By Mike Stevens
One of the most interesting things Bill brought back from the Chicago show wasn't a pen. Pen-related, yes, and in what I would consider to be an exciting way. There seems to be a recent upsurge in the offering of reprinted advertising and promotional materials from the glory days of the great pen companies. These materials seem to me to be a great opportunity to get information "from the source" so to speak. Not being as much of a "detail oriented" collector as some, I hadn't yet gotten into this level of research, but of late, I've developed a sort of semi-serious obsession with the Sheaffer PFM. Serious enough that when I heard about the new reprint of a 1959 Sheaffer advertising brochure introducing the PFM being offered by Alan Kaufman, I had to get a look at it. When Bill came back from Chicago with one, I got my chance!
The reprint is very well done, the printing quality is first rate. The paper is appropriate for brochure, it's not so heavy as to feel like a "copy", it's more like what you would expect from the original. In fact, the reproduction is so exact that you would have a hard time telling this from an original! It is marked on the back as a reproduction, to prevent it being offered as the "real thing" to collectors of ephemera.
To
those who collect, or even are simply interested in, the Sheaffer PFM,
this reprint is the "real thing". It's incredibly neat
to see how the PFM was marketed at it's launch. Given that it was a
different era, it shouldn't come as quite a shock, but the PFM was clearly
marketed towards men. Exclusively towards men... Sexism aside,
it's easy to see that Sheaffer had a vision in mind when they designed
the PFM, and the marketing material carries that vision forward very
effectively. Drawn illustrations depict the various features of the
PFM that would be most likely to appeal to "manly men", including
samples of the eight nib grades offered as standard.
The brochure is reproduced as original, a tri-fold in 8 1/2 X 11 inch size. In addition to the page of PFM features, there is a two page spread that depicts the four PFM versions, in each of the four colors offered. Gift packaging and point of sale material is also depicted. The front cover is a striking illustration of a man's hand holding a PFM V. There is also a two page spread that shows other models Sheaffer was offering at the same time, everything from the humble Cadet through the various versions of the Snorkel.
At an $8 list price, this PFM brochure
reprint is a great value as an interesting addition to any Sheaffer
collection. More than that, it's a look into the development of the
PFM, a source of research information on models, colors, and original
prices, and most of all, a nicely reproduced piece of 1950s advertising
artwork. The brochure can be obtained directly from Alan
Kaufman via email.
copyright 2006 Mike Stevens
Images copyright 2005 William Riepl