Posted on 05/30/2017 5:22:52 AM PDT by Kaslin
FORT MADISON, IOWA -- Only ghosts and shadows haunt the empty halls of Sheaffer Pens, the onetime giant pen manufacturer on H Street.
Its locked doors and worn brick stand like weary sentinels along the banks of the Mississippi in this struggling southeast Iowa river-and-railroad town.
Rust weeps through the paint on the window frames; the once magnificent illuminated-letters sign with the trademark white dot that faced Illinois is gone, no longer serving as a gatekeeper for its fortress of employees.
At its peak, it employed more than 2,500 people in a town of 14,000; nearly everyone here had someone in their family who worked there.
By the time they were bought out by French-owned BiC in 2003, the 40 employees left in the iconic American company's pen-point assembly department were told it was only a matter of time before the operation would be moved to a third-party manufacturer in Asia; Slovakia would become the home for customer service, purchasing, warehousing and distribution work, as well as packaging and quality control.
What made Sheaffer special?
Ingenuity: Walter A. Sheaffer invented the fountain pen in a back room of his Fort Madison jewelry store in 1912. Risk: He used all of his life savings to invest in the business, not knowing what the impact would be on his family's fortunes. And charity: Ask anyone left in town who worked for the Sheaffer family (they sold the company in 1967) how they treated employees, and the stories are all the same -- they treated them like they mattered.
The other thing that made Sheaffer special was his use of high technology -- at the turn of that century, the fountain pen industry was in its infancy -- using his own technical innovations, in particular his famous lever filler. He invented a pen that was more convenient to use and carry, and much more sleekly designed.
His pen was the smartphone of its day, used to correspond in business, to teach children the motor skills needed to write or work out complex math equations; it was how bankers conducted business, how families balanced their budgets.
It was how the world communicated.
Until it wasn't.
"Sheaffer was the last of its kind, the last big full-line U.S. fountain-pen maker that remained in operation in its hometown in its original form," said Terry Schrepfer, a Fort Madison native who peeled off so many members of his family who worked there that it was easy to lose count. "One year after the family sold it, the union went on strike. Things were never the same after that."
This is what happens when factories roll up and move out of town: The impact isn't just the jobs that are lost in the plant; it includes the loss of the ancillary jobs that support their work in the community. Bakeries close, delis, too, barbershop chairs go empty, and the school district loses its tax base. So does the fire department.
This town, like so many other towns across the country, was once the Promised Land for so many people, from the fur traders to the frontier families to the immigrants who came in the big waves during the turn of the 20th century.
This isn't where you got rich -- but it was where you carved out a living, got married, had some kids, bought a house and a car and, if you were lucky, you took your family on vacation every summer, sometimes even your mother-in-law.
Fort Madison is a town that has seen better days. The layout of the town's main street is charming -- but more storefronts are shuttered than not. On a sunny Tuesday afternoon, the place would seem dead if not for a loud and rather salty breakup between a young man and woman that included her throwing his belongings out a second-floor apartment window.
The noise of his things hitting the sidewalk and street below broke the silence of a business district which -- like so many others across this country -- once worked hard and helped to make America a little greater for than it feels today.
We have more cheap junk today. That means less.
I don’t know what the answer will specifically be on a material plane. But on a spiritual plane it needs to be the Lord.
The union went on strike.
That sounds like the plot line from “Atlas Shrugged”, when the people took over the company and ran it into the ground.
The family sold while it still had value.
I remember fountain pens. They were still around when I was a child.
I am sure they survive as antiques.
Shaeffer didn’t invent the fountain pen in 1912.
It was invented in 1827.
That’s why you don’t see Lincoln using a feathered quill to write the Gettysburg Address.
Well, actually, he used a pencil, but my point is true; he didn’t use a quill.
https://www.bestfountainpen.com/who-invented-the-fountain-pen/
They are antiques but extremely beautiful.
I have over 200 fountain pens from Schaefer, Weidlech, Montblanc, Wahl, Pelikan, etc.
The craftsmanship and intricacy of these instruments are fascinating, particularly for some which are more than 100 years old.
A few are from the late 1800’s.
I never let anyone touch them.
They have a niche cult clientele. They are status symbols for some. I’ve seen ones that were once considered ordinary in glass display cases in antique stores and read articles on the aficionados.
“One year after the family sold it, the union went on strike. Things were never the same after that.”
It was the unions that destroyed the company. End of story.
Exactly
They’re all I use, and they’re making a comeback. It’s a pleasure to write with one.
Cool.
I write with a keyboard, trackball, and mouse. But it is hard to fit them into a shirt pocket...
Wait.. I put my iphone into a shirt pocket...
I love the elegant inventions of the past. Many still have utility. I have slide rules that I cannot bring myself to throw away. One was given to my by my father. It is made of bamboo.
The fountain pen had been around for centuries. What distinguished Schaeffer was his lever pen, which could draw ink from any well anywhere.
The idea was to make it easy to refill and carry while not leaking.
His pen idea did away with cork as a stopper and instead used the closed system of his lever draw and cap that would secure over the celluloid body, enabling the user to safely carry bis instrument anywhere and write anytime.
I have used fountain pens for large deals but, I am careful to fill them, test them and then enclose them in some fancy from the 1930’s, the manufacturer I do not know, amd then I have the contract written with it or rather the signatures and initials where required.
It’s fun.
I am a naturalized citizen who was born and raised in Germany. I went to school in my hometown in Germany and from the third grade on we had to use fountain pens. We had to write with ink pens that you had to dip in a ink jar when I was in the second grade. When ink pens were introduced into the German market we were not allowed by the teacher to use them in class, and for assigned homework which had to be done at home. Also we could only use pencils in art class.
I still use a fountain pen on a daily basis and have about 100 in my collection. The ball point pen ruined penmanship.
I loved fountain pens, and I never had any trouble with leaking.
The desks at my elementary school had holes in the top for inkwells.
They were never used, but a common joke was some boy dipping the girl’s hair in front of him in an inkwell.
I read of it, but never actually saw an inkwell in use at school.
The desks at my elementary school had holes in the top for inkwells.
They were never used, but a common joke was some boy dipping the girl’s hair in front of him in an inkwell.
I read of it, but never actually saw an inkwell in use at school.
My great uncle started out as a stock boy at a hardware supply company that sold to customers all over the state.
He worked himself up to clerk, then salesman and eventually president of the company.
When he was promoted to president his wife bought him a beautiful Schaefer pen set.
He used it every day until his retirement.
When he retired he passed it on to his pastor son who still uses it.
IIRC, they came out with the cartridge refill pens in the late 50s. Those were great, but the cartridges were a bit expensive.
It was probably the BIC ballpoints that became their biggest competition in the 60s.
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