(Click image for larger view.)
This Sheaffer pen ad is featured on the back of a December 1955 Coronet magazine acquired at the Hartville Marketplace as a freebie from a vendor affectionately known as “Mr. Estate Sale”. Illustration by Norman Rockwell, the ad copy reads:
what a wonderful surprise!
Home for Christmas!
These tingling words that say so much: There’s no place on earth you’d rather be . . . no one with whom you’d rather share the season.
Sheaffer’s White Dot captures much of the same spirit. You want those near and dear to you to have only the finest. Yet, this luxury is no extravagance. You can give a gift of Sheaffer’s well within your budget. And your thoughtfulness will be remembered for many Christmases to come.
When it comes to writing – come to Sheaffer’s
See Sheaffer’s “Navy Log” and Herb Shriner in “Two for the Money” on CBS-TV
W. A. SHEAFFER PEN CO., FORT MADISON, IOWA, U.S.A. - IN CANADA: GODERICH, ONT. – IN AUSTRALIA: MELBOURNE – IN GREAT BRITAIN: LONDON
The Sheaffer’s SNORKEL pen set illustrated is the White Dot Crest Ensemble, $34.00. Sheaffer White Dot pens started at $13.50, other Sheaffer pens could be had for as little as $3.75.
Did you give a pen or get a pen for Christmas?
5 responses so far ↓
1 Dave Dubé // Dec 27, 2009 at 4:26 am
No, I didn’t give or get a pen for Christmas, but I did give some art as gifts that was done with a pen!
2 Leo // Dec 28, 2009 at 12:39 am
The white dot! I had completely forgotten about the white dot that was the hallmark of high quality on a Sheaffer pen. Here is an example of a Shaeffer white dot pen:
http://www.fountainpenemporium.com/ProductDetails.asp?ProductCode=SHFBKPFMIMP
Click on the “Larger photo” button. The white dot, located at the top of the pocket clip, is visible in all three photos, but is best observed in the third image. This model (the Imperial, in the Pen For Men series) was introduced in 1959, so is slightly anachronistic for the ad that Sheaffer ran in your December, 1955, issue of Coronet magazine.
Your link to the Shaeffer home page is great. Here is a detailed third-party history of the Sheaffer Pen Company, written and maintained by Richard C. Conner:
http://www.rickconner.net/penspotters/sheaffer.html
I learned from Rick’s website that the Sheaffer Pen Company had been bought by BIC. There are also several illustrations of Sheaffer pens featuring the white dot.
3 Susan E // Dec 28, 2009 at 1:11 am
Dave – You certainly put your pen to good purpose – the art you gave this year is fantastic!
http://oldpaperart.blogspot.com/2009/12/what-they-received.html
4 Susan E // Dec 28, 2009 at 1:16 am
Leo – Love the Rick Conner connection, especially the ballerina “en pointe” ad for the Sheaffer Balance pen. The two photos of the buildings, one at either end of the article, are super – the last shows the ‘White Dot’ over the word “Sheaffer”!
5 Leo // Dec 28, 2009 at 2:58 am
Susan — The white dot over the word “Sheaffer” on the final building image on Rick Conner’s website must be a fairly recent addition to the building signage (Rick’s photo is copyright 2004). I located a chrome era (typically post-1950 or so) postcard of the Sheaffer building currently listed on eBay. On the postcard image, the sign above the building reads “SHEAFFER PENS” with no white dot anywhere to be found. It occurs to me that a postcard featuring either the Sheaffer building or especially a white dot Scheaffer fountain pen would have been an interesting — if highly oblique — possibility for submission into the recently closed Festival of Postcards (6th edition), which had the theme “white”!
Leave a Comment