Parker
Pens and Ephemera

On the surface, there might not be a lot to get you too excited about this Parker Vacumatic. And then you write with it. Wow! With a light touch it is a nice medium nib that leans toward fine, but with a little gentle pressure you can get about 1mm line variation! Not a common trait in a Vac from 1942. We restored this vintage pen with a new diaphragm. Its grey pearl design is nice with nickel trim. Dark ambering still permits a little light to see through the empty barrel. It has some wear from use, but there are no cracks or deep scratches. The blind cap-barrel alignment is just a little off. 13cm capped.

Here's one from the waaaay-back machine: a Parker 25 1/2! This is an oversized eyedropper from some time after the turn of the 20th century! Best of all, it is free of cracks. Sure. It has scratches, wear, faded imprints and some chocolate hazing but who doesn't after 110 years or more? You can see the original Lucky Curve imprint, though it is shallow/faded. The 25 1/2 tail imprint required magnification for us to read it. Click the headline for a close-up of the very early 14k gold Parker #5 nib! It is a great semi-flex that goes from fine to 2mm wide. We soaked out a lot of old ink, but it seems the old ink has sealed the eyedropper shut for now. We didn't want to force it and ruin such an amazing piece of history. 14.1cm capped.

Enjoy the spark of green life this dead of winter with our jade green senior Parker Duofold. Its vibrant color will remind you of lush, warm days ahead. The cap is nearly perfect, but you can see the barrel is dealing with some discoloration. However, compared to many jade Duofolds, this handsome devil is doing alright. Click the headline for close-ups of the cap and barrel, as well as the 14k gold nib! You will write a firm fine line with a bit of drag. Not really feedback as much as a slightly slowing sensation as you write. We did not install a new ink sac, in hopes of helping this pen not to discolor further. However, we can install one for you, if you want. It has a nice "Christmas Tree" inkfeed, too. 13.9cm capped.

Almost Perfect...but not quite. We adore this lapis blue Parker Duofold Senior set. Its blue is breath-taking, especially in the light. However, the barrel is likely about 2 shades darker than the blue of the cap. Click the headline for a close up. The white is still very white in the barrel and cap. The blue is just a couple shades darker. You can clearly see the imprint. We restored this pen with a new ink sac. No cracks or deep scratches in the barrel. There is a scratch you can see on the section near the nib. No brassing on the pen. The 14k gold nib is paired with an original "Christmas tree" ink feed. You will write a very firm, dry fine line with a little feedback. However, it feels to us if this nib just needs some breaking in from use. The more you write with it, the wetter and smoother it will likely get. The matching pencil is lighter in the barrel but it seems to have seen much more use with brassing and some dimples in the metal trim.

It is difficult to think of Parker Jotter pens as vintage. Oh, sure. They came out in the mid-1950s, but they are still in production today. These 4 pens are a little bit vintage and a little bit modern. The olive colored Jotter has brass threads and a button that has a domed top. The off-white Jotter has brass threads and a stamped inset on the button. The blue and burgundy Jotters have plastic threads and stamped inset button tops. All the stamps are identical with the arrow through a hoop Parker logo. All of the pens seem to work well with new blue or black refills. All of the pens show some wear, with the blue pen showing the most wear. Only the off-white pen's clicker is a little finicky.

Brushed stainless steel Parker pens have been designated "Flighter" models since the 1950s. This modern Parker Sonnet Flighter was made much more recently than that. Yet, this preowned pen maintains classic Parker styling and is a good dependable daily writer. Minimal wear, if any. It has a golden alloy nib that you will find to write a very smooth medium line. This pen uses only Parker converters or cartridges and comes with neither. Click the headline for close-ups. 13.2cm capped.

Parker advanced the efficiency and ease of using fountain pens when it created the Lucky Curve inkfeed. This is an early Parker Lucky Curve button filler from the very early 20th century. Click the headline for close-ups of the pen and nib. Notice the pen still has a slip cap and significant chocolate hazing of the black hard rubber (ebonite). We have not attempted to restore this pen. Notice how the threads of the blind cap by the button are missing. We feel that this rare older pen is likely too fragile to properly disassemble and put back together. Its 14k gold nib is a beautiful number 2 size that writes a very smooth medium line with a little flex. It also appears to have an early inkfeed. The pocket clip is an aftermarket clip made by the Rexall pharmacies. Slender and 14.1cm capped.

Parker Vacumatic pencils sold far less than their fountain pen counterparts, which Parker chalked up to the Great Depression. Nevertheless, Parker didn't stop innovating the Parker Vacumatic line. In 1939 it released the Parker Non-Stop pencil to pair with Vacumatic fountain pens. Unique to the Non-Stop was that it was a cap-activated click pencil! This was not a common feature in that era. Plus, the .9mm leads now fed directly from the spare lead reservoir. As such, these pencils held much more lead and required way less effort to keep writing. Our vintage pencil has a couple of deep scratches, which you can see in the tail cap in the photo. Especially unique is the wide stacked-coins cap band, which has a blank initials' plate. A hardened eraser and spare red leads are included. 13.1mm.