Was any Skyline ever known as a "Sixty Four"? Any evidence of it?

[Paul-in-SF]

My understanding was that the model named "Sixty Four" was a variant of the Fifth Avenue, with a solid gold cap (and possibly other differences). I also understand from a magazine ad reproduced on Richard Binder's website (plus his comment on the ad) that some Skyline pens of various values were given as prizes on the radio quiz show $64 Question (in addition to actual Sixty Four pens that were based on the Fifth Avenue). 

 

I have recently seen a photo of a Skyline with a solid gold cap (a variant that is mentioned in Richard's Skyline page) that the owner is claiming was originally sold as a Sixty Four. It is in a clamshell case labeled "Sixty Four," but the space fitted for the pen seems (to me) to be larger than the Skyline that is in it. But that really isn't conclusive either way. 

 

I would be interested to find out the truth of the situation. Skyline and Fifth Avenue production overlapped, I believe, starting in 1943. If you have any other source material that discusses this admittedly esoteric point about Sixty Fours, I'd love to see it. 

[Paul-in-SF]

Partially answering my own question, I found this on penhero.com, on a page about the Skyline model, discussing the variations of different materials:

 

'14 Karat Gold Cap - Caps are solid 14 karat gold including the derby, and are plain or have either radial, or more rarely, longitudinal engraved lines. No cap band. These pens were probably made only in the standard and Demi size. The barrels come in solid black, green, navy blue, brown, dubonnet (burgundy), and silver gray. The pen and matching pencil set sold for US $64.00, priced promotionally with a popular radio quiz show, "The $64,000 Question", and the pens were called "$64 Sets." '

 

This sounds like a likely source of good-faith confusion about the name of the pen model. The clamshell case the owner has says "$64 plus Fed tax" in one place, and "Sixty Four" in fancy script as the name of the pen. It seems like the Sixty Four model was also sold for $64 and was also associated with the quiz show, and that at some point someone put the Skyline "$64 Set" into a "Sixty Four" case.

 

Unfortunately, the Pen Hero site doesn't seem to have any discussion of the Fifth Avenue or Sixty Four models, where they might have noted this confusion/overlap. 

[joss]

Hi, the "$64 question" does indeed relate to the 1940s radio quiz, but I had to look up how the Eversharp 64 pen model came about. This is what I found on the web and in Eversharp ads:

To boost sales support for the Skyline, Eversharp started sponsoring the 'Take It or Leave It' CBS radio broadcast show. The show featured a popular quiz called 'The $64 Dollar Question', in which contestants could win $2, $4, $8, $16, $32 or $64 with the opportunity to step out at each round (and the studio crowd would yell "You'll be sorry if you don't!" if contestants doubted to continue). The phrases 'You'll be sorry' and '$64 question' subsequently appeared in Eversharp advertisements from 1942 to 1947. But in these ads, the $64 question simply related to the question 'What would be the perfect gift?' and the answer was 'an Eversharp pen'. These ads show the regular Skyline pens and from 1943 onwards the Fifth Avenue.

The Eversharp 'Sixty-Four' pen model probably capitalised on the popularity of the radio show. The earliest reference I found to a '64' pen model is a June 1945 advertisement for a Fifth Avenue pen set with solid gold caps that are also marked '6?4', priced $64 and named 'The Eversharp $64 Set'. A June 1946 advertisement then shows a Skyline set with solid gold caps, priced $64 and named 'Eversharp Sixty-Four'.

Unfortunately, the ads do not show the clamshell box. The 'Sixty-Four' clamshell boxes that I see on eBay have an identical typeface to that used in the 1946 Skyline Sixty-Four advertisement, but it is possible that these 'Sixty-Four' boxes were also used for the 'Fifth Avenue $64'.

These are the 1945 (left) and 1946 (right) ads for the Eversharp Sixty-Four:

[Wahlnut]

"Sixty-Fours" were definitely made and sold as such in the Skyline models before the Fifth Avenue models. The Fifth Avenue models had the 6?4 engraved on them.  I am not sure but I think I have one of the skylines similarly engraved, but I need to look.  For now here,attached is a photo of totally correct original set in the correct box.  

[Paul-in-SF]

Thanks for the photos, both of the ad for the Skyline Sixty Four, and the clamshell box with a Skyline $64 Set (which is almost identical to the box the pen seller had). So he was right that it was noted as a Sixty Four (in text as well as numbers) at the time of original sale. Case closed. 

[Addertooth]

Keep in mind that the skyline pen/pencil, in a non-6?4 version was available with the "14k solid gold" cap, but with a non-metallic body as well.  I have one with a black body, but the aforementioned gold cap.  

[Stylus156]

I always enjoy these unique histories to the brand – great thanks.

M