Fort Madison Closing

[Romeo Dog]

I only own vintage Sheaffer pens. I'll just have to make them last another 80 years.

 

[DRP]

Romeo Dog, given the quality of Fort Madison made pens, making your pens last another 80 years would be a reasonable assignment.

[FredRydr]

As of right now the repair center is in an 18 wheeler that should arrive into our Philadelphia facility some time today.

 

David,

 

The 18-wheeler is stuck in the Kittatinny turnpike tunnel and they're going to have to cut it up with blowtorches to get it out. Wait 'til they hit the nitrocellulose caps and barrels.*

 

Fred

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

*Not really.

[david i]

I sent Sheaffer an E mail Saturday and a targa nib they'd sent me that leaks. I haven't heard back from them. I wonder if this tumult is to blame. Or maybe I'll hear a bit later...

skyp

 

I'm sure that has a lot to do with it. As of right now the repair center is in an 18 wheeler that should

arrive into our Philadelphia facility some time today. Give us a couple of weeks to get this setup and

running effectively and we'll get your repairs turned around quickly. I have engaged a group of Sheaffer

experts to get this setup next week and to help with vintage repair (Pre-1988).

I know that there are Targa nibs in the stock. Shoot me an email if you have a specific question.

 

Announcements will be soon regarding the Vintage Repair Centers.

 

David

 

 

Sounds like some good developments

 

 

david

Edited April 1, 2008 by david i

[cvasara]

A good repair parts supply of Targa nibs aye? Thats good to hear, I just dropped one of my Targas on the floor, nib first, of course, and the nib is bent at a 90 degree angle now. Not worth to hassle of trying to fix, that isn't my cup of tea. Use them and abuse them, after all, it IS a Sheaffer, so it can take a pretty good pounding. I had one spare Targa nib that I have had to press into service. I'm in the market for a couple more spares, medium nib if you have them.

Good Luck out there in Pennsylvania, would have left the lights on for Ya in Fort Madison.

 

[Paddler]

Personally, I don't understand the need for a "lifetime warranty". I only care that a warranty covers "infant mortality" -- the premature failure of components.

 

Yeaterday, a salesman from Sears contacted me. He said that the warranty on my refrigerator was about to run out and that I should buy an extended warranty. I replied that I was not interested. He said that I had already saved over $200 when I had the refrigerator serviced last year and that a failure could happen again at any time. I told him that the service call replaced a bad relay which apparently failed prematurely. As for an extended warranty, I don't need one, as the name on the refrigerator says "Kenmore" and my last Kenmore refrigerator lasted forty years. He asked me what I was going to do if I experienced another failure. I told him I would buy a new refrigerator with a different brand name. The poor guy sounded depressed.

 

I have a large cigar box stuffed with pens here. The pens were made by many different companies: Sheaffer, Parker, American Pencil Co., Esterbrook, Wearever, Waterman, Pelikan, Pall Mall, Burnham, etc. Their warranties vary all over the lot. And, as I am not the original owner of any of them, their warranties are worthless. Every last one of them, however, is still cookin' and giving good service.

 

I value my Sheaffer pens above all others because of their style, ruggedness, and utility. In my current rotation, five of the seven pens are Sheaffer. Are Sheaffers more useful than the others? You can't prove it by looking at my collection. Are Sheaffers more desirable than the others? Well, perhaps, but that is a personal preference. Closing Ft. Madison is going to set the bar pretty high for a replacement facility.

 

Paddler

[randyholhut]

Here's a question for Richard Binder (and Sheaffer USA's David MacDougall).

 

For you, Richard, since I see you are now an authorized Sheaffer vintage repair dealer, does this mean you become the New England branch of the Sheaffer service empire.

 

For you, David, if Sheaffer USA is contracting with repair people such as Mr. Binder, does this mean that Bic is actively seeking out experienced pen repairmen around the country to pick up the slack for the closing of operations in Fort Madison?

[artaddict]

I only own vintage Sheaffer pens.

:clap1:

 

[randyholhut]

Here's a nice elegy to Sheaffer that was published in The Hawkeye on Feb. 10, 2008

 

 

http://www.thehawkeye.com/Story/Sheaffer-Pen-021008

 

 

FORT MADISON -- Like many men of his generation, Dave Sallen found himself wanting to do a little traveling in the 1970s.

