(This page revised January 31, 2022)
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Subtlety Is the Spice of the Flat-Top: The Sheaffer Pen Company produced Flat-Top fountain pens from 1912 until some time after the middle of the 1930s, possibly as late as 1940. (“Flat-Top” is not Sheaffer’s name for this design.) There were many changes in the design, some quite subtle and some not so subtle. This article illustrates parts of several pens to show you the different features that appeared on the Flat-Top Sheaffers. This information can help you to determine the age of a pen you own or are considering buying.
I am very grateful to Allan Fuld, who compiled much of the information and lent me most of the pens that are illustrated.
Clip Evolution: The Sheaffer company used two styles of clips on Flat-Top pens, with a total of three variations. Until 1922, clips were straight and were imprinted with the words SHEAFFER-CLIP. They were mounted very near the end of the cap, as seen in the following picture:
In 1922, the imprint was changed to correspond with the company logo, as seen here, and the clip was mounted slightly lower on the cap:
This imprint continued in use until the 1930s, when it was streamlined to a more modern typeface to correspond with a change in the company logo.
In 1925, Sheaffer advertisements began appearing with pictures of a new clip design, the humped clip that also appeared later on Sheaffer’s Balance pens. The humped clip was mounted lower on the cap for a more elegant appearance. Here are two caps, one with a straight clip and one with a humped clip; note that the humped clip still has a round ball:
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The humped clip did not supplant the straight clip, however; the two seem to have been used side by side for several years. I have seen 1928 advertisements that show Jade Green Flat-Tops with humped clips and ads from 1928 and 1930 that depict Pearl and Black Flat-Tops with straight clips. The humped clip shown above was probably made in 1931 or 1932; compare its design with that of the second long round ball clip on Sheaffer’s Balance.
The third major clip variation appeared in 1935, when Sheaffer flattened the top surface of the ball. The end of the clip may have been streamlined (a minor variation) at that time, or it may have been streamlined earlier, at the same time as that of the Balance models. The following Lady Sheaffer cap shows the flat ball humped clip:
Barrel Imprints: Early Flat-Tops have a barrel imprint that includes patent dates, as shown here:
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W.A.SHEAFFER PEN Co
PAT.AUG.25-08-FORT MADISON,IA.U.S.A. DEC.10-12-JAN.27-OCT.20-NOV.24-14 |
The size of the imprint changed from time to time, and some of the hyphens were replaced with periods:
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W.A.SHEAFFER PEN Co
PAT.AUG.25.08.FORT MADISON,IA.U.S.A. DEC.10.12-JAN.27-OCT.20-NOV.24-14 |
The imprint’s size reached its maximum sometime before 1922, as shown here except that the R and final S in SHEAFFER’S were connected as in the company logo that was imprinted on clips beginning in that year (see above).
| S | PAT. |
JAN 27, NOV 14
OCT 20, 1914 |
’S |
| HEAFFER | |||
| FORT MADISON.IA.U.S.A. | |||
At some time after 1927, the text style was changed slightly and the patent dates were removed:
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W.A.SHEAFFER PEN CO.
FORT MADISON,IOWA,U.S.A. PATENTED IN U.S.A. |
For a Lifetime: Sheaffer introduced the Lifetime pen in 1920. The term “Lifetime” signified that the pen was guaranteed against defects for the life of the original owner. This early Lifetime pen has a solid spear feed and a nib with the three-line imprint shown here:
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SHEAFFER’S
— LIFETIME PEN |
Within a year or two, Sheaffer changed the nib imprint. There are still three lines, but the third line is now a patent notice. The feed remains the same:
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SHEAFFER’S
— LIFETIME REG. U.S. PAT. OFF. |
The next change occurs with the appearance of a new comb feed. The notches in this feed are broad and are widely spaced. The nib remains the same:
The White Dot Appears: In 1923 or 1924, Sheaffer added a white dot to the center of the cap on Lifetime models. The Sheaffer White Dot, registered as a trademark on September 25, 1924, became famous and has appeared on all Lifetime pens since its introduction. The nib and feed were unchanged at this time. (Note that this pen is foreshortened in this view. It is actually the same length as the green pen below.)
The Plastic Pen: In 1924, Sheaffer introduced a Lifetime model made of celluloid, which Sheaffer called Radite. This pen was not the first plastic pen to be marketed; there had been celluloid fountain pens since at least the 1880s, and LeBoeuf, a New England regional company, had been selling celluloid lever-fillers since about 1919, but Sheaffer had the clout to make a nationwide go of it, and this Lifetime model was the first widely successful plastic pen. It was available in black, jade green as shown here, and a mottled light-and-dark pattern called Pearl and Black.
Nib Serial Numbers: In 1926, the nib imprint was changed to the five-line version shown here. The fifth line is a serial number that is sometimes also stamped on the back side of the nib. The feed is still the flat comb feed.
The purpose of the serial numbers was to identify authorized dealers who were selling Sheaffer pens out the back door to businesses that were not authorized dealers and would retail the pens at discounted prices. Selling at discounted prices was a violation of a policy under which Sheaffer attempted to control the retail prices of its pens, and Sheaffer’s intent was to identify the dealers who were providing pens to discounters and cut those dealers off. At first, the numbers were only on the top surface of the nibs; but one particular discounter, Katz Drug Company, took to effacing those serial numbers, rendering the source of the pens anonymous, In response, Sheaffer sued Katz and also silently started imprinting the numbers on the underside of the nib as well, hoping that this subterfuge would discourage the practice by requiring the discounter to disassemble the pens in order to efface the numbers on both surfaces of the nibs, after which the pens would require reassembly. Katz sued back, alleging illegal price fixing. After three years of fascinating legal wrangling during which Craig Sheaffer blatantly lied about the purpose of the numbers, a federal court ruled in favor of Katz, stating that despite what Sheaffer said, the company was numbering the nibs for the illegal purpose of price fixing. Eventually, after some more litigation, Sheaffer and Katz reached an agreement and withdrew their suits against each other.
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SHEAFFER’S
— LIFETIME REG. U.S. PAT. OFF. MADE IN U.S.A. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 |
Toward the end of Flat-Top production, two changes in feed design occur. First, in about 1938, Sheaffer introduced a streamlined crowned feed reminiscent of the old spear feed. This new feed is serrated like the flat feed, but the serrations are finer and closer together, making it a much more efficient feed:
Within about a year, the streamlined feed appears with comb cuts all the way around. The greater comb surface allows the feed to hold a larger quantity of ink:
Variations on a Theme: The lady’s pen shown below has a flat comb feed and a Lady Lifetime nib bearing a four-line imprint without a serial number. The clip is the flat ball humped design:
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SHEAFFER’S
— LADY LIFETIME REG. U.S. PAT. OFF. |
Here is a cap whose White Dot has been moved to the side, over the clip. This pen also has a flat ball humped clip, and its full-comb feed implies that the pen was made during or after 1939, very near the end of Flat-Top production:
Here is a relatively unusual pen. This ring-top lady’s pen has a two-tone Feathertouch nib and a full-comb feed:
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SHEAFFER’S
FeatherTouch FeatherTouch MADE IN U.S.A. 5 |
The information in this article is as accurate as possible, but you should not take it as absolutely authoritative or complete. If you have additions or corrections to this page, please consider sharing them with us to improve the accuracy of our information. Sources for this article include old Sheaffer catalogs, Allan Fuld, Daniel Kirchheimer, Andreas Lambreau, Schneider and Fischler, Roger Wooten, and the pens themselves.
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