sheafferscreamingsouls850.htm

During an online discussion of this series-iirc- one collector noted the black spots resemble crying mouths and suggested "Screaming Souls in Purgatory" as a rather evocative name for this celluloid. Others have suggested Macrophage pattern (i can relate) or even Birdseye. Whilst i like maple well enough, i cannot help but think of frozen broccoli dinners when Birdseye is invoked.

Whether "Screaming Souls of Purgatory" or even "Screamers" catches on and becomes dreaded Collector Convention, i do not know, but I am fond of the name. The picture below shows my gray standard pen. I had wondered if the pen was produced in other sizes, given that pens of this ilk- albeit in different celloids patterns- have cropped up in oversized models too.

This next pic was posted online by Jon / "Univer" and shows the charm of finding even second tier pens boxed as sets. Note the little bottle of Skrip (ink) included in the set. The Screaming Souls pens are not top tier product. Whilst the quality seems a bit better than that found on the competing Parker Parkette, it is not clear to me that these Sheaffers have quite the manufacturing quality of a Parker Challenger. Finding clean examples is not so simple, though the pens really do pop when they are in good shape.

Still, things were to grow more interesting.

First, on a visit to a Sheaffer collector's home in New Jersey, i was able to lay hand on an oversized Screamer, in gray plastic, the first OS i'd seen, and first evidence I'd observed that these were manufactured in anything but standard size.

In pretty nice shape, that New Jersy oversized Screamer I would not have minded adding to my collection, but alas it was not meant to be. It's owner has this bad habit of not being willing to part with pens from his collection, so I had to settle for shooting it at the Philadelphia Pen Show a couple months later.

Second, a happy purchase from ebay netted me my first piece of Sheaffer literature about this plastic-- a full color advert from a trade catalog. Showing the lever fill Screamers and the twist fill pens in what many call Snakeskin pattern, it turns out that Sheaffer's names from the Screamers' colors were the rather NON-evocative "green" and "gray". This paper indicated the Screamers could be found in Oversize, Standard, and perhaps Slender sizes. The Slender and Standard look rather similar in the artwork, and i have yet to see an actual pen in Slender size. I was a bit disappointed that only two colors were catalogued. I suppose I'd harbored hopes to find one in red or blue.

Third, during the following months, I found some odd duck Screamers, one with twist fill mechanism and one with black endpieces similar to the later (?) Lahn-pattern pens. Finding the funky stuff always adds spice to the collecting soup.

But, i still didn't have an OS Screamer! Frustrating for poor Davey, let me tell you. Anyway, in this next pic see two Standard Screamers shot resting on the WASP (W. A. Sheaffer Pen) advert showing this series. Such a nice OS image in green at the very left. But... no pen.

I did mention the uncatalogued (in what passes for my experience) Screamer with twist-fill mechanism? I have seen a grand total of just... one... of these.

Other Screaming Souls in Purgatory pens would pop up. One of my nicest acquisitions along these lines was a desk set, in which both the pen and desk base featured this celluloid. My photo below just appeared in Stylus Magazine last issue as part of a group of illustrations used for Paul's desk pen article. I highly recommend Stylus Magazine.

Along the way some of the finds have been just... quirky. Take for example this "mere" EPENCO (Eagle Pen Company) pen done in... well... you can guess. I have not taken time to see if the Sheaffer pens are of same thread size. Was this plastic just... out there? Or did Sheaffer make the pen for its competitor? I don't know. The shape does seem vaguely similar.

So for more than a year, maybe 18 months now, I've been hunting an oversized WASP Screamer. Go figure it was at the huge Los Angeles Pen Show this month that finally i stumbled across a clean example. What could i do? What else? I bought it. A chunky pen, its threads will take the OS cap from a Balance. Of course the nib tends to be smaller than a Balance OS, but that only makes sense.

I concede, though, that what I'd not counted on after 18 months of hunting, was an application at the LA Show of the shockingly familiar, "when it rains it pours" rule of pen collecting. Anyway, here is the OS Screaming Souls in Purgatory WASP just added to my collection

Yes. When it rains it pours. I've seen this when i sell pens and when i buy pens. I might have a pen for sale on line for 12 months, then two people write within hours of each other wishing to purchase it. And, being a collector eager to add pens to his collection, sometimes I hunt for years for a pen then find two in short order.

Still, i didn't expect after hunting for this OS Screamer for 18 months to come across two pens not an hour apart! But- as you likely have guessed- that is exactly what happened. Yes, this was a Happy David pendom moment. What could i do? I bought the second pen. As if there could be doubt. Here are the two pens side by side. Big honkin' pair o' Screamers.

Thanks for peeking.
-david isaacson