I grew up in the sixties and seventies and until my senior year in high school, cartridge pens (usually Sheaffer) were the standard. Funny thing is, I can remember in junior high that my Spanish teacher used to keep a quart of Skrip in her cabinet, and for a penny any of the students could use a provided syringe to refill their cartridges. Can't see any teacher doing that now!
Sorry about that! :) I was lucky enough to find a lot of these here and there for only a few dollars each. Keep in mind, I've been collecting for over 20 years, so have had plenty of time to accumulate a decent collection.
As stated, brown-label Skrip dates from the late 1930s. Fun Fact: A bottle is on the family's desk in "A Christmas Story", set in 1940. I love that attention to detail. Unlike the movie "Annie", set in 1933, in which Miss Hannigan kept her bathtub gin in modern Skrip master ink bottles.
The yellow box stirred up a lot of good memories for me. I received a Sheaffer TARGA fountain pen as a present in the early 1980s and I used to buy Sheaffer ink to use. The Blue Black and Jet Black were my favorites. Over the years Sheaffer changed hands several times. It seems they do not produce the Jet Black anymore! The packaging nowadays are not as eye-catching as the yellow boxes were.
Isn't it interesting how something as simple as a box can stir up so many memories? I truly think that this is some of the most iconic fountain-pen-related packaging ever.
I remember in grade school that every single classroom had a 32 oz. bottle of Sheaffer's Skrip and one or more bottles with the inkwell on the side. I still do not think that a better ink bottle was ever designed or made!
Been a fan of Sheaffer Skrip ever since my first bottle of blue-black in around 1983. And of the inkwell bottle since the same time. I've recently found a purple ink, same name as the ink Nick Stewart came out with a while back, but the brand, not ink name. It was sold for writing checks, and purportedly as permanent as the Warden inks from Noodler's (maybe not laser resistant. 😁) And even changes color when tampered with. Have you ever come across anything like this? It seems possibly 1940s or 50s, based on the lettering on the bottle.
Yeah, it's really neat! There aren't really any books on ink history out there that I know of. I self-published one years ago but have long since run out of copies. You might check out this article on Wikipedia about V-Mail: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/V-mail
Just so you know there is currently a full 32oz plastic bottle of blue on ebay. If you were interested in picking up another one. I saw it while browsing for some blue black skrip.
I just got a few full bottles of ChemOpure era Permanent Blue Black. To my surprise, a Q-tip swab of it looks almost the same as the current Skrip version made overseas. Can this old ink still be good after all these years? Guess so. Thanks to your video I can date my bottles to 1939-42 and that #24 means ink #2 and 4 oz size. Much appreciated!
I have a bottle still in the box. Red box does not say skrip. What can you tell me about it? It was given to me by the owner of an antique store that went out of business locally.
I’ve always found bottles of skrip ink, but they always solidify into a putty like substance. Every bottle I’ve encountered is like this, do you know why this happens?
The cap seals don't always stand up over time and the liquid evaporates, leaving the dye behind. I'm not sure why some turn to a solid, putty-like substance and others turn to dust.
I recently got 2 of 60’s sheaffer inks someone knows if is still secure use this ink in pens? Cause I know the bottles are unusual for me but I don’t know if is better use it or empty and later put other actual ink inside.
The earliest version was a disaster. Sheaffer had widely tested it, by having its employees use it in their own pens. It was indeed clog-proof. But those employees had only ever used Sheaffer in their pens. When the ink was put on the market, it clogged people's pens terribly, because they'd used various brands of ink before trying Skrip, and people didn't flush their pens before changing inks. When the Prussian Blue dye in the Skrip touched the residue of a different brand of ink, it formed serious clogs. Sheaffer withdrew the product, and reformulated it.
Do you have a favorite Scheaffer('s) vintage ink that you utilize? Great tidbit about pre-1964 with the " 's " on the end of the name! Was wondering why some pens had that and others did not.
