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Sheaffer Phone Dialer Id And Timeline Clarification


firstpancake

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Hi everyone!

I got lucky on ebay chasing a wahl-eversharp desk pen and I wound up with a lot that contained a sheaffer's phone dialer pen.

At first, I thought it was some buggered and broken deskpen/franken pen, but after some research, I discovered it was a phone dialer!

 

From what I have read, it says these were in production around the 1930's. However, the patent dates on mine say Aug.25.08, Dec 10.12-Jun.27-Oct.20 Nov.24.14. Were phone dialers even in production at this time? Were there even telephones in production at this time?

 

This is probably the most obscure pen I've come across, and if this is a whole pen with the correct dates, then it is also the oldest. I can't believe this thing I have has seen the start and finish of both world wars and the great depression. Just amazing. The cap, as you can see, is totally separated from it's lip. I currently have a replacement balance cap for it, but it is also in not-so-great shape. The 'S' on the clip has been completely rubbed of. I'd love to restore this pen so if anyone has a lead on a cap that is in better shape, please let me know!

 

 

 

http://thefirstpancake.smugmug.com/photos/i-J3LSVN9/0/M/i-J3LSVN9-M.jpg

 

http://thefirstpancake.smugmug.com/photos/i-jcGvgQ6/0/M/i-jcGvgQ6-M.jpg

 

http://thefirstpancake.smugmug.com/photos/i-Wx2vQMK/0/M/i-Wx2vQMK-M.jpg

 

http://thefirstpancake.smugmug.com/photos/i-g3bD2fm/0/M/i-g3bD2fm-M.jpg

Edited by firstpancake

Adventures in origami and fountain pens! Nib/Crease

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The following thread has a link to an article I wrote that includes a discussion of the myth of the Sheaffer "phone dialer":

 

https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/index.php/topic/239943-origins-of-the-sheaffer-balance/

 

As a general matter, patent dates only provide a "no earlier than" date for the article on which they appear; manufacturers routinely stamped patent dates for a decade or two after the patent was issued. Indeed, some makers put patent numbers and dates on items that didn't even employ the referenced patent.

 

--Daniel

"The greatest mental derangement is to believe things because we want them to be true, not because we observe that they are in effect." --Jacques-Bénigne Bossuet

Daniel Kirchheimer
Specialty Pen Restoration
Authorized Sheaffer/Parker/Waterman Vintage Repair Center
Purveyor of the iCroScope digital loupe

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