Lady Sheaffer Skripserts

If there are flocks of seagulls, prides of lions, and gaggles of geese, what is the group of pens below?  How about a school of Skripserts?   Anyway, these have been recently acquired in a trade with a collector for some Vacumatic repair parts.  I have never collected these, and have only had two that I found in an antique store years ago.  They do no require much work other than general cleanup, as they are Sheaffer Cartridge Pens, using standard Sheaffer cartridges.

You can see them taken apart below.  Clipless, they break down to just three pieces, assuming you do not want to take the feed and nib out.

After cleaning, here are the resulting group of five.  Closed, they measure 5 3/8 inches and posted 5 7/8 inches.

The Paisley pen retailed for $10.00, the two Tulle’s for $12.50, and the two Moires were priced at $15.00.   Pens ranged from $10.00 for the base models all the way up to $110.00, in a range of styles that totaled 19 pens.

Pencils and select desk pens were also available in sets and these pens were later (1962) available with a closed nib, as opposed to this triumph style nib. Below is an old photo of a set I picked up many years ago showing the mentioned matching pencil.

The advertisement below, targeting the female graduate, is from 1959.   Two of the pens featured in this advertisement are seen above, the black and gold Tulle and the brushed gold Moire.  I also believe the pencil is the match for the brushed silver Moire above.

Sheaffer began this line of pens in 1958, continuing sales until the mid 1960s, when fountain pens were being heavily replaced by the ballpoint pen.

What makes these pens so unique and collectible are a variety of factors.   First, there are many variations (19) and the color and finish selections are very colorful and unique.  The fact that they were cartridge pens means that many have survived to today with little or no damage and need for repair.

For additional information on these pens, and some fantastic drawings and copies of Skripsert catalog pages, please read the July/August 1994 issue of Pen World article on these pens, by Stuart Schneider.