Pens on this page are part of my personal collection and are not for sale. If there is a magnifying-glass symbol () next to a pen, click the magnifying glass to view a zoomed version for more detail.

The 1920s saw pen manufacture flourish; that time is frequently called the Golden Age of Fountain Pens. One manufacturer that grew tremendously was Wahl. From its beginnings as an adding-machine maker, Wahl had expanded into mechanical pencils and, with the purchase of the Boston Pen Company, fountain pens. In the ’20s, the company began producing a line of excellent metal pens, and it is these for which Wahl’s early years are perhaps best known. My Wahl metal is a sterling silver pen in the Dart pattern, catalogued as Model 652C. This particular pen, 4²⁹/32" capped and 6¹⁷/32" posted, features a Nº 5 semiflexible stub nib.

At 5³/8" capped and 6¹/32" posted, Targa by Sheaffer is very similar in size to the Parker “51”. It’s also one of the greats, a truly excellent pen that is arguably Sheaffer’s best pen of the latter 20th century. Sheaffer introduced the Targa in 1976 to commemorate Italy’s famed Targa Florio auto race, a wild endurance run around the hills and valleys of Sicily. Discontinued as an outright race in 1977 over safety concerns, the Targa Florio exists today as a TSD rally — but the Targa pen lasted in Sheaffer’s catalog until 1998. It’s a sleek metal-bodied pen that features the reliable and elegant Inlaid Nib™, and Sheaffer produced it in a tremendous range of lacquer colors and metal finishes. My gold-plated Targa has a modified crosshatch design and a factory medium nib. It’s among my most pleasing writers.

Sheaffer didn’t advertise its stainless steel pens as Flighters; that name was of course the property of Parker. But names, or the lack thereof, didn’t stop Sheaffer from producing some delightful Flighter-styled models; my first one is a late model with chrome-plated trim and a very fine steel nib, and it is a real pleasure to use for fine note-taking. At 5⁵/16" capped and 5³¹/32" posted, it’s just a tiny bit shorter than the gold-filled pen above.

My second stainless Targa, also fitted with a smooth-writing fine nib, is 5³/8" capped and 5²⁷/32" posted.

I’m enough of a sucker for brilliant transparent green over a metal body that I’ll fight for it. Which is how, while sorting through parts at the U.S. Sheaffer distributor’s warehouse, I acquired this NOS lacquered guilloché Targa. It’s 5¹⁵/32" capped, and it’s a remarkably long 6¹³/32" posted because of the unusually large barrel diameter. And to top it off, this baby wears a wicked fat broad 18K nib. (Actually, there were two of these pens in the box, and my “opponent” got the other one.)

At 5¹³/32" capped and 6⁹/64" posted, this Targa with an etched pattern of leaves in black panels is pretty much an average pen except that it’s a Targa. Its medium nib writes like silk. I assembled this pen from parts. Its lacquer was badly discolored, so I relacquered it. My lacquer isn’t as hard as Sheaffer’s was, and this photo shows the pen posted for what is probably the only time in its entire life.

Sheaffer’s Wasp. Parker’s Parkette. Wahl’s Oxford. They all did it. So, in 1929, Conklin of Toledo launched a sub-brand called THE ALL-AMERICAN PEN. Flat-topped at first, the All-American soon acquired a streamlined look along with the Endura Symetrik and, when it was introduced a year later, the Endura Nozac. Produced with three filling systems (lever, vacuum plunger, and twist-actuated bulb), the All-American was an excellent and reliable pen; and it also appeared as a combo (pen/pencil combination). My twist-bulb All-American wears a black and green “Candy Stripe” celluloid, and it’s 5¹/16" long capped and 5¹⁵/16" posted. Its Conklin-imprinted medium nib, although not “correct” for this sub-brand pen, is the right size, and its pleasant light flex makes it a joy to use.

In 1926, Parker extended its product line downward, in size at least, with the introduction of a very small pen called the Pastel. Offered in various solid pastel colors, the pen came either as a ringtop or with a clip. The next year, new colors joined the range; these were lovely moiré patterns made of alternating clear and colored material. My Pastel ringtop wears the color called Coral Moiré, and it’s 4½" long capped and 5¹⁵/32" posted. Its nib is a slightly flexible fine stub..

© 2008 Richard F. Binder

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