The Sheaffer Voyager

[Amberjack]

Something I found in an antique shop years ago, and I thought you all might be interested.

Its a paperboard tube, dated 1943, containing everything an overseas service member needed to write home - save the writing implement itself.  The Sheaffer Voyager.  You can see how it’s designed to address and send off to your loved one anywhere in the world.

 

The tube was sealed when I bought it, but that lasted only long enough to get it home.

You can see what I found inside below.

 

• Several dozen V-mail forms, with instructions.
• A plastic tube of Sheaffer ‘Fineline’ leads.
• A bottle of Skrip ‘v-mail black’ ink.
• A wallet calendar for 1943.
• and, not shown, a cloth pen wipe and pen care instructions.

 

No phone calls, no email, no way to communicate other than the mail - and Uncle Sam made it a priority.  My grandfather was a postal clerk in the Navy.  He served on Guadalcanal, among other places, and he told me stories about bringing sacks of mail up the beach while there were still snipers in the trees.

For those interested, there are some great Sheaffer films (now on YouTube) about how the company was contributing to the war effort.  Search “Sheaffer Pens During WW2” and you’ll find it.

 

[OCArt]

Very cool. I have some of the photo printed letters, they were reduced to about 4x5" snapshot size when the recipient got them.

[bsenn]

I have never seen that before. Thanks for sharing!

[zmija]

Ooh... Very cool stuff!

[inkstainedruth]

@Amberjack -- Hopefully at some point you can find an actual Sheaffer Voyager pen to go with it!  (I'm not familiar with that model at all...).

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

[FarmBoy]

9 hours ago, inkstainedruth said:

@Amberjack -- Hopefully at some point you can find an actual Sheaffer Voyager pen to go with it!  (I'm not familiar with that model at all...).

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

I’d like to see one too. But I suspect I never will. 
 

 

[Amberjack]

18 minutes ago, FarmBoy said:

I’d like to see one too. But I suspect I never will. 
 

 

I'm not sure there's any such thing.  Voyager is just the name printed on this correspondence kit.