c.1938-9 WASP Vacuum-Fil Lizard Fountain Pen and Mechanical Pencil Set

Vintage: c.1938-9 

Make: WASP (W. A. Sheaffer Pen)

Model: Vacuum-Fil

Color: Grey Pearl Lizard

Materials: celluloid with nickel-plated trim

Filling System: vacuum filler (fully restored, fills to factory capacity)

Length: FP measures 4 7/8" capped

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

Condition: excellent. No chips, cracks, or personalizations. Some pin-sized spots of wear on clips. Cap band on FP has lost some of its original luster. Excellent barrel transparency of yellow color. Celluloid has a smooth, lustrous finish with no deep scratches or other noteworthy blemishes - scarcely even any microscratches. Manufacturer imprints are factory deep (note that MP reads "Clipper" while FP reads "Vacuum-Fil."

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.

WASP lizards are perhaps the scarcest among Sheaffer sub-brand models. The pattern is composed of free-floating marble portions against a lizard skin backdrop that appears 3-dimensional and also pearlescent, reflecting the light just like lizard skin. I’ve never seen an example of one of these that doesn’t show some yellowing of the lizard skin backdrop, presumably owing to the transparency of the material. And perhaps because the grey marbled portions are an unyellowed grey, it’s one of those rare cases of a pen that looks more attractive to my eye in the way it’s aged.