Four More Vintage Parkers

[Murfie]

Well, no one else seems to be starting threads here so I may as well keep it going. A session with my pens today started out as a cleaning exercise and then morphed (or should I say Murfed ...) into a photo session of the results.

I no longer own any modern Parkers, but I certainly have a lot of vintage ones from 1920 onwards. I'd like to share four of these with you as they are all very special to me.

The first one is a black/bronze 1932 Depression Era button filler. Not overly common these days, particularly in the condition in which I found this one. It has an M nib.

004.JPG

005.JPG

The second one is my oldest, a black hard rubber 1920 #2 Jack Knife, the forerunner to the Duofold. It is also a button filler with an M nib, and is in exceptional condition.

007.JPG

008.JPG

The last two pens are a pair of Vacumatics. The one at top is a late 1944 black Major with an M/B nib. The other is a black 1947 Sub-debutante with an EF nib. It was made in the last quarter of 1947, and I was born in Oct. '47 as well. I think the pen is in far better nick than I am. The Sub-deb is a tiny pen that needs capping for me to write with it.

Check out the fantastic transparency in both of the barrels.

009.JPG

012.JPG

All of these pens get a gig in the inked roster every now and again. Their nibs are very special to use and each has an individual character.

Thank you for letting me share them with you.

[earthdawn]

Beautiful !!!!!


Great pics of some stunning pens. Really nice collection.

[Jeph]

Those are in better shape than several of my bought new pens. Plus very nice examples at that. And excellent photos.

[kaisnowbird]

Wow! Thank you for sharing, Murfie. I just adore vintage Parkers, especially when they are in such pristine condition.

That black/bronze Thrift Time is really elegant. I too love Vacumatic's nibs - they are such a joy to write with.

[KrazyIvan]

Quinden gifted me a Vacumatic Major just like the one in your pictures. Close to the top one in transparency. It is a very fun pen to use.

[AndyT]

Nice pens, and impressive photography. Thanks!

[bluefeathers]

What a killer transparency in the second Vacumatic! The first photo of the Parker moderne makes me want to find one
as soon as possible.

[Tony Rex]

The first photo of the Parker moderne makes me want to find one
as soon as possible.

Please correct me if I'm wrong, but that's a Duofold Jr. (or something else) from the same era, but not a Moderne. http://www.parkerpens.net/duette.html

[hamag]

Very nice collection

[Murfie]

Please correct me if I'm wrong, but that's a Duofold Jr. (or something else) from the same era, but not a Moderne. http://www.parkerpens.net/duette.html

Tony, you are dead right about the Moderne bit and the "something else" but I'll have to correct you on the Duofold Jr. part - which might make for an interesting discussion. I bought this pen from one of the U.S.A.'s most noted vintage pen sellers and the description was "1932 black/bronze Parker depression era button filler". I knew it wasn't a Moderne, but it didn't seem to be a Duofold. It certainly has definite Duofold Streamline design features, but neither the dimensions nor the color match anything I can find, including the site that you referred to above.

The closest it comes to is a Duofold Special Short, but the Short has a width of 13.5mm and mine is only 12.3mm. The length concurs as does the band width. But the far top and far bottom differ greatly. Also the imprint reads simply -

GEO.S.PARKER PEN - MADE IN U.S.A.
PATENTED

There is no use of the word 'Duofold' or 'Lucky Curve' for that matter. The color also has me puzzled. It is predominantly black speckled with gold or bronze. I've never been able to find a match for that anywhere to date. Until someone can unearth some new information, I'm tending to believe that this was perhaps an experimental special - I have read that some were made around 1932. The pen had absolutely no signs of being used when I got it. It is pristine mint, with no micro-scratching or any marks at all. If it was a production model that was sold into circulation, it is unlikely to be in this condition. And going by the gleaming, consistent finish of the whole body, the pen didn't see much in the way of light prior to my purchase. I have numerous Duofolds, one being a 1929 black/burgundy Streamlined Duofold Junior that apart from dimensions, color, length of clip, and nib and barrel imprints, is very similar to this pen.

I would very much welcome further informed input.

[Tony Rex]

It certainly has definite Duofold Streamline design features, but neither the dimensions nor the color match anything I can find, including the site that you referred to above.

I would very much welcome further informed input.

Well, that singles me out. I am not exaggerating, but I know next to nothing about Parker beyond Penography and blogs. I just bought some for a bit of weekend fun in restor/destroy-ing them (or pulling someone's stump ) I'll let others to help you on that. Cheers.

Edit: fixed quote tag, and while here, add Richard Binder's glossary entry for the Thrift-time: http://www.richardspens.com/ref/glos...tm#thrift_time

[kaisnowbird]

Hmmm... I know there is something special about that black/bronze beauty. :shameless:

[Murfie]

I'll let others to help you on that. Cheers.

Tony, your post was very topical in that if one canvases the Internet for information, there are many vintage Parkers referred to as "depression era", A good number with differing features with the Moderne being often incorrectly thrown in among them. Your interest is very much appreciated. And my Parker expertise is pretty sparse as well.

It is often very difficult to glean exact information about many vintage pens - for example take the 'Ero' brand. I have several of these and all I can establish is that they were made in Germany by Merz & Krell. I know that to be gospel because I found a document on the Internet stating that the 'Ero' brand name is still owned worldwide by Merz & Krell, because an application for the brand was refused in the U.S. because of their ownership. Merz & Krell made Senators and some pens under licence for Pelikan. Information about the Ero pen models is pretty non-existent.

[Jeph]

Not to de-rail the focus from those beautiful pens, but I do have a little about Ero.

All of this information is either mis-translated, simply misleading or flat wrong, but maybe it gives you something to start from:

ERO: Ernst Rodenhäuser Füllhalter- und Füllbleistiftefabrik, Alicenstraße 25 64372 Ober- Ramstadt

At some point, Ero took over the Reform factory in Nieder Ramstadt from Ludwig Jung.
At some later point, either Ero, the name Reform, parts from one or both, or some other combination was sold to Mutschler in Heidelberg.
There is also a supposed link with Lindauer, presumed to have used old Ero parts for some pens.
As a bonus, the Ero/Lindauer/Reform pens share several similarities to the various Senator pens.