Sheaffer Balance "uber" Autograph Award Pen With Gold Star

[Dinkhart]

 

Photo credit to the eBayer from whom I bought this, who seems to be a better photographer than me.

 

I've wanted one of these for quite some time. The cap band is inscribed "R A THOMPSON / Hobart Star Club / 1941." From what I understand this is one of the rarest Balance varieties. I think it's just flat out cool - that little star challenges what we expect a Sheaffer pen to look like. It fascinates me to think about the circumstances surrounding this pen's production. The Hobart Star Club would have decided that a Sheaffer pen was the best way to recognize R. A. Thompson. They would have gone to Sheaffer and specifically requested this pen over all the other interesting models Sheaffer sold at the time. And then Sheaffer would have gone to its expert craftspeople and told them to get to work. I wonder if the person who applied that star thought about what a special pen this was. Or maybe it was just another day at the office. That's assuming the pen was made to order; it's just as likely that they had a supply of these special caps on hand and one was retrieved from inventory. Finally, Thompson would have received the pen. Was he honored to receive such a fine gift? Did he put it away safely to keep it nice? We'll never know.

 

Anyone have any ideas about what the Hobart Star Club was?

 

Also, if anyone else has this variety, it would be great to see some other examples. I've seen pictures of examples where the white dot is relegated to the back of the cap so the gold star gets center stage; I wonder if one is rarer than the other.

Edited May 13, 2019 by Dinkhart

[silverlifter]

Anyone have any ideas about what the Hobart Star Club was?

 

There was a Malvern Star Cycling Club in Hobart in the late 1930's... It's a long bow, I know

[DrPJM1]

Dinkhart:

 

Congratulations on such a gorgeous pen, it is very special.

 

Mine is identical to yours except it is uninscribed:

https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/topic/290273-os-balance-star-pen/

 

Pat has a third pen that has the white dot on the opposite side of the Star and reads: Walter Young, Hobart Star Club 1938

 

There was one on ebay last year that read H.C. Belore, Hobart Star Club 1938

 

The clip and cap band are 14k as in the Autograph pens, but this band is much wider. The Star is gold-filled.

 

I have been unable to find information on the Hobart Star Club.

[Dinkhart]

 

There was a Malvern Star Cycling Club in Hobart in the late 1930's... It's a long bow, I know

 

Good thought! Maybe champion cyclists got these.

 

 

I have been unable to find information on the Hobart Star Club.

 

Thanks for the congrats. I wasn't aware that all of the other known examples were likewise ordered by this same Hobart Star Club. Perhaps this was the only group that ordered them? The star atop the pen befits a "Star Club," after all. I wonder if these guys specifically asked Sheaffer to apply gold-fill stars to the pens - that is, maybe the star wasn't Sheaffer's idea. David Isaacson's "Cap Banditry" article, a great read, shows similar pens with corporate logos. Maybe Sheaffer had a policy of offering Balance pens with whatever corporate logo or symbol the customer wanted (as long as the customer could pay, of course). If I had a time machine I'd go back to 1930s Fort Madison and ask as many questions as I could. On that note, did anyone conduct interviews with former Sheaffer (or any other Big Four pen company, for that matter) employees who worked for the company in the 1920s-40s? That seems like something the pen collecting hobby might have done in its early days, 20-30 years ago. Not that such interviews would likely shed light on this pen specifically, but it would be a great read.

[DrPJM1]

I wasn't aware that all of the other known examples were likewise ordered by this same Hobart Star Club. Perhaps this was the only group that ordered them?

 

David Isaacson's "Cap Banditry" article, a great read, shows similar pens with corporate logos. Maybe Sheaffer had a policy of offering Balance pens with whatever corporate logo or symbol the customer wanted (as long as the customer could pay, of course).

 

I had known that there were a few other Star OS Balance pens, but I did not know the exact inscriptions. Yours is the third pen that I know with similar Hobart Star Club 1938 inscription. I don't know if they were the only group, but it's the only group that we now of.

 

David's is a great article that shows the variety of cap bands that have been found and were uncatalogued. Please understand that Sheaffer's business was to sell pens and that they would customize pens to their client's wishes. I have seen Cadillac and Pontiac emblems at the base of the clip, and I own a pen with a 1941 Oldsmobile emblem: https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/topic/290274-os-balance-shield-pen/

[RedRinger]

balance.jpg

 

Photo credit to the eBayer from whom I bought this, who seems to be a better photographer than me.

 

I've wanted one of these for quite some time. The cap band is inscribed "R A THOMPSON / Hobart Star Club / 1941." From what I understand this is one of the rarest Balance varieties. I think it's just flat out cool - that little star challenges what we expect a Sheaffer pen to look like. It fascinates me to think about the circumstances surrounding this pen's production. The Hobart Star Club would have decided that a Sheaffer pen was the best way to recognize R. A. Thompson. They would have gone to Sheaffer and specifically requested this pen over all the other interesting models Sheaffer sold at the time. And then Sheaffer would have gone to its expert craftspeople and told them to get to work. I wonder if the person who applied that star thought about what a special pen this was. Or maybe it was just another day at the office. That's assuming the pen was made to order; it's just as likely that they had a supply of these special caps on hand and one was retrieved from inventory. Finally, Thompson would have received the pen. Was he honored to receive such a fine gift? Did he put it away safely to keep it nice? We'll never know.

 

Anyone have any ideas about what the Hobart Star Club was?

 

Also, if anyone else has this variety, it would be great to see some other examples. I've seen pictures of examples where the white dot is relegated to the back of the cap so the gold star gets center stage; I wonder if one is rarer than the other.

 

I saw this on the 'bay and had thought about going for it... it is so cool!

I googled the Hobart Star Club and Mr (Ms?) Thompson's name 12 ways from Sunday and have never found any suitable info.

[ThomasB]

Saw this while perusing the bay...I know this is an Eversharp, but the star where the gold medallion normally goes looks the same??? Maybe they are related???

 

https://www.ebay.com/itm/312838018454

[doggle2]

https://web.archive.org/web/20191116004330/https://www.ebay.com/itm/1920s-EVERSHARP-PEN-amp-PENCIL-ROLLERBALL-CLIP-14K-GOLD-CONTINENTAL-CASUALTY-CO-/312838018454?nma=true&si=vC7rZpaiTb9wR32OTLWae76vRN8%253D&orig_cvip=true&nordt=true&rt=nc&_trksid=p2047675.l2557

 

Saved the above link for when it dies in a few years.

[Redleg05]

I have confirmed that the Hobart in question is Hobart Corporation (at the time, Hobart Manufacturing Company) of Troy, Ohio.

[Kalessin]

"Hobart Star Club" would fit somewhere in their hierarchy of sales awards, probably near or at the top. At the very top was often a solid-gold watch.