When Was A 2-Oz Bottle Skrip Cost 29 Cents?!

[shiaokun]

Or a dollar fifty?!

 

Hi, newbie here,

 

I came across some old Skrip ink and was really amused by their price.

 

The two bottles on the left have dried out. The bottle on the right with $1.50 tag still has most of it left (yeah!)

 

Can anyone tell me when did a bottle cost 29 cents or a dollar fifty? And how about that 4-oz bottle? I'd like to know their vintage. Appreciate any info...

[BobR]

Well, in the US about 25 years ago, I remember paying $2.00 for a bottle of Sheaffer Green in an old-fashioned stationery store which is long gone ( the same as the one on the right of your photo marked $1.50). I also remember a few months later spilling the whole bottle. Finally bought an exact replacement a couple of years ago--from an FPN member--cost perhaps $5 to $6 I think.

Edited August 18, 2012 by BobR

[escribo]

If memory serves, and these days it doesn't really, but the $1.50 looks about right for the mid to late 60s, maybe early 70s.

Inflation was gearing up in those days. You'd see a price sticker covering up the old traditional price more and more.

Edited August 18, 2012 by escribo

[myn]

Well I did some snooping about and it looks like that 29 cent bottle may well be from the 1930's - Here's a url that has a wee bit of info - you'll need to scroll about 1/2 the way down the webpage to find the article. http://www.jitterbuzz.com/indkni.html#skrip

[Roger W.]

Well I did some snooping about and it looks like that 29 cent bottle may well be from the 1930's - Here's a url that has a wee bit of info - you'll need to scroll about 1/2 the way down the webpage to find the article. http://www.jitterbuzz.com/indkni.html#skrip

 

The 29 cent bottle is from the 1960's as it is a textron style. The earlier bottle is the snorkel one from the 1950's.

 

I see your error. The inner well was patented in the 1930's but, this is several iterations removed.

 

Roger W.

Edited August 18, 2012 by Roger W.

[shiaokun]

Thanks for all the posts!

 

Here's a somewhat related question: do you use, or save, vintage ink? I can see the reason to "save" it if it's an unopened and expensive bottle/brand. Or maybe there are some sentimental reasons associated with a particular bottle...

 

My own "logic" is if it's already opened and used then I'll keep using it. Actually, I cannot tell if the $1.50 bottle is opened or not. It looks full though.

[Roger W.]

I use the ink and I only am using from a 1950's quart bottle of Skrip.

 

Roger W.

[Freddy]

I refill Skrip # 24 from 232 bottle..love the stuff..

 

 

Fred

[tnmike1]

I am using vintage Skrip Blue Black and vintage Waterman Blue and Waterman Blue Black. Very easy to find on ebay in NOS stocks from old stores that carried ink. And all are waterproof and shade quite well. Problem free in all my pens too

[jbb]

I'm currently using very old Waterman, Parker Quink & Sheaffer. I re-hydrated a dried up bottle of Sheaffer Skrip Green recently. I only avoid inks with mold or goo... and those seem to be modern ones.

 

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7129/7827372874_90b06d8386_o.jpg

Edited August 20, 2012 by jbb

[shiaokun]

A 32oz bottle? I gotta get me one of those...

 

Watch out for the new topic: When was a 2-Oz Bottle Quink Cost 25 Cents?!

[welch]

Well I did some snooping about and it looks like that 29 cent bottle may well be from the 1930's - Here's a url that has a wee bit of info - you'll need to scroll about 1/2 the way down the webpage to find the article. http://www.jitterbuz...dkni.html#skrip

 

The 29 cent bottle is from the 1960's as it is a textron style. The earlier bottle is the snorkel one from the 1950's.

 

I see your error. The inner well was patented in the 1930's but, this is several iterations removed.

 

Roger W.

 

I'd guess that the Textron bottle is late '60s, since it does not mention RC-35, the secret ingredient I remember from my pre-1967 Skrip. You can also look up the date that the Sheaffer family sold the company. Later Skrip ('80s or '90s??) came in a red box with a red label. If the box that advertises the Snorkel ("Takes the dunk out of filling") also advertises that the Skrip is "chemopure", I'd guess it is pre-1955.

 

Oh, and don't forget that Skrip is "writing fluid", a step BEYOND mere ink, which suggests that the right-hand bottle is the latest of the three, but before the red box-and-label.

 

 

Of course, Pendemonium could spot the dates exactly.

