Vintage Fountain Pen Experience: July 2013

Wednesday, July 10, 2013

China Fountain pens

While traveling in China on business trips visiting sub wholesalers, I have come across a few China made pens that costs US$0.5 - 1 each

Friday, July 05, 2013

Year of the snake pens

Snake Fountain Pens

Being a snake, I love the snakes pens...

When I first collected vintage pens, I have thought that the Parker 51 was produced from the year 1951. The Parker “51,” was ,in fact, introduced in the United States in 1941 and it heralded a new age in pen design. With its streamlined shape like a miniature jet fighter airplane, its hooded nib, and its unique ability to use Parker’s new super-fast-drying “51” ink, it rapidly became one of the most popular pens of all time.

There are a few pumping system for the Parker 51. Until 1948, the “51” used Parker’s proven Vacumatic filling system.

In the previous year, Parker had introduced a short model called the Demi, and in 1948 the Demi was the first “51” to be redesigned to use a new Aero-metric filling system.

The Aero-metric filler soon became standard across the line and continued in production until the “51” Mark III appeared in 1969. (A cartridge-filler “51” was marketed briefly; it was quickly withdrawn.) The “51“ was famous for its exceptionally smooth performance. It is interesting to note that China made Hero pens have followed the design of the Parker 51.

Parker 61

A Fountain Pen That You Don’t Fill
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In 1956, Parker introduced the first revolutionary fountain pen new filling mechanism that actually fills itself by itself, requiring no action from the user by using the capillary system. No button, no lever, no plunger, no squeeze bar, and no moving parts just unscrew and take off the barrel and put the back end of the Parker 61 into a bottle of ink, and the pen sucks up a fill by capillary action. Advertised as “Unlike any gift in this world…or any other,” the capillary-filling 61 was (and still is) a remarkable pen, but it was ultimately unsuccessful because its somewhat finicky filling system required more care than others. Like the “51” before it, the 61 appeared in numerous variations.

Parker VS

As World War II drew to a close, Parker began thinking about its future product lines. The Vacumatic was quite dated, while the “51” was going strong. To create its next open-nib pen, Parker essentially took the streamlined shape of the “51” and replaced the hooded nib and its collector with an ordinary open nib and feed. The clip came from the striped Duofold line. The result, introduced in 1946, was the Parker VS. The “VS” part of the name is generally thought to have stood for “Vacumatic Successor.” It’s a good looking pen, and Parker did improve the button mechanism to make it easier to work on and more reliable.

(Source: Richards Pens)

Parker 21 (1950s)

Parker 21

The Parker 21 from the 1950s was made as school-pen that followed the design of the Parker 51, but made in cheaper plastic and with an alloy 8-metal nib rather than gold. These NOS Parker 21 were found in Johor Bahru old book shops more then 20 years ago...

Parker Duofold UK

Parker Duofold UK

I was very lucky to be able to find an old pawn shop (next to the old Rex cinema in Singapore) that was closing down. As a result, I have managed to get the whole lots stocks and barrels of old vintage fountain pens in blue, in black, in red colours and of different sizes...

Those were wonderful days for vintage pens hunting!