Sheaffer Mechanical Pencil US House of Representatives
Am I guilty of a federal felony, of ‘receiving stolen goods’? To wit, one Sheaffers “U.S. House of Representatives” mechanical pencil.
“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.”
Ahhh, to think that this mechanical pencil is an artefact associated with the inheritors of that wonderful legacy. Even one of Her Majesties subjects like me can appreciate the power of those words.
I guess this mechanical pencil is from sometime around the 1970’s or 80’s? I note that there is no actual indication of Made in USA on the pencil. I suppose back then it just went without saying?
It is a 0.9mm screw action mechanism. The whole top half of the body winds around to propel or repel the lead. The eraser has seen some action – the Congressional Representative amending notes on important legislation...modifying personal
pork expense reimbursement claims…hey, just kidding. I suppose more likely it was just a general office pencil used by administrative support staff.
There is some
corruption corrosion on the underneath of the pocket clip.
Well, I’m mighty glad to have this mechanical pencil and I’ll keep my fingers crossed that some SEAL Team doesn’t come a-knockin’ to reclaim US Government property.
Seems like the First Lady approves of Sheaffers colour scheme?
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18 comments:
Congratulations – a nice vintage item. I was under the impression that Autopoint and/ or Parker were the main suppliers of the US Government back in those days when 0.9 mm leads were “super thin” – but obviously I’m mistaken.
I like your errors “some corruption under the clip” LOL.
Regards Henrik
If that were a British pencil, the eraser would have seen so much use because it was hastily rubbing out expense claims...
Highly likely. I think politicians are all pretty much the same no matter where they are geographically located.
I have a Cross Century .9mm pencil which also has the twist method of lead extension. I just love the act of twisting it to get some more lead out. Doing so also provides a sometimes much needed distraction from the subject of what I am note taking from. Perhaps that is why the House has twist pencils? Curious indeed.
Murphy
Great post, great pencil!
"I think politicians are all pretty much the same no matter where they are geographically located."
Couldn't agree more! here's an interesting definition.
Politicians are Like diapers, they must be changed for the same reasons!
Ricardo.
That model of pencil dates to the 1940s and 50s. Well made...
Such a tragedy. It's great that Sheaffer was getting sales support, likely quite large, from the government. But, I consider the expense a COMPLETE waste of money. Wood pencils are just as good as one of these, when considering they are for politicians...... Personally, they should write in their own..... fill in blank.
Great, classic pencil.
That's nothing :-/ Here in Germany at the end of the last year our representatives ordered 396 pens (mainly Montblanc, valued 68.8k€) -- quite cheap, i must admit: 174€ per pen...
Interesting. Thanks for that 2nd.
Steve L - My apologies for such a tardy response. Thanks for the date information. Actually I must have been drunk when I wrote 1970's or 80's. I am sure I meant to write 1960's or 70's. Still wrong, just not quite so wrong :-)
The imaging of writing instruments is an art (the Fountain Pen Network has a whole forum devoted to it) and I always look forward to your photos.
Thanks Inter Glossa, I appreciate your comment, but at the end of the day I'm just a rank amateur with nothing more than an ordinary run of the mill camera, although I do try to think about backgrounds from time to time. Those FPN guys are in a whole different league to me :-)
Sheaffer made millions of these pencils over many years. They were as well-known for their quality mechancial pencils as they were for fountain pens. If the clip says "SheafferS", the pencil dates to 1964 or before. If just plain "Sheaffer" the pencil is post 1964.
Hi Anonymous. Thanks for the date information. Mine is SheafferS so 1964 or earlier.
Hi, I have this same pencil that I found in a dumpster (glad I rescued it!) but mine has no lead, unfortunately. I made a post about it on your "how to refill" post, but maybe posting here was more applicable. Do you know how to refill this pencil? I have some .9mm Bic lead that I could put in it. Any help would be greatly appreciated! Like yours, my eraser is quite worn and I don't know if I can get a good grip on it without destroying it in the process.
ThirdYe - its a tip feeder as per my Refill post. I'm no expert, but it seems to me that with a lot of old screw mechanism pencils the mechanism is broken, it just goes round and round never advancing any lead, so that maybe your problem. Sometimes a piece of old lead is jammed down inside there too stopping things work properly and you've got to dig it out.
Hi Kiwi,
I took the pen apart by gently pulling and twisting and I revealed the mechanism underneath. The screw was half-way threaded and I removed it to see if anything would come out when I removed it, but I couldn't get anything out. Also tried to gently tap it on the table and still nothing would come out. Perhaps you're right about it being broken or jammed. I tried doing what your post said about turning it until it stopped, but it just kept turning forever. Wish I could get it fixed, it's a beautiful pencil.
Derek (ThirdeYe)
dude! i got one of these... except it had a cheap looking plastic center and it says gpc with a triangular logo I WANT MORE
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