Some interesting Parker 51s

[Barry B. Gabay]

Among my favorite fountain pens is the Parker 51. They are well made, comfortable to hold, and absolutely reliable. Over the years, I have acquired quite a number of them. Several of my favorite writers are shown below. The cocoa is from the US; all others are UK production. The cordovan on far right is a vacumatic, while all of the others are aerometric. All of the nibs, by the way, are standard factory production. One interesting aspect of UK 51s is that B, BB, and stub-like nibs are not rare. Enjoy & stay healthy.

[INeedAFinancialAdvisor]

those nibs are amazing... very nice collection. you have managed to assemble a very nice group of pens. Including what looks like a "Bloody British Burgundy"

very jealous.

[Radonactionservices]

Beautiful set of 51s. Really brightens the holiday. Thanks!


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[azkid]

Nice collection of 51s there. I have a couple myself and sure do like them.

[Wahl]

I have a few myself, just love those broad nibs !

[welch]

Beautiful collection of the all-time best fountain pen.

I like a medium. One of my great "aha" moments: discovery that Parker Newhaven had made far more medium nibs than Parker Wisconsin had, and that the "English" medium was a bit wider than the US medium.

[Chuck Naill]

Very nice. My favorite 51's are the gold/dove and silver/gold caps from the early '40's. I need to get an aerometric.

[Johnny_S]

Do you know the reason why Parker UK produced more broad nibs than Parker USA, was it to do with the style of writing? Or did UK stationers have a set of tester 51s for their customers?

[guyy]

My understanding is that British people had different tastes in nibs. It’s also easier to find broader nibs in other English pens.

[Johnny_S]

My understanding is that British people had different tastes in nibs. It’s also easier to find broader nibs in other English pens.

Ah ok thanks. I thought it was something to do with the British writing in cursive and many Americans just print.

[INeedAFinancialAdvisor]

I thought when the "51" was THE pen that Americans were mostly using Business Writing (Palmer/Zaner Bloser) cursive writing?

I was under the impression the decline and slide into print was something that happened from about 1970 forward and accellerating?...

Am I incorrect in this?

I prefer wider nibs because they a) are generally smoother and b) remove the spidery quality that shaky uncertain cursive seems to suffer from (mine especially)

[guyy]

That sounds generally accurate, IneedaFinancialAdvisor.