The nice thing about Sheaffer's inks is that they had so many colors compared to other vintage ink manufacturers. A few of my favorites are the Peacock Blue, Emerald Green and Melon Red, but have to say that I always enjoy using the Permanent Red, which is a super-intense red with a bit of gold sheen!
At its most basic, it is just dye and water. It can be pretty complicated to do it properly, as you'll need anti-fungal agents to prevent mold and emulsifiers to adjust the viscosity. BUT, there are recipes out there for homemade ink if you dig around.
There's an online database of patents, going back over 150 years. You'll find some for inks. When Avery bought out Carter's Ink, in 1975, it made the egregious decistion to throw out all of Carter's archives, including R&D and formulae dating from as far back as 1860. But a few of Carter's formulae are in the patents database, including for Ink Eradicator.
That ink will work just fine in your pens. I would suggest getting a few samples of black ink to see which you like the best or checking out ink reviews from Mountain of Ink or Macchiato Man to see which blacks appeal to you the most.
I don't have a lot of info, but do know that the Sanford's Penit ink is made for fountain pens. Sanford made a lot of inks and not all of the older inks are for fountain pens.
Thank you, thank you! Wonderful! I used Skrip Washable Black all through the 1960s. With the Topwell bottle.
I grew up in the sixties and seventies and until my senior year in high school, cartridge pens (usually Sheaffer) were the standard. Funny thing is, I can remember in junior high that my Spanish teacher used to keep a quart of Skrip in her cabinet, and for a penny any of the students could use a provided syringe to refill their cartridges. Can't see any teacher doing that now!
Come back! This is one of the best fountain pen channels on youtube!
I need to! I have plenty more videos I want to make, just no time to do it.
Man, I was trying to get rid of the fountain pen bug and I was sober for 1 year and now you show up.
Sorry about that! :) I was lucky enough to find a lot of these here and there for only a few dollars each. Keep in mind, I've been collecting for over 20 years, so have had plenty of time to accumulate a decent collection.
As stated, brown-label Skrip dates from the late 1930s. Fun Fact: A bottle is on the family's desk in "A Christmas Story", set in 1940. I love that attention to detail.
Unlike the movie "Annie", set in 1933, in which Miss Hannigan kept her bathtub gin in modern Skrip master ink bottles.
The yellow box stirred up a lot of good memories for me. I received a Sheaffer TARGA fountain pen as a present in the early 1980s and I used to buy Sheaffer ink to use. The Blue Black and Jet Black were my favorites. Over the years Sheaffer changed hands several times. It seems they do not produce the Jet Black anymore! The packaging nowadays are not as eye-catching as the yellow boxes were.
Isn't it interesting how something as simple as a box can stir up so many memories? I truly think that this is some of the most iconic fountain-pen-related packaging ever.
I remember in grade school that every single classroom had a 32 oz. bottle of Sheaffer's Skrip and one or more bottles with the inkwell on the side. I still do not think that a better ink bottle was ever designed or made!
That's awesome! The bottle design is truly fantastic. Hope this brought back good memories!
Great video! I’ve always been interested in vintage ink and inkwells.
Thank you. Glad you found it enjoyable!
Been a fan of Sheaffer Skrip ever since my first bottle of blue-black in around 1983. And of the inkwell bottle since the same time.
I've recently found a purple ink, same name as the ink Nick Stewart came out with a while back, but the brand, not ink name. It was sold for writing checks, and purportedly as permanent as the Warden inks from Noodler's (maybe not laser resistant. 😁) And even changes color when tampered with. Have you ever come across anything like this? It seems possibly 1940s or 50s, based on the lettering on the bottle.
Wow I had no idea they shipped images of letters during WWII! Any recommendations for books/ articles on ink history? I am really curious now.
Yeah, it's really neat! There aren't really any books on ink history out there that I know of. I self-published one years ago but have long since run out of copies. You might check out this article on Wikipedia about V-Mail: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/V-mail
Just so you know there is currently a full 32oz plastic bottle of blue on ebay. If you were interested in picking up another one. I saw it while browsing for some blue black skrip.
