Sheaffer Uncatalogued Clipless Corduroy AC Cartridge Pen c. 1959–1963

by Jim Mamoulides, May 7, 2023

Sheaffer Uncatalogued Clipless Corduroy AC Cartridge Pen c. 1959–1963

A Clipless AC Cartridge Pen?

Before looking at this unusual uncatalogued pen it’s important to review the Sheaffer AC Cartridge Pen line it derives from. There are two Sheaffer AC Cartridge Pen models, the AC18I Cartridge Pen with a chrome plated cap and trim and a stainless steel inset nib and the AC19Y Gold PEP Cartridge Pen with a gold plated cap, trim and gold plated stainless steel nib. The AC pens appear to be the first use by Sheaffer of the Stylpoint-type inset nibs and were cartridge only pens.

The AC18I Cartridge Pen was introduced in 1959, with the earliest advertisement known appearing in the Honolulu Star Bulletin on August 20, 1959, showing a retail price of $2.95. The latest ad showing the pen being offered at full price is a Sheaffer corporate ad appearing in the December 1962 Boys' Life. Sheaffer later directly advertised the pen with a one dollar lower retail price in the September 1964 Boys' Life.

Advertisement in the Durham Morning Herald Sun, December 17, 1961

The AC19Y Gold PEP Cartridge Pen was introduced in 1961, with the earliest known advertisement appearing in the June 13, 1961 Chicago Tribune, showing a retail price of $3.95. Full retail price ads for this model can be found as late as 1962 in the U. S., with an ad in The Lima Citizen (Ohio) on April 24, 1962, and in 1963 in Canada in The Gazette of Grand Forks, British Columbia on September 19, 1963. The AC19Y Gold PEP Cartridge Pen was sold in boxed sets with fountain pen, pencil, and Reminder Clip ballpoint pen for $9.95, a fountain pen and pencil set was advertised with a retail price of both $5.95 and $6.95, and the fountain pen alone was $3.95. Both versions of the AC Cartridge Pens can be seen advertised with discounts and closeouts for a year or so after the last known full price ads.

Is It a Lady Shaeffer?

This 4 3/4 inch long pen appears to be an all-metal gold plated version of the AC Cartridge Pen with a clipless pull off cap. Side by side it is the same size and shape and uses the same nib and nib section. In particular, the nib section appears to be the same one used on the AC19Y Gold PEP Cartridge Pen, which would make the nib gold plated stainless steel. If it was designed and modeled at the same time as the AC pens, it would date from as early as 1959 to as late as 1963 given the gold plated nib is stamped “Sheaffer’S,” the form of the company name before 1964.

The gold plated cap and barrel are engraved with parallel straight lines that are red enamel filled complimenting the Mandarin Red resin nib section and base barrel. The engraved metal part of the barrel appears to slip onto a plastic inner barrel and is probably glued. This engraving design first appeared in 1958 on the Lady Sheaffer II Corduroy. Since at this time the only Sheaffer pens that were clipless and with this type of cap and barrel engraving were Lady Sheaffers it's a pretty good guess that this was intended as a Lady Sheaffer model.

Sheaffer Uncatalogued Clipless Corduroy AC Cartridge Pen c. 1959–1963

Lady Sheaffer II Corduroy

AC18I Cartridge Pen in gray

For comparison, from top to bottom above are this uncatalogued AC Cartridge Pen variation, a Lady Sheaffer II Corduroy, and an AC18I Cartridge Pen.

There are no maker’s marks on the pen, which makes me suspect it is a model shop prototype. Since there is no catalog, price list, advertisement or other Sheaffer reference that mentions this pen, it’s impossible to know whether it is a prototype or an uncatalogued pen with a small production run.

Clipless uncatalogued Lady Sheaffer pen with star engraving with clipless Corduroy AC Cartridge Pen

Above is a clipless uncatalogued Lady Sheaffer Stylist pen in a polished chrome-plate finish with a repeated elongated star engraving at the base of the cap and top of the barrel with the clipless gold plated AC Cartridge Pen with corduroy engraving.

As with other uncatalogued pens, there won't be the usual identification guide or performance review as there is little to no primary documentation on these pens to create one and these pens are no different functionally than the standard AC Cartridge Pen models, given that they use the same nib section units, so the writing experience would be no different.

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Acknowledgement

Many thanks to Patrick Mohan for loaning pens and for additional information on Lady Sheaffers. Patrick accumulated many examples through his collecting efforts and purchase of a few collections over the years. Most of the uncatalogued pieces were from a collection purchased from the late Dick Johnson, an early and long-time collector of Lady Sheaffers. Some of the uncatalogued pieces were acquired from Dan Reppert, who had access to them as the factory sold off non-production pieces.

Pennant Spring 2022

A version of this story appeared in the spring 2022 Pennant, the magazine of the Pen Collectors of America (PCA). You can learn more about joining the PCA and subscribing to the Pennant by clicking the link.

References

Advertisement, Boys' Life, December 1962, page 97

Advertisement, Boys' Life, September 1964, page 46

Advertisement, Chicago Tribune, June 13, 1961, page 15

Advertisement, Durham Morning Herald Sun, December 17, 1961, page 44

Advertisement, Honolulu Star Bulletin, August 20, 1959, page 1-B

Advertisement, The Gazette, Grand Forks, British Columbia, September 19, 1963, page 13

Advertisement, The Lima Citizen, Lima, Ohio, April 24, 1962, page 3

Advertisement, The Windsor Star, December 18, 1961, page 7

Sheaffer’s Service Manual, 1962