Don't Adjust Your Monitor

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When this popped up in an online auction, I did several quadruple takes, trying to determine if it was an Eversharp and, if it was, whether it was . . . orange . . .

The ribbed clip and longer tip indicate post-1924 production, and when it arrived, a close look revealed something imprinted faintly on the side:

A light fill-in with a china marker and a wipe or two with a cloth, and all is revealed:

I’ve never seen an Eversharp with this imprint before, but I had seen this before:

Here’s the “Eversharp Utility Unit,” advertised near the end of Wahl Eversharp’s 1928 catalog (this page is from the Pen Collectors of America’s online reference library).    As for the color, I always thought the colors in the catalog weren’t quite right, but it does appear orange.   But looking more closely at the text:

“The Unit is made up of –
1 special enameled Eversharp . . . 6 tubes Eversharp Red Top Lead . . . “