Parker 51 from the 40s

[seattlec257]

Hi all,

I'm new to the forum. I've come across my Grandmother's trove of well-used fountain pens and am working my way through them, trying to identify what they are. She had a Parker 51 from the 40s (pretty sure it's from 1946 but I'll need a magnifying glass to validate that tiny little number stamp). I'm cleaning it up and decided to check if it'd write with a quick dip into ink (rather than using its filling system, which might be in terrible shape after all these years, right?).

So, I soaked the nib in some lukewarm water for about a half-hour and quite a bit of blank ink seeped out. Removed it from the water and dried it as best I could and thought, "I'll write with it" expecting to get a few very faded words out on paper only.
One and a half pages later, it's still writing (well, I'm writing with it and ink is still coming out of it). I set it down for several minutes, pick it up again and it's still writing.

My Grandmother died in 1985, this pen has been in a box since at least then. I don't ever remember seeing her use it, so my conservative guess is she probably put it away in the early 70s.

How is is possible that ink in a pen, stored for decades, could still be flowing onto the page on January 10, 2020?

-Carolyn