 

So after graduating from law school in 1977, Sallen spent five weeks wandering in Europe.

 

It was in Paris, Sallen discovered a little piece of home.

 

"I walked into the main department store in Paris," Sallen said. "The first thing that hit me was a complete display of Sheaffer pens for sale. That was the big thing in the largest department store in Paris -- Sheaffer pens," he said with an incredulous smile and a slight shake of his head. "That really made an impression on me. It showed people across the world know about Sheaffer pens."

 

Sallen, now a public defender in Fort Madison, grew up with Sheaffer pens.

 

His mother worked for the company for 15 years. He still remembers his first Sheaffer writing instrument, a blue fountain pen given to him by his mother while he was in grade school.

 

A history buff, Sallen said the experience in Paris was enough to launch a major pen collection and even inspired him to open his own pen store, Pen City, in the 1980s.

 

Sheaffer Pen, in its many incarnations, shaped Fort Madison and put the small southeast Iowa town on the map. Many Fort Madison residents' fierce loyalty to the pen company turned to disappointment in 2004 with the announcement the hometown Sheaffer Pen factory would close.

 

The 100th anniversary of the patent of the innovative lever-filling pen that launched the company will be celebrated Aug. 25.

 

Ironically, the longtime Sheaffer manufacturing facility at 301 Avenue H will close its doors permanently next month, and the trademark "white dot" pens no longer will be produced in Fort Madison. Until then, a skeleton crew of about 40 people still works at the plant.

 

History of the pen

 

Sheaffer pens trace their history back to a small jewelry shop Walter A. Sheaffer purchased in 1906.

 

Born in 1867 in Bloomfield, Sheaffer began working when he was 11 in a print shop for $1 a week, according to "A History of the Sheaffer Pen Company and Walter A. Sheaffer, Its Founder," published by Sheaffer Eaton Inc. in 1988 and prepared by Sheaffer historian Thomas Frantz.

 

Walter Sheaffer did not complete high school. Instead, he worked hard and eventually purchased the jewelry store in Fort Madison, quickly finding success.

 

However, a year later he had an idea. At the time, pens were refilled through a messy process involving an eyedropper. Sheaffer knew there had to be an easier way.

 

In 1907, he invented a revolutionary pen. It had a deflatable rubber sac in the barrel and a lever and pressure bar to deflate the sac, resulting in the first practical self-filling fountain pen.

 

He patented his invention in 1908. After a couple of revisions, he converted the jewelry shop into a pen factory with seven employees and opened a sales office in Kansas City, Mo.

 

The company became incorporated in 1913, with an initial investment of $35,000. Within its first year, The W. A. Sheaffer Pen Co. captured 3 percent of the market with sales of $100,000 and profits of $17,500.

 

Sales kept soaring, and by 1925, the company controlled 25 percent of the writing utensil industry. The company also introduced its trademark "white dot" in the 1920s.

 

The Sheaffer company persevered through the Great Depression and World War II, remaining a world leader in the industry. During the war, materials to produce pens became scarce, so Sheaffer Pen joined the war effort and began manufacturing goods for the war in a former paper mill factory. The company was given the Army/Navy "E" award for its efforts.

 

Sheaffer Pen has been responsible for hundreds of innovations in the writing industry throughout the years in pens, inks, pencils, desk sets and more.

 

Sheaffer pens have been used by presidents, generals and governors to sign thousands of historic documents.

 

Sheaffer, with the help of Frantz, documented many of these historic events.

 

Sheaffer pens were used to sign the United Nations Charter in June 26, 1946, in San Francisco.

 

The Japanese surrender was signed with Sheaffer pens by Gen. Douglas McArthur and Japanese officials aboard the USS Missouri in Tokyo Bay Sept. 2, 1945.

 

The final Japanese Peace Treaty was signed with Sheaffer pens on Sept. 8, 1951, in San Francisco.

 

The truce ending the war in Vietnam was signed with Sheaffer pens on Jan. 27, 1973.

 

Ronald Reagan used a Sheaffer to sign the 1983 U.S. budget.

