rate. Unbelievable rooms (easily can house three roomies for the show), easy access to everything in the show scene, nice bar, pool, gym, etc.

The auction was great, figure a month hunting ebay compressed into two hours.

Had by far my best pen finding during the 5-6 years the show has run.  The WASP collection posted yesterday at the heart of it, I also found some killer Sheaffer Snorks and couple less-common TM Touchdown pens.

Added two items to my own collection:  1920-ish Parker metal pen in Brocade pattern and 1950-ish Sheaffer Crest Masterpiece (solid gold caps) lever-fill set with  charming inscription.

I look forward to next year

May 2010 Vacumania Website Update is Online. Snorkel Overload

Hi,

The May 2010 Vacumania.com website update is online.  50 or so Sheaffer Snorks and related pens (PFM, TM TD) in great shape, including high end models and "rare" colors.

Direct link to the new stock alone:

http://www.vacumania.com/websitesales/newpens.htm

Direct link to the Sheaffer 1950's page, showing the above pens plus prior related stock, newly organized (albeit roughly by either model class or color)

http://www.vacumania.com/websitesales/forsalesheafferpfm.htm

The Vacumania home page

http://www.vacumania.com

Thanks for peeking in. I doubt I'll do another 1950's Sheaffer update of this sort anytime soon, as this drains most of my lurking stock, though pens of this sort always trickle in.  I am at work on another Parker 51 update similar to the Dec 08 "230 pen" update and am at work on pendom's overwhelmingly most massive offering of 1940's Sheaffers, though both these updates are months off.

Happy to answer questions at isaacson@frontiernet.net and indeed shortly should for first time have an email at the vacumania.com address itself.

Boy, I'm tired.

regards

PREVIEW: May 2010 Website Sales Update: "Snorkel Mayhem"

Well, the last Update took 4 months to get online. This one... merely a month. I'm catching up on "real life" and on pen stuff. Spent a few nights up last week sorting 1000 old pens either ready for updates, back from restorers awaiting focused updates, ready for shipment for restoration, or (sob) ready for the parts bin. The house gains order.

Anway, this update features a killer focus on 1950's Sheaffers, largely Snorks (including better models and colors of high cachet). The Peris already were claimed from want lists (two of four want lists with them now served).  I should have the update online in couple days and will announce.

Meanwhile, please peruse the image preview.


http://www.vacumania.com/websitesales/newpens.htm

regards

david isaacson
isaacson@frontiernet.net
http://www.vacumania.com

What can I say, all in three weeks, and one on the way. Happy David.

None in couple-few years, then these in a month, with one more on the way. You know what they are, right?  Two Parker Vacuum-Filler true Demonstrators, and a Vacumatic "Crystal".    El Zorno does good work, though I shall have to give him some grief (cheerful grief) about the middle pen. Clearly, something needs trimming there. 

Yeah, everyone wants Maximas. No worries- I  too like Maximas. But this stuff is grand.

Grand Time at Chicago Pen Show

No pics yet...


Been quite a week. Left work after long run of night shifts for flight two hours later. Brutal turbulence both to layover at JFK and final leg to Chicago for the big pen show. At least I enjoyed couple hours down time in Jet Blue's JFK terminal at Deep Blue, a quite nice sushi bar. Lack of sleep, Caffeine withdrawal, bouncing plane and funny sleeping angle in airplane seat left me well under weather when I arrived at the Westin O'Hare late at 6pm. Slept all night.

As always great to see the pen show crowd though a bit smaller this year than in years past. The most different Esterbrook wedding tonight marked a high point, and Joel Hamilton's work officiating raised the possibility that he missed his true calling.

Even having missed the earliest of early trading (Thurs, while still I was in the air), so far I've found that Chicago has held its own as a top notch source for pen hunting. I found a few for my collection and more than a few for other use down the road ;)   Might be my best hunting yet at Chi.

What sort?

Sheaffer OS Balance "super" Autograph with non-catalog extra wide solid gold cap-band.
Several OS Balances including Marine Green (mottled) Marine Green Autograph and Black with high flex nib.

Wahl OS Gold Seal flattop sets in Brazilian Green and in Black/Pearl
Wahl Coronet set (with Duobonnet inserts) in the best shape i've seen, never mind owned.

Oh, a bunch of Vacumatic Maximae, Red (water clear barrel), Blue, Black(s) and Green
Vacumatic Major and Junior with Flex Nib

Non-Catalog Parker 51 Vacumatic in Navy Gray (Vac era pens were catalogued as Dove Gray)... oh yeah, Near Mint/Mint

51 Demo

Black/Burgundy Streamline Duofold Sr.

Bit uncommon stubby Waterman 55-V with flex nib

Wahl Skyline Executive with broad stub nib.

Solid Gold Sheaffer Snorkel Masterpiece (finally)

all gold-filled Sheaffer Snorkel Triumph stickered near mint

Conway Stewart vintage 51 set in box. Candy Stripe pattern

Solid Gold late Sheaffer Masterpiece

Mint Sheaffer Oblique Broad Triumph nib

Many 1940's Sheaffers, Parker 51's, Vacumatics etc.

and about 70 others.

Having great time. Who knows, perhaps tomorrow will sell a few to replenish the devastated wallet ;)

regards

david

Finally... A Website Update with Many Fresh Old Pens for Sale:

Not much more to add:  Do take a peek.

http://www.vacumania.com/websitesales/newpens.htm

-david

Stylus Mag Treats Old Pens Well.

Hi,

Just home from Atlanta Pen Show and had quite nice time. Picked up some remarkable old pens, and will discuss later, when have time to come up for air. Just about have the next website update up (finally having time again to play with website updates). Just finished text/pics for summer Stylus Mag article. Took more time than expected.

