Two Uncatalogued Touchdown Lady Sheaffers c. 1959–1964

by Jim Mamoulides, February 27, 2023

Clipless Touchdown Lady Sheaffer diamond pattern c. 1959-1960

An Early Uncatalogued Clipless Touchdown Lady Sheaffer

These two clipless Lady Sheaffer Touchdown filling pens show that Sheaffer was considering such a design both before and after the Textron takeover in 1964 and both have engraved designs that do not appear on any other Lady Sheaffer model I am aware of. As with the clip pen shown later in this article, I have seen no other examples of Touchdown Lady Sheaffers.

Sheaffer made a Touchdown pen with a similar but threaded section called the Imperial, model AS9, in 1960, which looks like a cross between a Thin Model (TM) Touchdown and a Sheaffer Skripsert cartridge pen. These two Touchdown pens look like they could be the result of extending the same thinking to the Lady Sheaffer line.

Unlike the cartridge Lady Sheaffer pens, these pens are filled by unscrewing the barrel end cap, pulling out a long plunger, dipping the nib section in an ink bottle, pressing down on the plunger, screwing the cap back tightly and wiping excess ink off the nib. A more involved filling experience than dropping in a cartridge and removes the "white glove" selling point of the fuss free cartridge pens. Perhaps this is why they were apparently not produced.

This first variation has a diamond pattern engraved on the gold-plated or gold filled cap, barrel, and Touchdown end cap with a Periwinkle gripping section and either a two-tone platinum or palladium-plated gold nib. The pattern is like a squared version of the Tulle pattern used on six catalogued Lady Sheaffers. It has “Sheaffer’s” stamped at the base of the cap, indicating it was likely made earlier than 1964. Given the 1960 date of the Imperial AS9, I would guess this pen dates probably as early as 1959 or 1960.

Clipless Touchdown Lady Sheaffer diamond pattern c. 1959-1960

Identification Guide and Features

This pen does not appear in any Sheaffer catalog, pricelist, advertisement or any other company documents I am aware of. Sheaffer's model shop definitely made prototypes of potential models and this may be one as I have never seen another like it. The following pertains to this example.

• Gold filled or plated metal cap and barrel engraved with zigzag lines that form a linear and mirrored diamond pattern down the cap, barrel and end cap.
• Periwinkle blue plastic nib section
• Cap pulls off
• Unknown number of nib grades as not known if they were actually produced, but could potentially be fitted with medium, fine, shorthand, and extra-fine
• Two-tone palladium/platinum plated gold nib
• “SHEAFFER'S” stamped at the base of the cap
• Touchdown filling mechanism
• About 5 3/8 inches long capped

An Uncatalogued Textron Era Clipless Touchdown Lady Sheaffer

The second pen has an overlapping double diamond pattern in panels engraved on the gold-plated cap and barrel. The Touchdown end cap has straight lines like the one on the Snorkel Triumph. Who knows if the model shop tried to make an end cap with the engraving extending all the way down to the plunger knob as on the example above? It has a Mandarin Red section with a two-tone platinum or palladium plated gold nib. I have not seen this pattern on any other Sheaffer pen. It has “SHEAFFER” stamped at the base of the cap, indicating it was likely made after 1964.

Clipless Touchdown Lady Sheaffer double diamond pattern fountain pen and ballpoint c. 1964-1965

In addition, the pen has a matching clipless pushbutton ballpoint.

Clipless Touchdown Lady Sheaffer double diamond pattern fountain pen and ballpoint c. 1964-1965

Identification Guide and Features

This fountain pen and ballpoint pen do not appear in any Sheaffer catalog, pricelist, advertisement or any other company documents I am aware of. As above, Sheaffer's model shop made prototypes of potential models and these may be as I also have never seen others like them. The following pertains to these two examples.

• Gold filled or plated metal cap and barrel engraved with overlapping zigzag lines that form rows of linear double diamond patterns down the cap and barrel. The end cap has straight lines.
• Mandarin Red plastic nib section
• Cap pulls off
• Unknown number of nib grades as not known if they were produced, but could include medium, fine, shorthand, and extra-fine
• Two-tone palladium/platinum plated gold nib
• “SHEAFFER” stamped at the base of the cap
• Touchdown filling mechanism
• About 5 3/8 inches long capped

Lady Sheaffer clipless ballpoint pen

• Gold filled or plated metal cap and barrel engraved with overlapping zigzag lines that form rows of linear double diamond patterns down the cap and barrel
• Push button advance/retract mechanism
• “SHEAFFER” stamped at the base of the cap
• About 5 1/8 inches long

Performance

In the hand, these pens are basically the same size and shape as the first line of clipless Lady Sheaffer pens. The differences are in the design and the filling mechanism. None of the early clipless Lady Sheaffer pens have a similar engraving pattern on any finish. The closest would be an uncatalogued clipless cartridge Tulle variant with a hexagonal version of the tulle pattern on a polished chrome plate finish. These examples appear to be well made, with everything fitting tightly together, but both show significant issues with the gold plating/fill.

Clipless double diamond Touchdown Lady Sheaffer and tweed pattern with clip pen

If you've ever written with a c. 1960 conical nib Sheaffer Imperial AS9 fountain pen, then you will be familiar with how these pens will potentially write. As these are probably unique or very uncommon examples, I did not fill or write with them. Instead, I’ll refer to my writing experience with the AS9, which is the most similar Sheaffer model.

The Imperial AS9 is functionally similar and is the same size and weight as a Sheaffer Thin Model (TM) Touchdown pen made from 1950 to 1951. As on these Lady Sheaffer pens, filling starts with removing the cap to reveal a smooth conical nib section, consistent with other Lady Sheaffer models. Next step is unscrewing the barrel end cap, pulling out a long plunger, dipping the nib section in an ink bottle, pressing down on the plunger, screwing the cap back tightly and wiping excess ink off the nib. The nib is firm and writes an even line with a pencil like feel.

Lady Sheaffer pens in general are often overlooked and, in my opinion, underpriced. Sheaffer made many more versions beyond the catalogued models from 1958 through the 1980s, though it’s not clear how many of these uncatalogued variants were made. These two Touchdown pens are possibly unique examples exploring adding the Touchdown filling system to the line. It appears that they were never put into production, at least in any quantity, which makes them an interesting chapter in the long line of Lady Sheaffer models.

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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

“Competition Moves In…Other Firms Introduce Women’s Pens” Sheaffer’s Review, January 1959, p. 8

“High Fashion Comes to the Pen Industry” Sheaffer’s Review, March–April 1958, pp. 5–6

Lady Sheaffer Catalog, 1959

“Marketing Review… Retail and Popular Price Divisions Prepare Massive Fall Promotions” Sheaffer’s Review, August 1960

Plewa, Fred, “New Lady Sheaffer” Pen World, V. 7 no. 6, August 1994, pp. 24–25

“A Report on Lady Sheaffer… Launching of New Pens is Highly Successful” Sheaffer’s Review, May 1958, p. 8

Sheaffer Catalog, 1963

Sheaffer’s Service Manual, 1962