Later Sheaffer Triumph Era Photo Thread 1945-1948

[PenHero]

Hi, Folks,

I did a story in the Spring 2006 Pennant on 1946 Sheaffer models, including catalog sheets detailing the offerings that year. This photo, published in black and white in the article, is of a Sheaffer Valiant carmine and a Sheaffer Autograph, both Vacuum-fil pens. The Valiant was the top all plastic White Dot model selling for $12.50 with a $5.00 matching pencil. Valiants came in five striped Radite colors. Gold fill trim models were black, brown, green, and carmine. There was a gray model with chrome trim. There was also a black Valiant lever-fill pen. The Triumph For Your Autograph pen came in Black Radite cap and barrel with a solid 14-karat gold clip and 9/16 inch cap band and was offered as either lever and vacuum-fil for $20.00 and with a $15.00 matching pencil.

http://penhero.com/Temp/SheafferTaxonomy_1280_05.jpg

I think the Carmine is one of the best Sheaffer colors ever and the big Triumph nib is both beautiful and a great writer.

Thanks!

[pajaro]

What's an autograph model?

[corgicoupe]

I bought a carmine pen & pencil set much like that for my daughter, but the cap band was half that width. I wish they'd had two in the showcase.

[PenHero]

What's an autograph model?

 

Sheaffer called pens with 14 karat gold cap bands Autograph or Signature pens. Sheaffer pens with a wide solid 14 karat gold cap band can be found in advertisements dating to as early as 1917. The idea was your jeweler or Sheaffer could recreate your signature on the cap band of the pen, thus the name.

 

You can read more about those pens here:

 

http://www.penhero.com/PenGallery/Sheaffer/SheafferAutographPens.htm

 

Thanks!

[ink-syringe]

I think the Carmine is one of the best Sheaffer colors ever

 

 

I agree. I also prefer it to the Rose Glow everyone is always lusting after. Your picture is a stunning example. What a pen.

[Roger W.]

I go the other way and prefer the rose glow to the carmine. From a collector perspective the rose glow is the harder to find pen as well. Not saying the carmine isn't nice.

 

Roger W.

[corgicoupe]

I assume this is not a Valiant, because of the smaller cap band, but what model is it?

 

[PenHero]

I assume this is not a Valiant, because of the smaller cap band, but what model is it?

Your pen looks like a Statesman II. They had a Radite cap and barrel in (with gold plate trim) black, brown, green, and carmine, and gray with chrome trim. The cap band was 3/8 inches wide. There was a lever-fill pen in black only. All the rest are vacuum-fil. They sold for $10, the matching pencil was $4.

[corgicoupe]

Thanks for clarifying that, Jim. I think the carmine is the best color to my eyes.

[ink-syringe]

What was the difference between the Statesman and Statesman II

 

?

[PenHero]

What was the difference between the Statesman and Statesman II?

 

Sheaffer re-used model names as they changed the design of the pen line. Going the war time Triumph pens to the new rounder, more balance shaped pens as of March 1, 1945 and to full production for the 1946 model year, Sheaffer was able to launch a full line of pens re-used many of the same model names from prior years, some associated with Balance models, some associated with the newer Triumph models. In each case they added a II to the model name to distinguish the new version from the old, thus new Statesman was called the Statesman II. This can be seen in an October 1, 1945 memo to dealers on repair parts costs for the new pens.

[ink-syringe]

 

Sheaffer re-used model names as they changed the design of the pen line.

 

Uh, yeah. That much I knew.

 

 

I have I a Statesman Balance, A Statesman TD (open nib, actually 6 of them hehe), a few Statesmen Snorkels. But I also have a Statesman II plunger and Statesman II Lever filler. Cute little buggers. I was wondering if there was some short lived model between the Statesman Balance and the Statesman II that would have been called a Statesman I. I guess there is not. Which begs the unanswerable question why the Statesman TD was not the Statesman III and the Snorkel a Statesman IV.

[PenHero]

If you think about war time production, the Triumph line was not very broad. Sheaffer had the factory converted to making fuses and components, so pens were a sideline. I think the II designation, based on the dealer parts memo, was simply to draw a distinction from pre-war Balance line and Triumph pens to the new lines, as opposed to a new marketing name.

[CS388]

PenHero, your Sheaffer Valiant carmine is superb! What a gorgeous pen.

 

Thanks for sharing.

[ink-syringe]

If you think about war time production, the Triumph line was not very broad. Sheaffer had the factory converted to making fuses and components, so pens were a sideline. I think the II designation, based on the dealer parts memo, was simply to draw a distinction from pre-war Balance line and Triumph pens to the new lines, as opposed to a new marketing name.

 

Brilliant. Thank you.

[mitto]

Your pen looks like a Statesman II. They had a Radite cap and barrel in (with gold plate trim) black, brown, green, and carmine, and gray with chrome trim. The cap band was 3/8 inches wide. There was a lever-fill pen in black only. All the rest are vacuum-fil. They sold for $10, the matching pencil was $4.

 

I found in the wild a few days ago a black lever-fill pen with big upturned Lifetime triumph nib and cap band like on corgicoupe's pen. Would that be a Statesman-II lever fill pen?

Edited February 22, 2017 by mitto

[PenHero]

I found in the wild a few days ago a black lever-fill pen with big upturned Lifetime triumph nib and cap band like on corgicoupe's pen. Would that be a Statesman-II lever fill pen?

 

 

If the pen is exactly the same except black, then yes. The lever fill pens were black only at that time.

[PenHero]

Hi, folks!

Thought I would shift gears and post an unusual, but not rare Sheaffer Statesman Carmine where the White Dot appears on the top of the cap.

http://penhero.com/Temp/SheafferStatesmanCarmine_1280_01.jpg

Sheaffer transitioned from the rather pointy ended Triumph pens made from 1942-1944 to the more streamlined post war pens in 1945. Ads begin to show the new line by August, 1945. What's interesting is some time during this transition, Sheaffer produced pens with the White Dot on the top of the cap, unlike pens made before or after the change in body shape. Unfortunately, I don't have evidence that this was a specific year of production, but my assessment is these were made between the earlier Triumph line and the new more streamlined pens some time c1944-1945. Sheaffer advertising in that period shows White Dots where we usually find them, above the clip on all radite cap pens. I've found no exceptions.

I'm game for more information to date the cap top White Dot pens.

This pen is a Statesman model, which came in black, brown, green, carmine, and grey (chrome trim), with a gold filled clip and 3/8 inch cap band, and as a lever (black only) and vacuum-fil pen, selling for $10.00; and a matching pencil for $4.00.

Thanks!

[ink-syringe]

hubba hubba. what a sweet pen. Thanks for posting that. I have several pens with the dot on the hiney but none with the dot on the lid. That is cute.

[PenHero]

The dot on the plunger cap at the end of the barrel is an indication that the pen is a pre-1948 metal cap pen. Sheaffer finally figured out how to successfully mount the dot (actually in that case a kind of small mushroom pushed through a hole and heated to lock in) on the cap top in 1948.