For Summer Stylus issue, I put together a few words on the Sheaffer-Lenox desk sets of 1959. To best of my knowledge, this is the first formal examination of these done in pendom. I recently learned I own all 8 bases, and all are shown in the article, along with significant fresh-to-me catalogue data courtesy of Roger Wooten and Sam Marshall. Here's a sample, one of 11 or so photos in the spread.



I just picked up my copy of the Spring issues, while at Atlanta. I've been doing photos for the mag since the inception, but started contributing a regular column- "Nitty Gritty" (the isaacson approach to pen collecting, I guess) with this Spring issue. Thanks kindly to Nancy for the editorial mentioning contributors including gang-of-four, Paul, Ron, Richard and me. The Spring issue has big article on Snorks by Paul, copiously photo-illustrated and captioned by yers truly. My wee article on Wahl's Equi-poised Purse Pen too I suspect is the first print treatment of that pen. Photos in that one including pens from my collection, Cliff Harrington's and Allen Besser's. Ron Zorn's article on pen repair triage is there too.

I credit Stylus. The mag has a *large* content oriented to the collector, including pen reviews, vintage collecting articles, ink/writing, etc. And, I'll make the push that subscription is a good thing. The website is

http://www.stylusmag.com

Update on Vacumania.com Catastrophic Crash...

Hi,

The site rather died about a week ago.  Having now aimed my domain name at a highly reliable server recommended by Richard and Ron, I'm nearly done reloading the entire site, happily backed up save for a couple hundred long-sold pen image that were lost from backup with a drive crash couple years back, though might yet be hiding on another drive (i'll check when home this week).

Please be patient. In day or three the site should be up fully again.

regards

david
http://www.vacumania.com

The Vacumania Website... Crashed ;)

Well, my website seems down for solid day or more now. Been way busy at work, but looks like it is time to move my site to a more solid host. Hope to do that at end of week. Hope the darn site is up anyway before then.

-david

Another Off-Catalogue Double-Capband 1930's Sheaffer Balance

Picked this one up at the Ohio Pen Show. 

Again, Sheaffer catalogued Balance with with single smooth capband,  mostly gold-filled and fewer solid gold.

The double capband is quite uncommon.  This one is a "stubby" (a short standard-girth pen) in mottled Marine Green.  A clean example, this is the first I've seen in this size/color mix, although when hunting items that in total show up couple-few times a year, one will slowly  find "new" color/size variants, no doubt.

Sorry not been around much lately...

My jump to 12 hour night shifts at hospital and some politics of late have kept me swamped. Life now sorts itself out, and I hope to post blog notes more frequently.

-david

A most unusual 1930's (?) - 1940's Sheaffer

Picked this up a while ago. Goes well with my *striped* gray non-WD version. Daniel has a WD brown striper. A most unusual Sheaffer, one most here perhaps have not seen before. It is imprinted "Sheaffer"

Think about what makes it a bit off the beaten path for Sheaffer from that era.

An anomalous Sheaffer Balance

Sheaffer's Balance is the second most prevalent pen in my own collection, following Vacumatic. While I do not hunt it with the same completist bent seen with my Vac collection, I nonetheless greatly enjoy finding "better" pens  and of course unusual variants. Catalogued Balances feature a single cap-band usually of (variable) medium girth, save for the wider solid gold "autograph" band.

My wee hoard of pens with uncatalogued cap-bands includes those with the wide "jeweler's" milled band, double and triple deco band,  and fish-scale band. The double, triple, and fishscale pens are far more uncommon than the other cap-band patterns.

So, I was very happy when at the recent Philadelphia Pen Show, during my final minutes there, I found a variant Sheaffer Balance I'd never seen before.  The contour is that of the humble petite Balance, the slender extra-short model.

http://vacumania.com/penteech2/sheafferbalancejadedoubleband850a.jpg

This is the first pen I've seen in Jade celluloid to have a double cap-band.

And, amongst pens I've seen with the double cap-band, this is the first i've seen with smooth bands, the others having decorative pattern.

A neat find, no doubt.

regards

David

An email with a Vacumatic question

This email arrived today:

Hello David,

Is it possible for  a 2d. generation 'Made in Canada' Burgundy Pearl Senior Max. to be correct with 2 black jewels?

Your assistance is appreciated,

Response:

It is... unlikely, though always hard to have absolutes, especially for Canadian pens.

USA Pens by mid 1939 all at first glance seem to have black bottom jewel, which really is not that. Rather it is a pseudojewel actually with target pattern, as by this time Parker no longer (in USA) made true bottom jewel with removable tassie, instead cutting the blind cap to a point to look like a jewel and press fitting a tassie over that.  In good light the blind cap fake jewel shows concentric target stripes just as if you looked edge on to smooth later blind cap.

USA high line pens had striped top jewel still (except blue of course) through mid 1942, so all 2nd gen pens through 1941 should have matching top jewel on high line pen.

It is not clear that Canada ever went to the pseudojewel. I have seen late 1941 pens and even early 1942 double jewel pens from there with removable bottom jewel.  Most Canadian pens I see, even late 1941 have striped/matching top jewel. But, again I have seen even early 1942 Double Jewel pens from Canada (unlike USA) and sometimes they have black jewels both ends, even on high line pens.

I'd be curious about your pen's date code, but generally if before 1942, a matching jewel on top (and probably both jewels for Canadian pens) would be expected... at least to some degree.

That the pen is Canadian removes some of the sting from the lack of matching jewels, because unlike pens from USA, particularly for late issue double jewel pens, the rules are a bit less clear.