 

With the invention of the ball-point pen during WWII, the fountain pen began to decline, said Dan Reppert of Fort Madison, a former Pen Collectors of America president and former Sheaffer employee.

 

Sheaffer began producing a popular ballpoint pen following the end of the war but began to lose market share in the 1960s as consumers began switching to cheap ball-point pens. In 1966, shareholders voted to sell Sheaffer Pen to Textron Inc., of Providence, R.I.

 

"In some ways it (the sale to Textron) was a good thing because it allowed an infusion of funds and the ability to expand in the worldwide markets in a way a local company might not have been able to do," Sallen said.

 

Textron merged Sheaffer with Eaton Paper Co. and became Sheaffer Eaton Inc. Then in 1987, the company was sold to Gefinor Inc., which returned the Sheaffer Pen Co. name.

 

Paris-based BIC Corp. purchased the company in 1997 after a group of investors led by Sheaffer management tried to stop the sale and offered $46.5 million for it. The attempt failed, and the sale to BIC was completed in 1998.

 

Sheaffer employed about 550 people with about 450 in Fort Madison at the time with global sales of $50 million.

 

Fort Madison was the company's last domestic manufacturing plant, and it controlled 75 percent interest in China-based Shanghai Wingsung Stationery Co. Ltd.

 

Sheaffer and Fort Madison

 

During World War II, Sheaffer employed more than 2,000 people, Frantz said. But typically, it had about 1,300 employees.

 

Nearly everyone in town either worked for Sheaffer or knew someone who did, said Reppert.

 

"In the past, Sheaffer was always kind of the cornerstone of our industrial base in Fort Madison. It was the largest employer. It was basically one of the big engines to our economy," said Tracy Vance, executive director of the Fort Madison Chamber of Commerce.

 

Beyond being an economic staple, Sheaffer developed a special place in the hearts of Fort Madison residents, Reppert said.

 

"Sheaffer did a lot for employees. Because they were the biggest employer in town, they did a lot for a lot of people," Reppert said.

 

In 1927, Sheaffer built an employee clubhouse, complete with bowling alley, lounge, gymnasium, showers, workout rooms, meeting rooms, a complete kitchen and dining area. On their breaks, employees would walk from the plant two blocks to the clubhouse for lunch, Reppert said.

 

"During the heart of the Depression, when most citizens across the nation had to accept reduced compensation and benefits, Walter Sheaffer launched a profit-sharing plan for all company people," the history states.

 

That profit-sharing plan created a lot of goodwill and employee loyalty, Reppert said. At one point, the profit-sharing equaled the company's annual salary, Reppert said.

 

In the 1950s, Sheaffer gave every baby born in Fort Madison a specially made savings bank shaped like a Skrip ink bottle and a 50-cent roll of pennies, Reppert said.

 

There also were company picnics and countless other acts that endeared the company to the hearts of Fort Madison residents.

 

Sheaffer today

 

Four years ago, BIC announced it would close the Fort Madison pen plant by the end of 2006. The company later rescheduled the closure for this March.

 

Only two years earlier, the company had accepted a $400,000 grant from the Iowa Department of Economic Development and $70,000 from Fort Madison. In exchange, BIC agreed to invest $1.5 million in the plant and guarantee a minimum of 165 full-time jobs. BIC failed to keep its end of the bargain and ended up refunding part of the grant money.

 

The March 2004 announcement inspired a flurry of activity from area and state officials as well as another attempt by an investment group to purchase the Sheaffer company. However, the efforts were in vain.

 

The Sheaffer fountain pen point assembly department will be moved to a third party manufacturer in Asia. Purchasing, information technology, distribution, warehousing, customer service packaging and quality control will move to Slovakia, where BIC has operations. Sheaffer's distributor, Hampton-Haddon Marketing Corp. of Philadelphia will handle service and repair.

 

However, Sheaffer will continue to have a small local presence. A three-person product development department has an office at 2623 Avenue L.

 

The move has left many area residents bitter over the loss of a company that has been so integral in the development of the community.

 

"I'm really disconcerted with the behavior of the BIC Corp., and how they have ransacked the legacy of Sheaffer Pen and its history with Fort Madison," Sallen said. "I don't think they really intended to continue production here from the beginning."

 

BIC maintains the move was a necessary business decision.

