1940s WASP Addipoint Deluxe Fountain Pen

Vintage: 1940s

Make: WASP (W.A.Sheaffer Pen)

Model: Addipoint Deluxe

Color: grey snakeskin

Materials: celluloid with nickel-plated trim

Filling System: lever-filler (resacced and ready to write)

Length: This standard-sized model measures 5 1/8” capped. 

Nib: 12k WASP #3 nib lays down a smooth and consistent B line.

Condition: Color is pristine. Nickel-plated trim shows no brassing or other notable flaws aside from a small spot of wear to the top and bottom edges of the lever. Celluloid surface is smooth and lustrous with no deep scratches or other notable flaws. Manufacture imprint on barrel is factory deep and fully legible. 

Details: WASP (Walter A. Sheaffer Pen) was a 1930s Sheaffer sub-brand. The name is often used as a catch-all term for contemporaneous Sheaffer sub-brands bearing different imprints but virtually identical in other respects: e.g. Vacuum, Vacuum-fil, etc. Despite the name, most of these pens were lever fillers, rebranded to capitalize on the popularity of Parker’s Vacumatic. Sheaffer used WASP pens as a canvas for experimental designs and color patterns, many of which never appeared in their main line of pens. For this reason, these pens have gained quite a following among collectors.

This pen is simply imprinted “WASP Pen Co. Inc.” but I believe it to be a deluxe version of the Addipoint based on its nib, trim, and profile/size. Unlike the standard Addipoints with interchangeable threaded sections and SS nibs below, the deluxe version came with a 12k nib and frinction-fit section. This one is made of celluloid in a color pattern that resembles shell or snakeskin with pearlescent scales that appear to move under bright light when the pen is turned. Nickel-plated trim with unusual clip in the same shape as deluxe Addipoints with gold-plated trim but with a ‘W’ for WASP stamped at the top.