"Transitional" 1960s Imperials?

[gcliburn]

I’ve seen a number of Sheaffer Imperial VIII Touchdown fillers with a puzzling (to me) mix of markings—specifically, cap and barrel marked “SHEAFFER” (all letters the same size) but 14k gold long-diamond inlaid nib marked “SHEAFFER’S” (two S’s larger than the other letters). I’m aware that “Sheaffer’s” became “Sheaffer” with the acquisition of the company by Textron in the mid 1960s. I’m also aware that pens in the Imperial form took on a bewildering variety of names and waffled back and forth between cartridge and Touchdown systems. Anyway, I wonder whether the mix of markings I’ve observed—almost always on Imperial VIII pens—is “transitional” rather than a result of swapping. Cap swapping I understand, but frequent swapping of earlier nib/section units into later cap/barrel combos seems unlikely. Sheaffer experts, what do you say? And if this is old news, I apologize for not finding an answer in my research so far. Thanks!

[joss]

I am not sure whether it is old news but I have used that observation for a rough estimation of the production period of these pens. Period catalogs and advertisements show that the change from "SHEAFFER'S" to "SHEAFFER" happened around April 1964, together with the introduction of the new Sheaffer logo (the stylised S). There are 1963 (and earlier) Sheaffer ads showing an Imperial or PFM nib with "SHEAFFER'S" imprint while the Imperial nib in 1964 ads clearly has the "SHEAFFER" imprint. Textron acquired the Sheaffer pen company in March 1966.

 

I therefore regard an Imperial with "SHEAFFER'S" imprint on both the nib and the barrel as pre-1964.  I date Imperial pens with mixed imprints ("SHEAFFER'S" on nib and "SHEAFFER" on cap and barrel) as transitional from mid 1964 to possibly late 1966. An April 1964 Sheaffer catalog has the new logo and "Sheaffer" imprint on its front page but some pens and boxes shown in the catalog still have the "Sheaffer's" imprint. This is also seen sporadically in ads until late 1966. One can easily imagine that Sheaffer continued to mount 'older' nibs on the Imperial pens until stock was finished. The mixed imprints are also found on the Imperial II and III pens with the short Triumph wrap-around nib. I date Imperial pens with the "SHEAFFER" imprint on both the nib and barrel to mid 1966 or later but they could be a bit earlier also, it may depend on when the old stock nibs were finished. I guess that by the time that Sheaffer was acquired by Textron, there was a uniform SHEAFFER imprint on nib and barrel but that is just a guess.

 

Edited January 25, 2023 by joss
text added

[gcliburn]

Thanks for sharing your experience, insight, and practice, @joss! Very helpful.