 

"We fully respect and appreciate the heritage of Sheaffer, and the efforts of so many people over the past decades to build the Sheaffer name and reputation," said Linda Kwong, a Sheaffer spokeswoman. "Unfortunately, a declining market in fine writing instruments created very challenging business conditions over the past few years. As a result, we had to make some very difficult decisions to ensure that the Sheaffer name and business would have a future."

 

Sheaffer continues to make pens ranging in price from about $20 to $20,000 for the company's Stars of Egypt line, an engraved, gold pen commemorating ancient Egypt complete with a .25-carat diamond.

 

With Sheaffer Pen no longer a major part of southeast Iowa, economic development officials have adjusted to the new world economy and are focusing on bringing new jobs to the area.

 

"The fact that Sheaffer is closing is a product of our new global economy. And that is why we have to be vigilant in bringing in new industry to the area, and retaining what industry we have," Vance said.

 

The Sheaffer manufacturing plant at 301 Avenue H was purchased in 2006 by Fort Madison Properties LLC. along with some machinery and several acres of land. The machinery was auctioned off last year.

 

The company, headed by Doug Abolt, is leasing space to Sheaffer Pen until the company completes its move. Fort Madison Properties is working with the Lee County Economic Development Group to find other renters for the space, according Yvonne Knapp of the LCEDG.

 

Collectors and museum

 

While Sheaffer pens no longer will be manufactured in Fort Madison, the company is far from gone or forgotten.

 

A group of local pen aficionados (including Reppert and Frantz) is working to open a Sheaffer Pen Museum. The Museum board includes former employees, Sheaffer enthusiasts and W. A. Sheaffer's great-grandson John Sheaffer.

 

The museum board is working with the recently formed Cattermole Commission and plans to house the museum on the top floor of the former Cattermole Memorial Library.

 

BIC has offered to loan the museum board a half-century worth of historic materials saved by Sheaffer Pen including films, pens, old advertisements, catalogs, old engineering documents and original stock certificates.

 

Reppert said he sees the museum being significant for more than just its historical value. The museum also could be a resource for pen collectors and attract pen enthusiasts to the area, he said.

 

"In this day and age, people don't realize how important fountain pens were to the world at one time," Reppert said.

 

But those who do have an appreciation for the history of writing utensils will travel far and wide to sate their lust for the hobby, Reppert said.

 

In recent decades, a culture of pen collectors has sprung up across the country. This weekend, Reppert said he will be attending the Los Angeles International Pen Show, one of the largest pen shows in the United States with 175 exhibitor tables and thousands of attendants from all over the world.

 

Locally, Fort Madison has become home to Pendemonium, a store specializing in pens, ink, paper and memorabilia. Pendemonium was started by Sam and Frank Fiorella in Washington, D.C., about 10 years ago. The company moved to 619 Avenue G in Fort Madison seven years ago.

 

The store maintains a small sales room stocked with Sheaffer and other pens for sale. Small events put on by Pendemonium have been known to attract more than 100 people with visitors coming from as far away as Great Britain.

 

However, Pendemonium's store front is only the "tip of the iceberg." The majority of the company's business transpires over the Internet with about 80 packages a day being shipped out all over the world, Sam Fiorella said.

 

"It's a strange little niche market we have," Fiorella said.

 

Reppert said that while Fort Madison residents have a soft spot for Sheaffer pens, they generally are not considered as collectable as pens made by other companies.

 

The problem is supply and demand. Sheaffer pens are just too common. Not only did Sheaffer make a huge number of pens, it made them so well that most of the pens still work or can be repaired cheaply, Reppert said.

[rufius]

Valor has always been 3 years. It's just a matter of keeping the stock to repair pen pens. I can tell you from experience that almost 100 years of

pen parts is hard to keep track of. The Valor is made by the best pen manufacturer in Italy, have faith in the quality, it is there.

 

Thank you for your encouragement. I hope that we (the distributor) will help more people understand what is special about Sheaffer.

 

Thats good to hear then. Thank you.

 

-Zac

[penburg]

I wish the company well.

 

Love my Sheaffers... TM, Crest, Admiral and the newer Balance II, which has as good a nib as any of them, imo.