Edited August 20, 2012 by welch

[sexauerw]

I have some old Skrip ink with boxes that I was trying to date too. Based on what I'm reading in this thread, my first three boxes here, the Washable Emerald Green, the Washable Purple and the Permanent Red, are pre-1955. The next bottle, Washable Peacock Blue, has RC-35 and so must be pre-1967 but after 1955. The fifth box, also Washable Peacock Blue, has a Textron logo and is therefore post-1967, and I have no clue on the last Emerald Green, which is the only one in the group which is labeled "Ink" rather than "Writing Fluid". I guess this one should have been labeled "Successor to Writing Fluid". :ltcapd:

 

Does anyone have a date range for that last box? Or corrections for any of the others?

 

 

http://i77.photobucket.com/albums/j66/sexauerw/ScripBoxesMontage1EmeraldandPurple.jpg

 

http://i77.photobucket.com/albums/j66/sexauerw/ScripBoxesMontage2RedandPeacock.jpg

 

http://i77.photobucket.com/albums/j66/sexauerw/ScripBoxesMontage3PeacockandEmerald.jpg

[loudkenny]

I'm currently using very old Waterman, Parker Quink & Sheaffer. I re-hydrated a dried up bottle of Sheaffer Skrip Green recently. I only avoid inks with mold or goo... and those seem to be modern ones.

 

I have to ask... how do you reliably rehydrate a bottle of vintage ink?

 

ken

[DanielCoffey]

I have to ask... how do you reliably rehydrate a bottle of vintage ink?

 

Well if the bottle is still sealed (with metal crimps intact) then you just add distilled water to around the original fill level to offset evaporation. If it has been opened, you have to guess... starting with less than you think and maybe trying it with a dip pen as you go.

[welch]

I have to ask... how do you reliably rehydrate a bottle of vintage ink?

 

Well if the bottle is still sealed (with metal crimps intact) then you just add distilled water to around the original fill level to offset evaporation. If it has been opened, you have to guess... starting with less than you think and maybe trying it with a dip pen as you go.

 

I've found that an old 4-ounce bottle of Skrip Royal Blue (advertises the Snork, and it's "chemopure") seems a bit saturated. Aha! Just right. It was sealed and full when I got it.

[mrcharlie]

I'm pretty sure the boxes that say "The Top Well Bottle" on the top flap pre-date the Snorkel pens. My oldest box/bottle was un-opened Washable Purple, Top Well on the top flap, advertises the Triumph pens on the inner dust flaps. It only list 9 colors on the bottom of the box, not 12.

 

I have another (Blue Black) that says "The Top Well Bottle" on the top, but no longer flogs the Triumph (no mention of any model of pen) on the dust flaps. However this one lists the full 12 color lineup that lasted for 30 or 40 years, so it must be newer, but yet it is still pre-Snorkel.

 

I think that puts those two bottles between 1942 and 1951.

 

I have one with the Snorkel graphic on the top lid/flap, but a couple that are just a bit newer that lose the Snorkel graphic on the top flap, but still advertise the Snorkel on the inner dust flaps. There is no mention of RC-35 yet on these. I'm assuming the Snorkel on the top flap boxes are older than the Snorkel on the inner flap boxes, because the early RC-35 era boxes inner flaps look exactly the same, and they are newer still.

 

The ones with the dot showing the color on the top flap and 25 cents are newer than that.

 

sexauerw's pictures of his Peacock Blue boxes perfectly document the change from Sheaffer's to Sheaffer, both with 25 cent prices. I have one (different color) just like his 25 cent Sheaffer box, only the price is 29 cents. Then he has a 29 cent box that is a different design (his Emerald Green box), so I'm guessing that is the next newest after the 29 cent box I have. I have one of those boxes where the orig owner cut or ripped the top third of the box off (at least the ink is still good), so I'm happy to get a good picture of what it should look like. Thanks sexauerw!

Edited December 18, 2012 by mrcharlie

[jbb]

I'm currently using very old Waterman, Parker Quink & Sheaffer. I re-hydrated a dried up bottle of Sheaffer Skrip Green recently. I only avoid inks with mold or goo... and those seem to be modern ones.

 

I have to ask... how do you reliably rehydrate a bottle of vintage ink?

 

ken

I add tap water and then shake the bottle. Not at all scientific.

[GHigley]

I wonder how long ago a bottle cost 15 cents. I came across some "#42 Washable Blue" NOS bottles in boxes for sale ($40 per bottle - not at all tempted!) that were said to be marked so.

[webgeckos]

Some of the bottles Johnboz gave me (pint and quarts) are listed between 75 cents to $1.00 and one is scribbled on as $1.25 for 32 ounces. I need to look at the little ones to see if any have a price.

 

The coolest one, and this is off topic, is this one:

 

http://i296.photobucket.com/albums/mm186/webgecko1webgeckos/IMG_0904_zpsel8anj8f.jpg