Sheaffer's Skrip Writing Fluid

[JBarnhart]

Good morning, all. I just acquired a partial bottle of Sheaffer's Skrip "writing fluid" from a lady who was going to toss it.

 

Question: How do I use the bottle? It has an interesting top that I'm not familiar with. Any help would be appreciated. I've attached an image of it.

 

 

[IThinkIHaveAProblem]

Following this, because eventually i want one of these bottles and i too am curious how that thing works

 

(i suspect you fill smaller bottles FROM this big bottle... but I'm not sure)

[BaronWulfraed]

Following this, because eventually i want one of these bottles and i too am curious how that thing works

 

(i suspect you fill smaller bottles FROM this big bottle... but I'm not sure)

That, or it was meant for an industrial sized inkwell

[Roger W.]

The cap allows it to pour into smaller bottles without making a mess. The plastic bottles work the same as the older glass bottles (which I use). The ink should be perfectly useful.

 

Roger W.

[AD43]

Very good find, every time I find something pen related unexpectedly it's in such a bad state I cannot even consider it.

[JBarnhart]

Thanks, I was think that. I have a small glass ink bottle for dip ink that I don't like so I'll dump the ink, clean the bottle and use it. I need to contact the lady and see if she still has any of her husband's fountain pens.

[welch]

I think these were called "master bottles". You will find Parker Quink as well as Carter's Midnight Blue available on EBay.

 

They were used to fill the plastic ink wells inserted into the upper left corner of school desks...plastic in my kindergarten desks, although we used only crayons that year. Some kids would have had stick pens and some would have had inexpensive fountain pens.

 

For today, assuming you do not have a school desk from 1954 and that you are a bit bigger than a ten-year-old, just fill another glass bottle. Of course, it should be a two-ounce Skrip "topwell" bottle, just to keep it authentic.

[inkstainedruth]

I found a 3/4 full pint bottle of vintage Skrip Peacock in an antiques mall a couple of hours north of me a few years ago; I also had a full 8 oz. bottle of vintage Quink Permanent Violet . I found a place online that I could order small batches of two and four ounce amber glass Boston Rounds with eyedropper caps, and decanted the ink into the bottles. The problem with the Quink bottle in particular was that it didn't have the nozzle attachment to fill inkwells with (it had a cotton wick down into the ink from the rubber stopper; which had a small cap that when removed had the connector for the nozzle on the rubber stopper). I ended up giving the empty large bottles away to someone in my local pen club, because I had no use for them (and they also didn't fit in the boxes I store ink in because they were too tall).

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

[JBarnhart]

Just an update. I purchased an old Parker 51 Special and loaded it up with this Skrip writing fluid. I like the way it writes and did what one suggested, I emptied out an old dip ink bottle and washed it and filled it with Skrip, making sure I labeled it. Works great.  As a side note, I started using a fountain pen in the 4th grade, the mid 60's, and my teacher told me to quit using it and use a "Bic" like everyone else.  

[Z man]

On 6/16/2020 at 10:23 AM, welch said:

I think these were called "master bottles".

Just for clarity, they are"master inks" from pint bottles on up.

[welch]

On 12/20/2021 at 3:24 PM, JBarnhart said:

Just an update. I purchased an old Parker 51 Special and loaded it up with this Skrip writing fluid. I like the way it writes and did what one suggested, I emptied out an old dip ink bottle and washed it and filled it with Skrip, making sure I labeled it. Works great.  As a side note, I started using a fountain pen in the 4th grade, the mid 60's, and my teacher told me to quit using it and use a "Bic" like everyone else.  

 

Wow! We started using fountain pens in 4th grade, as well. That would have been about 1957-58. Got a Parker 45 for Xmas , 1960, and used it until I graduated high school in 1966. I remember people switching to ballpoints, such as Papermate, Parker Jotter, and BiC, but plenty of us used fountain pens right through graduation. And no teacher ever told us to use a ballpoint! A strange teacher!

[welch]

And for anyone interested in the master ink bottles, here is a nearly full 32 ounce Skrip 532 (Permanent Royal Blue). Not cheap, but it will give you Royal Blue ink for years!

 

https://www.ebay.com/itm/393711414501?_trkparms=amclksrc%3DITM%26aid%3D111001%26algo%3DREC.SEED%26ao%3D1%26asc%3D20160908105057%26meid%3Dc6904621b9434460b9e7b1c9b7528feb%26pid%3D100675%26rk%3D1%26rkt%3D15%26sd%3D393711414501%26itm%3D393711414501%26pmt%3D0%26noa%3D1%26pg%3D2380057&_trksid=p2380057.c100675.m4236&_trkparms=pageci%3A7e1723eb-6682-11ec-8057-9aa5987126d7|parentrq%3Af83a6edb17d0a7448529f2c7ffe76ac8|iid%3A1

 

[Barry Gabay]

Hello JBarnhart,   Your Skrip should be fine if there are no particles clinging to the sides of the bottle or sludge in the bottom. I have a bottle of black Skrip just like yours & have used the ink in modern and vintage fountain pens. Yours is  a later plastic bottle from1950s or 60s. I have several quart glass ones as well. 

 

Welch, You are a knowledgeable historian, sir. Always enjoy reading your posts. I have quart bottles of Skrip, Quink, and Carter's. They were used to fill inkwells in offices & banks, as well as in school desks. My Carter's bottle has a special tag attached describing rationing of ink during WW II. I once bought sealed box at an old stationers with a postal stamp of 1947.  It had been mailed from Sheaffer in Ft Madison and contained  a case of six Skrip Blue-Black #232 quart bottles.  Bought it in the early 1980s. The ink was a bit faded but works perfectly. Gave away several bottles to pen friends. Still have one unopened and one half full. 

 

Happy New Year everyone. 

Edited January 1, 2022 by Barry Gabay
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