Thanks for the heads up! I'll go take a look. Hope you found some blue black!
I just got a few full bottles of ChemOpure era Permanent Blue Black. To my surprise, a Q-tip swab of it looks almost the same as the current Skrip version made overseas. Can this old ink still be good after all these years? Guess so. Thanks to your video I can date my bottles to 1939-42 and that #24 means ink #2 and 4 oz size. Much appreciated!
Awesome! I'm so glad the video helped you date your bottles and hopefully feel a bit more comfortable using them.
PS-the Skrip bottles with the side well was introduced to go with Sheaffer's 'touchdown' pens...
I have a bottle still in the box. Red box does not say skrip. What can you tell me about it? It was given to me by the owner of an antique store that went out of business locally.
I can't tell you much without seeing it. Is the box red with no words on it? Does the bottle say anything?
I’ve always found bottles of skrip ink, but they always solidify into a putty like substance. Every bottle I’ve encountered is like this, do you know why this happens?
The cap seals don't always stand up over time and the liquid evaporates, leaving the dye behind. I'm not sure why some turn to a solid, putty-like substance and others turn to dust.
I recently got 2 of 60’s sheaffer inks someone knows if is still secure use this ink in pens? Cause I know the bottles are unusual for me but I don’t know if is better use it or empty and later put other actual ink inside.
The earliest version was a disaster. Sheaffer had widely tested it, by having its employees use it in their own pens. It was indeed clog-proof.
But those employees had only ever used Sheaffer in their pens. When the ink was put on the market, it clogged people's pens terribly, because they'd used various brands of ink before trying Skrip, and people didn't flush their pens before changing inks. When the Prussian Blue dye in the Skrip touched the residue of a different brand of ink, it formed serious clogs.
Sheaffer withdrew the product, and reformulated it.
What year was 42 blue made frank in Oswego ill
Do you have a favorite Scheaffer('s) vintage ink that you utilize?
Great tidbit about pre-1964 with the " 's " on the end of the name! Was wondering why some pens had that and others did not.
The nice thing about Sheaffer's inks is that they had so many colors compared to other vintage ink manufacturers. A few of my favorites are the Peacock Blue, Emerald Green and Melon Red, but have to say that I always enjoy using the Permanent Red, which is a super-intense red with a bit of gold sheen!
Do you know the basic formula of Fountain ink? I was just thinking it might be fun to try making my own ink.
At its most basic, it is just dye and water. It can be pretty complicated to do it properly, as you'll need anti-fungal agents to prevent mold and emulsifiers to adjust the viscosity. BUT, there are recipes out there for homemade ink if you dig around.
There's an online database of patents, going back over 150 years. You'll find some for inks.
When Avery bought out Carter's Ink, in 1975, it made the egregious decistion to throw out all of Carter's archives, including R&D and formulae dating from as far back as 1860. But a few of Carter's formulae are in the patents database, including for Ink Eradicator.
Can you recommend me a black ink that works well in a Kawecosport M and a Lamy F? I wanna try the pilot take sumi, Do you recommend it for my pens?
That ink will work just fine in your pens. I would suggest getting a few samples of black ink to see which you like the best or checking out ink reviews from Mountain of Ink or Macchiato Man to see which blacks appeal to you the most.
Do you have any information on bottled Sanford's fountain pen ink. I found 3 bottles today and just wondering about them.
I don't have a lot of info, but do know that the Sanford's Penit ink is made for fountain pens. Sanford made a lot of inks and not all of the older inks are for fountain pens.
@@FountainPenLove Thank You, yes this is Penit ink. So good for fountain pens. I re-hydrated the ink and tested it. Working fine.
I feel like you should be wearing a HAZMAT suit. 😆
Haha, so much old ink! These are all safe inks and still usable. If you want toxic, check out some of the vintage Parker inks in my other video.