Skyline Cap Trim Variations

[Greenie]

Here are "Skyline-like" pens and Skylines showing the cap trim variations. Ignored are colors, as well as gold vs plastic derbies (too many combinations). The three gold filled caps also come with barrels in matching gold filled patterns.

 

Here is a link to the picture if you want to zoom in for more detail.

 

The first two are Skyline Like. Next I believe is the Streamliner.

Skyline trims:

smooth bandless

ribbed bandless

thin band

wide band

wide band with extra top band

gold filled ribbed

gold filled longitudinal lined

gold filled dart pattern

Sterling

Stainless (which also comes with gold filled clip and top trim band)

Missing - 14K sold gold (cap only vs entire pen), and Platinum (does anyone know if this actually exists outside of catalogs?)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Valthero]

Very interesting. Thank you for sharing.

[FarmBoy]

Green-

 

Nice.

 

Could help you with a 14K cap....

 

Then I could help with the Executive Sizes and ...

[Greenie]

Thanks Farmboy. I have the Executives and Modern Stripes covered fairly well.

For whatever reason, the 14K never interested me enough for the price. Chalk it up to the oddities of collecting. No rational reason at all.

 

But can you help find a platinum one?

[Greenie]

The base metal on the lever of the Stainless cap also seems to be Stainless steel rather than brass.

 

[Paul-in-SF]

Is #1 definitely a Skyline? In which case I just acquired one like it (the seller claimed it was Skyline but I thought he didn't know what he was talking about), except mine has a narrow band that runs in the middle of where the clip is attached to the cap. I hadn't seen a Skyline before without the tapered barrel.

 

Here's a photo:

[Greenie]

I use the term "Skyline" loosely, to be honest. I do not know enough about the primary ads/catalogs to say if there is a different name for the first two (or three) pens in my pictures.

 

Regardless, the first two or three pens in my pictures are certainly in the evolutionary line of Skylines. I leave it to others to argue "proper" names. It should be noted that some of those will argue to death about only using catalog nomenclature in one post, and then other experts believe in common names even if they are modern terms useful only to us collectors. Personally I believe language is malleable and evolves.

 

Early fountain pens were not "eyedropper" fillers. They were "dropper" fillers per the early literature. The gold point was the "pen" or "point" (the word "nib rarely used at all) and the rest was referred to as the "pen holder." Now the handle is the "pen" and the point is the "nib."

 

To that end, I declare that all of the above are Skylines, even if there are other catalog names for some of them.

Edited August 6, 2019 by Greenie

[Paul-in-SF]

Many valid points. Nevertheless, and for myself, I would like to know what Wahl-Eversharp called this model when it was for sale, if anyone knows. And anything else pertinent, like the years of manufacture/sale, and whether the presence or lack of that band under the cap attachment makes for a different model name or designation (as within the same species there might be different recognized varieties).

Edited August 6, 2019 by Paul-in-SF

[parkergeo]

Not sure a definitive manufacturer's model name has yet been determined. You can search for more info using various descriptive names that people have used to refer to these low-trim inexpensive pre-WWII pens including "Thrift," "School," "Press Clip" and "Staple Clip."

[spacecoastpenny]

Nice collection; Thanks for sharing.

[Paul-in-SF]

Not sure a definitive manufacturer's model name has yet been determined. You can search for more info using various descriptive names that people have used to refer to these low-trim inexpensive pre-WWII pens including "Thrift," "School," "Press Clip" and "Staple Clip."

That was a very good clue, thank you, there was a thread by PenHero last year about (almost) this very pen. https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/topic/335625-eversharp-school-pen-often-called-a-skyline/

The difference besides the color (mine is brown, I'm pretty sure) is that his also has a cap band in the usual position. He also shows a pen-pencil set further down that has the same trim as mine, except it has a visualated section.

 

PenHero says it was called a "school pen" in one store (not W-E) advertisement, and a "Thrift" in another. There was another thread from 2015 in which Richard and Wahlnut came to no conclusion about the name except about what it wasn't. This pretty much satisfies me on this point.

[FarmBoy]

I use the term "Skyline" loosely, to be honest. I do not know enough about the primary ads/catalogs to say if there is a different name for the first two (or three) pens in my pictures.

 

Regardless, the first two or three pens in my pictures are certainly in the evolutionary line of Skylines. I leave it to others to argue "proper" names. It should be noted that some of those will argue to death about only using catalog nomenclature in one post, and then other experts believe in common names even if they are modern terms useful only to us collectors. Personally I believe language is malleable and evolves.

 

Early fountain pens were not "eyedropper" fillers. They were "dropper" fillers per the early literature. The gold point was the "pen" or "point" (the word "nib rarely used at all) and the rest was referred to as the "pen holder." Now the handle is the "pen" and the point is the "nib."

 

To that end, I declare that all of the above are Skylines, even if there are other catalog names for some of them.

I’ve read this several times and I now need a drink because I can see the Skyline everywhere I look.

[northlodge]

I currently have a dark green Skyline awaiting my discovery of a replacement Derby.

 

This is going to be a hard enough find as it is here in the UK, but then finding my item did not fit would be too great a disappointment.

 

So my question is 'Would any green derby fit, or do they come in different sizes for different models'?

 

thanks for any help.