Post-War Sheaffer - Sovereign Ii, Etc?

[Ray-Vigo]

What is the standard length of the immediate post-war wire cap line of Sheaffer pens. A relative bought me a green stripe Sheaffer that might be a "Sovereign II" - white dot, wire cap band, triumph nib. It has the post-war type clip like you'd find on a Touchdown pen. But what is striking is how small the pen is - it's 5 inches long. Is that the "standard" length for these immediate post-war, wire band pens? Anyone ever do a guide on these pens?

[joss]

I have just a few wire-cap Sheaffers and they are 12.2 to 13.0 cm long. So I guess that a length of 5" is correct.

 

Possibly, the small variation in length is related to the filler mechanism (Touchdown, lever or Vac-Fill).

[Ernst Bitterman]

I've got sizes written down for a lot of models of that period on my site; only the TDs get above 6". I also have a set of "mug shots" for ease of comparison there, but let me bring in the section of interest to save clicking away from the forum. You'll see that there is variation of size even within a model, and that's not (only) my inability to exactly replicate camera angle and distance from one shot to another. Some of it is down to filler type, some to year of production, and some to the fact that they're just not uniform, whether through different rates of shrinkage over the years or whether they were made on a Monday or a Thursday.

 

[Ray-Vigo]

Your site indicates 12.9 cm (just about 5 inches), which matches what I have. You are correct - I had in hand an early Touchdown pen for comparison and the Touchdown was bigger, hence why I initially suspected it was a short or a ladies pen. But I guess these were just a smaller pen in general than the Touchdown, even in the "full size" length.

[Ernst Bitterman]

They knew they were good, and had nothing to prove by getting puffed up