Parker 51 Tunis Blue

[INeedAFinancialAdvisor]

The best way to guarantee someone wants to do something, is to tell them they aren't allowed to...

On that note...

Parker "51" Ink: Tunis Blue Edition!

A series of inks so deadly to pens, they had to invent a new pen just to handle it!

Imagine a time when the only writing implements around were dip pens, pencils and fountain pens. It was called the 1930s!

Ink and Pen manufacturers are in a race to make the fastest drying ink. Everyone is carrying around a blotter, they are so common that they are used for advertising the way match books and ballpoint pens are now. Smearing ink is an everyday inconvenience. To get an edge, manufacturers need a faster drying ink. First, Parker invented Quink (a portmanteau of quick and ink) but then, they invented the fastest drying ink they could. It didn't really "dry" by evaporation so much as it soaked into the paper.

There was only one little tiny problem... It ATE PENS. Especially celluloid pens... oh, and it also dried out on nibs... Of course, the only OBVIOUS solution was to invent an entirely new pen just to handle this one ink! (available in 4 colours)

And boy did they. The Parker "51" was so successful that after making the first 12 million or so, they just stopped counting.

Learn more about the ink here: http://www.richardsp...care/51_ink.htm
Learn more about the pen here: http://www.richardsp...profiles/51.htm

Too bad the ink was still semi-deadly to that pen too... so it was only made from 1941 to about 1948. (when it was replaced by the SLIGHTLY less deadly Superchrome MTF on that...)

That makes the bottle in question at least 72 years old.

Here's the patent for "51" quick drying writing fluid, and the recipe for Tunis Blue is included!
https://patents.google.com/patent/US1932248A/

For any chemists who decide to try and replicate this ink:
a) this is a BAD idea!
b) I very much would like some please!

Now then, in Monty Python fashion: GET ON WITH IT!

Obligatory "artsy" glamour shot (yeah... it's no where near PenHero's level, I know. #photographygoals)
(pictured with a Cedar Blue "51")


There was some sedimentation... Well, sedimentation is not the right word... a crust about 1/4 of an inch thick had built up on the bottom of the bottle.
So I did what any (un)reasonable person would do; I used a dental pick to scrape as much of it off the bottom of the bottle and back into suspension (not solution!) as possible!

OK, OK, but what does it LOOK like!?

Well, when I hear the words Tunis Blue, I think of something like those crazy bright blue doors in Tunisia


see more here: https://www.authentictraveling.org/doors-of-tunisia/
Something akin to the colour of the box

but when you GOOGLE "Tunis Blue Paint" you get stuff like this:
https://encycolorpedia.com/1a223b
https://encycolorpedia.com/4b6983
https://encycolorpedia.com/486271

Seems Chrysler and GM (twice!) have different ideas than the rest of the internet WRT what exactly Tunis Blue is...

Another thing to consider is: The Parker "51" Ink line had only 4 colours
India Black;
China Red;
Pan American Green; and
Tunis Blue.

Only one blue.

Alright, enough, here's what it looks like!:


It's BLUE BLACK!!!
Wait... It's BLUE BLACK???
Actually it's a kind of really dark purple that dries slightly bluer than it is when wet

So... uhm, this is awkward... I was expecting a bright blue turquoise...

Was it ALWAYS this colour? I have No idea!
I know at least SOME of the liquid MUST have evaporated over 70 odd years, and at least SOME colour degradation is likely to have happened.
But to go from (the expected) turquoise to purple-ish blue black seems a little extreme...

I think it may always have been a dark blue or blue black.
This is an ink aimed at Business people, busy business people, the kind of people who don't have time to wait for ink to dry!
And not poor ones either! The pen was expensive!
So a darker more subdued blue (or blue black) actually makes sense for that clientele.

But your guess is as good as mine. Unless of course someone has a CONFIRMED writing sample with Tunis Blue from the 1940s (and if you do, PLEASE post it to this thread!)

And now the writing... My handwriting is bad enough that I may as well have just written out the first 6 pages of Lorem Ipsum... legible text typed out below the page
Clairefontaine Notebook (bright white paper)


Parker "51" Tunis Blue
Twsbi Eco Medium Nib
Wing Sung 601 eBay replacement
nib

The quick brown fox jumps
over the lazy dog!

1234567890

"Dries Almost Instantly -
Completely Permanently"

(But not really) (smear test)

"For the Parker "51" Pen Only"



Rhodia Notebook (this is a cream coloured paper)

Parker "51" Tunis Blue
3oz bottle bought on
eBay April 2020
Made from 1941-1948.
Designed to "Dry Almost
Instantlly" by soaking
into the paper. So
destructively Alkaline
it forced the creation of
the "51" pen. I expected
this to be a Turquoise,
but it's a purple-ish
Blue Black. Dry time of
this bottle is unremarkable
May be over-saturated due to
evaporation

[Dry Times Testing]

Would Buy Again?
Not Applicable


Parker "51"
Tunis Blue
Twsbi Eco (M)
Wing Sung 601
Shading: Low
Saturation: High
Feathering: Low/Nil
Spread: Low/Nil
Bleed: Low Nil
Cleaning: Very Easy!

[Water Test] dripped, let sit and padded dry

Bastard Q-Tip (with apologies to SBREBrown)

Note: Hard Starts after
putting the pen down
[see "Cleaning" comment for an example. The pen had been capped and put on a desk while I cleaned the other pen in the sink]
Runs Very wet, tries
to escape the pen once
flowing!




Notes:

I put this ink in a Wing Sun 601 and a TWSBI Eco.
Both pens had similar results: hard starts after putting the pen down (CAPPED) for even only 5 minutes, but then VERY good flow once flowing again.

Since it was hard starting after only 5 minutes, I did not want to leave it in a pen overnight.

It did wash out of both pens VERY VERY easily. Even more easily than Waterman Mysterious Blue

Conclusion:

So there it is. The Colour of Parker "51" Tunis Blue.

It's like a purple-ish blue black that will kill your pen in the long run and cost you a ton of money (and hard starting aggravation) for the privilege!

My curiosity is satisfied... for now...

(The bottle of Superchome Jade Green is already on it's way ... )