"This Old Sheaffer" June/July 2005 Stylophiles

By Bill Riepl

It used to be a common enough occurrence. In my wanderings through local antique shops, you'd see small groups of pens, locked away behind a dusty glass case, and although none of them looked "good" (as defined by metal overlay or maybe some of that nifty Waterman Patrician Turquoise celluloid), You'd ask to look at them just because you hadn't seen anything else. Sometimes, when you asked the price, you were quoted something so low that it virtually guaranteed that you'd be taking the pen home. In this case, a humble Sheaffer Touchdown filler, basic black, with a steel cap and gold fill trim. A nice enough medium tip conical triumph nib, and the price was definitely right, so I bought it. And it promptly ended up stashed in the "pen drawer" with the other "deals too good to pass up" that somehow never managed to light a fire in my heart.

Until just last week. I won't say that it's inflamed me with a newfound passion, but it's certainly raised my interest! While sorting out boxes after our move, I came across the contents of the "pen drawer", and this was one of several pens to which I decided to pay some attention. No real reason, I just found myself more struck by the clean lines than I was when I first bought it.

Or maybe it was a reaction to a surfeit of shiny new pens, and overdose of the "latest and greatest" in fine writing. It's always nice to get the chance to play with something new on the market, but there's also something very compelling about a vintage pen, especially one that, like this one, has obviously been around the block a few times. It's been used by someone, recorded family events, written letters to a loved one, and even gotten someone through the boring every day transactions of life. Filling out a shopping list, signing a sales slip, or writing a check to the phone company.

However humble the pen itself might be, there's a level of interest engendered by the thoughts of it's previous owner. That's not something you get with a "right out of the box" limited edition!

This pen has actually surprised me on many levels. First and foremost, it's durability. It's obviously seen some serious use in the past, the cap has a few small dings and surface scratching, and the blind cap served someone as a light snack at one point. However, the thick walled injection molded barrel proved to still be airtight, the seals were good, as was the sac. All it took was a good cleaning, and it was ready to go into the pocket! Impressive for a pen built over 50 years ago.

To be realistic, this is probably unusual. I think that most pens using a sac, as this one does are going to need to have the sac replaced. With what is essentially a pneumatic filler, requiring air pressure to fill it, I would expect that having the seals replaced as well would be a good idea. In other words, I got lucky with this one! That said, the fact that it's a durable and well engineered design still count heavily towards it when it comes to finding one in good condition "in the wild".

That caveat aside, it was nice to get this pen filled up and writing again. The filler worked exactly as designed, with a very precise feel. Filling a Sheaffer Touchdown filler is a simple enough act, you just unscrew the blindcap and extend the barrel end, then insert the nib into ink and push the extended blind cap back down. What's impressive is the very solid feel that you get from the mechanism itself. Everything from the way the blind cap threads engage to the slight, smooth resistance as you push the blind cap back in. Give it a few seconds for the sac inside to finish expanding (thus filling itself with ink), and you can remove the nib from the bottle, and screw the blind cap back down to the barrel.

The heart of any pen, despite any precision engineering that might go into the design of a novel new filling system, or the daring use of a high tech material for cap and barrel, is the nib. On Sheaffer pens from this era, it's very likely that you'll find that particular role undertaken by the Triumph nib.

Introduced in the 1940s to offer Sheaffer an answer to Parker's radical and very successful 51 model, the Triumph nib is formed from a conical piece of 14K gold, tapering sleekly from the front edge of the section to it's point. Adding a final elegant touch, there is the neatly scalloped edge and two tone plating. It offers the same "modern" look as the ultra-streamlined Parker 51, while retaining the appeal of a large, visible solid gold nib.

In most cases, the Triumph nib is found as a very rigid fine or medium point. I have seen or owned other variations, everything from extra fine to a wonderful stub tip, and even one possessing eye opening flexibility. I've yet to be disappointed in one of these nibs when it comes to smoothness, Sheaffer used good tipping material,carefully shaped. This pen proved to be no exception, with a buttery smooth tip that glides across paper. The line might be a plain medium, but it's a pleasure putting that plain line down!

At just 5 1/4 inches closed, six inches posted, and 7/16 of an inch across the barrel, this isn't what you'd call a large pen in the modern sense. It looks small when set aside a Montblanc 146 or Stipula Etruria. In terms of being a "usable" pen, however, it's certainly large enough, even for a "big pen nut" like myself. It weighs in at a bit under 3/4 of an ounce, making it a real lightweight, and balances very well in the hand.

If you come to this pen (or one like it) straight from modern pens you might be struck by the overall feel of the pen. It does seem clear that these pens were made primarily as tools, and function comes first, with form following. It's not that style, material, and color were not used heavily for marketing, one look at any period advertising makes that quite clear. However, the large reputable companies, like Sheaffer, were intent upon providing their customers with a good writing instrument first and foremost. Something that may not always happen these days!

This fact is something that we, as collectors of these "previously loved" pens can take full advantage of when we pick out a pen to put in the pocket each morning. I've found that, while it might be lacking in the "status symbol" category, this pen manages quite well when it comes down to simply getting ink onto the paper.

In any case, I get a little of the status back when those I know who are into pens ask what I'm using today, and I can answer them with "This old Sheaffer"...

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