Sheaffer Snorkel
A fountain pen of 1952 with a tube that extends beneath the nib – so the nib never needs to be dipped.
In the 1950s pen makers competed with ever cleverer filling systems. Sheaffer’s Snorkel of 1952 let the owner extend a tube and fill the pen without getting ink on the nib.
The mechanism was complex and hard to repair, and the ballpoint soon took over. The Snorkel is today a collector’s pen.
Materials: Plastic, metal, gold nib
Manufacture: Industrially made in Fort Madison, Iowa.
A thin tube that screws out beneath the nib.
A partly inlaid nib (Triumph nib) that continues the shape.
The white dot on the clip, Sheaffer’s mark since the 1920s.