 

 

[scribe75]

Did you buy your Range Rver or Jaguar from Ford or would you buy one of either from Tata Motors? Who knows where all of the parts come from, let alone where they are assembled.

[Palladin]

A sad day...Sheaffer is dead, no matter what Mr. MacDougall says, and another piece of American craftsmanship has been lost. Our currency is at the bottom of the barrel, we are fighting a war without end, our infrastructure is collapsing, the middle class is vanishing, and even the little things that brought joy and a sense of continuity to American life---like a Ticonderoga pencil or a Sheaffer inlaid nib---have been outsourced and subject to inferior manufacturing standards. I for one have no interest, Mr. MacDougall, in a Chinese-made Bic with the Sheaffer name stamped on it. That to me is a meaningless, alienated product. (And will those Chinese workers be paid fair wages and benefits? I wonder...) My heart goes out to the outstanding men and women in Fort Madison who made America's finest pen. Thank you for decades of unparalleled quality and design. You will be missed.

 

 

[Robert Hughes]

Alas, Poor Yorick.

 

The other day I was made aware of a beautiful example of the Law of Unintended Consequences. There is a consumer electronics retailer out there (Best Buy) that decided, in order to cut labor costs, that it would fire all sales personnel that made more than the median wage for their position. In the next quarter their sales dropped somewhere on the order of 60% of the previous quarter!

 

I wonder if the executives involved were making over the median wage? Did their stockholders return the favor?

 

[FredRydr]

A sad day...Sheaffer is dead, no matter what Mr. MacDougall says...

No, Sheaffer is not dead, no matter what Palladin says. Rather than lamenting the changes that our world thrusts upon us, make the best of what it now offers. That's what David is doing. On Saturday, the Central Pennsylvania Pens group were witness to many many photos of vintage and modern parts and machinery which were not being fully exploited for the maintenance and repair of your pens. And we passed around some of the old pieces. The experienced among us were dumbfounded by what they saw, and were excited by the prospects for fine pen collectors and users. These NOS parts will finally flow freely to expert technicians, relieving them of the expensive time-consuming task of cannibalizing other pens or making parts from scratch. If business grows from your demand, then there could be more service to meet that. There are literally thousands and thousands and thousands of parts, which only now through David MacDougall will make their way to you. Parts and pens were being scrapped until he took possession of them, right up to the very last moment. So no, this is not the death of Sheaffer, it may be a resurgence.

 

I think denigrating what David has written here in a clamor to be the first to verbally bury Sheaffer (which except for the American market does quite well around the world) is an unseemly thing to do on FPN. Since David has been an avid collector and user of fine pens, he is in a position to do more for the re-emergence of Sheaffer in the fine pen line in North America than anyone on the FPN. And if he makes a profit while he's at it, more power to him!

 

Thank you, David, for coming up with a business plan that promises a future for Sheaffer USA with reliable and reknown sources for repair and maintenance. I bet most FPN members wish you the very best for success.

 

Fred

[Ron Z]

Keep in mind that the process of closing of the Sheaffer plant in Ft. Madison began a couple of years ago. They have slowly been closing down the plant, a section at a time, aiming for this date when they had to be completely out of the factory building.

 

When Richard and I were there back in February, the only parts still open were the service center, nib center making Prelude and Valor nibs, and shipping. The truth is that the major pen market is not in the US. The decline of Sheaffer from it's peak didn't start and end with Bic. It started with Textron, and decisions and problems that extend back decades.

 

I also want to point something out that has been overlooked.

 

David MacDougal and Sheaffer have done something that Parker did not - they are making provision for service not only of product in the current catalog, but also for vintage fountain pens. I don't know all of what will be available, or all of what will make it's way into the hands of Hampton-Haddon and the repairers, but I am encouraged to note that rather than simply scrap and crush all of that stuff, at least part of it will be available to those doing the repairs so that the legacy pens will be supported. Maybe not the lifetime warranty, maybe not by a Sheaffer service department, but they're not turning their back on collectors!

