Hi All,

I figured this was the proper forum for these questions. Hope I was right!

I recently came into possession of some really interesting (to me, at any rate) Sheaffer materials. The first is a NOS, boxed bottle of Washable Blue Skrip that I would date (guesstimating here) to the 1920s. The second is a lovely pre-1920 Sheaffer pen (it bears the uncommon imprint featuring a fountain pen diagonally bisecting a large letter "S"), in its original box and with the original instructions. (The box is blue, with an embossed "Sheaffer'S" logo beneath a hand holding a pen. Copy inside the hand reads "It's a Sheaffer." Beneath the company name: Self-Filling-Non-Leakable/Fountain Pen.")

I'll post photos as soon as I can, but in the meantime I wanted to ask a question or two.

The ink bottle was described as having only "residue" inside, so I was mildly surprised to find, instead of ink dust, a small quantity of liquid ink, obviously concentrated by evaporation. The cork stopper has deteriorated a bit, but there are no off odors or other indicia of ink contamination. I would like to try to reconstitute the ink (maybe even review it!). Am I right in thinking that the proper procedure would be to decant the residue into a new, clean bottle, and then carefully add distilled water to restore the original volume?

Now, as for the instruction sheet: it's been folded, in its box, for a very long time. There are some visible tears, and even some small areas that seem to be missing altogether. It feels fragile, but not quite papyrus-fragile; it can be handled without immediately disintegrating. I would like to approach this piece of ephemera in a conservator-like fashion, but I also want to share it with the community. So I want to do as little damage as possible while getting the sheet flattened out well enough to perform a high-res scan. Does anyone have any recommendations for how best to go about the process?

As I said, I'll try to get some good photos posted soon. I'm grateful for any help you can offer!

Cheers,

Jon

Waiting for some photos...

Regarding the instruction sheet, temporary humidification might relax the paper and help you unfold it safely. Try holding an outer fold to your open mouth and steadily breath on it, and see if the paper softens. If that works, maybe you could use an ultrasonic humidifier or steaming to get the whole thing open, then smooth the creases and put the sheet into a polypropylene or polyester sleeve for handling.

-- Brian

Hi Brian,

Thanks very much for the suggestion! I'll give it a try this evening. I really am hoping to get this old artifact in shape to scan and share.

And Maja, pictures are forthcoming. The first batch didn't turn out satisfactorily, so I'm going to give it another try.

Cheers,

Jon

Interesting thread.

You say the paper's been folded and you're worried about ripping it or whatever when you unfold it. This is something along the lines of what Tweel said, but anyway...Boil a kettle of water or a pot of water or something...Keep the lid on. When it's boiled, open the lid and hold the paper over the steam (Not too close!!). If my experience in steaming off stamps and steaming open envelopes has taught me anything, then the folded paper should open up rather easily. Once it's open, find a stiff plastic sleeve (Something that can't bend too well), and slide it in there.

Gentlemen, I foresee an experiment this evening with the pasta water. My thanks!

I think the content of the instruction sheet will be interesting enough (based on what I'm able to read right now) to justify taking a little extra trouble with it. If I can get some decent scans, I'll post them along with the photos.

Cheers,

Jon

I'll have one large bowl of spaghetti carbonara, thanks, Univer!!

Seriously - Good luck with the instruction-sheet. I'd love to see what's on it.

Hi,

You would have been very welcome. Heaven knows there was plenty left over! (Plain old meatballs and marinara sauce, though; no Carbonara tonight.)

And thanks, again, all, for the steam suggestion; it worked like a charm, and the instruction sheet is now safely tucked into a plastic sheet protector. Now to get the scans and photos underway....

Cheers,

Jon

Yay!!!

Good luck, Univer! Hope to see them soon.

Hi all,

A tip of the cap, again, to Tweel and Shangas. Thanks in no small part to their suggestions, scans of the instruction sheet (and photos of the pen and its box) are now posted here: http://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/in...showtopic=45467

I'll get to the NOS Skrip eventually. Since the ink is definitely of slightly more recent vintage than the rest of these items, I'll give it a post of its own. (And I may want to try to reconstitute it before posting in any event.)

Cheers,

Jon

You're welcome, Univer.

Nice pictures!!