 

I will always remember my visit to Sheaffer. Having a chance to meet Larry, Michelle, Leta, Lois.... very nice, warm hearted, skilled people. Having had a chance to walk the same halls that Walter Sheaffer walked through. Seeing the service center where I had sent my pens were serviced. I believe that Sheaffer intends to produce a quality product, and know that David really has his heart in this. Sure he sells pens and is in marketing. But he really likes the darn things, and really likes Sheaffer. You can't fake his enthusiasm. Those who know me know that I wouldn't be writing any of this if I didn't know it to be true.

 

Be patient, give them a chance, see what develops.

 

 

[Palladin]

[ I believe that Sheaffer intends to produce a quality product, and know that David really has his heart in this. Sure he sells pens and is in marketing. But he really likes the darn things, and really likes Sheaffer. You can't fake his enthusiasm. Those who know me know that I wouldn't be writing any of this if I didn't know it to be true.] End quote.

 

How can you intend to build a quality product without quality craftspeople? It sounds more like they intend to exploit the past reputation of the product's name but try to produce it with cheap labor that does not have the experience of the Fort Madison team. Why bother?

 

Capitalism doesn't care about an object's integral quality or craft; it cares only about the marketable auras cast by famous brand names. It sells auras, intangibles, not things in themselves. So why invest in paying experienced, knowledgeable workers and giving them benefits? It is the Sheaffer name that people will buy...an illusion, not a real thing.

Edited April 1, 2008 by Palladin

[jonro]

It is disappointing that the oldest operational pen factory in the United States was closed. After all, it had a history of producing some of the most important writing instruments ever made. While I, personally, would like to see Sheaffer fountain pens made in the US, we don't have a monopoly on skilled craftsmen. If Bic/Sheaffer is determined to make a quality product then they will, in whatever country or countries they select. If they decide to make cheap pens, then we won't get a quality pen. China may be known for its lead-tainted toys, but it is also better known for precision electronics like the iPod and iPhone.

 

I hope that Sheaffer does create some modern interpretations of some of its famous vintage pens, but I also hope that they continue to innovate. If usage of fountain pens is going to increase, there is a need for moderate and low priced quality writing instruments, not just expensive tributes to the past. I sincerely hope that Sheaffer will bring the fountain pen into the 21st century with innovative new products.

[david i]

It is disappointing that the oldest operational pen factory in the United States was closed. After all, it had a history of producing some of the most important writing instruments ever made. While I, personally, would like to see Sheaffer fountain pens made in the US, we don't have a monopoly on skilled craftsmen. If Bic/Sheaffer is determined to make a quality product then they will, in whatever country or countries they select. If they decide to make cheap pens, then we won't get a quality pen. China may be known for its lead-tainted toys, but it is also better known for precision electronics like the iPod and iPhone.

 

I hope that Sheaffer does create some modern interpretations of some of its famous vintage pens, but I also hope that they continue to innovate. If usage of fountain pens is going to increase, there is a need for moderate and low priced quality writing instruments, not just expensive tributes to the past. I sincerely hope that Sheaffer will bring the fountain pen into the 21st century with innovative new products.

 

Yeah, I admit i hold out some hopes for nice new product. Lots of chinese pens are self-fillers, aeros and the like. I'd like to see the return of the TD filler.

 

d

Edited April 1, 2008 by david i

[finalidid]

It's a commonplace change, these days, to move from a factory in the rust belt and to a factory in China. Or Singapore, or ...

 

I can't really blame Sheaffer. They don't make such high-end items that (in their estimation) they could do good business by continuing to pay the overhead of remaining in North America. Our politicians made this happen, and through them our voters. We love the free market, for it gets us things for cheap. But we must remember, there's often a concomitant price to pay for that system. This is one of those prices.

 

There are times when a company decides to stay instead of go. They widely advertise "Made in the USA" and hope that this helps them keep some old customers despite higher prices, or gain some new patriotic ones. Or they get involved in products which require a certain type of labor force which has characteristics more common in the USA -- higher education, for instance; or familiarity with softball and pizza ...

 

I'm disappointed from a "vintage collector" point of view. I don't buy new pens, hardly ever. The newest one I've got is a mid-1980s Waterman Laureat which I got in ... shock! ... the mid-1980s; then lost thanks to Katrina; then replaced thanks to EBay. So I'm looking at an old neat-o Deco building which used to make old neat-o Deco and Nouveau gew-gaws. Its utility to my collecting went out in the mid-60s or earlier.