Pens

(Updated 5/31/98)

New: Parker 75 nib codes.

Attention Visitors: Below is a link to an alternate site where the same information and pictures can be found. Depending on your internet route, either of the two sites may be faster. I would be happy to hear your comments about how well the various sites work ... thanks. Be careful, these links are HOT!

I don't want to make you load a lot of images at once, so click to see what interests you and then come back here. This seems a reasonable way to do things since there are some 150 images. There are still a few things to appear and perhaps more anecdotes and tips.

All the instruments here are in good to mint condition; many, especially many of the 40's and 50's Parkers and Sheaffers, were new when I found them in the basement of a long unused stationery shop in the early 80's. And all but a very few (3 or 4) instruments are in working order, those which needed repair having been fixed by me.

I have begun to add footnotes, marked by (*), and I will add more as is appropriate. These are plain text excerpts, mostly from email correspondences, which contain tidbits of information, observations, and maybe even speculations.

Enjoy the tour and the occasional tips and stories. - Vince

My favorite Duofold Seniors - These items are plastic, as opposed to the hard rubber used in very early Big Reds.

My favorite Duofold Juniors - I guess I should really call this pen a Duofold Special (as is proclaimed on the pen's barrel where it also says "Toronto Canada"). The Special is as wide as a Junior but nearly as long as a Senior.

A pair of Duofold Senior pencils - The red pencil shown here is an early one, made of hard rubber rather than plastic. It sports the three-line imprint on its barrel:

DUOFOLD
PARKER "BIG BRO" PENCIL
JANESVILLE, WIS. U.S.A. PAT'D

The yellow plastic pencil is marked, simply, "PARKER DUOFOLD SR. U.S.A.".

Duofold tip: Polish worn clips with silver polishing cloths (no machines, please) until they look like gold. Then lacquer them (clear nail polish works just fine) to preserve the finish.

A note on Duofold pencil mechanisms - In my experience, Duofold Sr. and Jr. pencil mechanisms are sometimes likely to be in working condition except for a small crack which has developed near the front of the "base metal" tube which houses the rear portion of the mechanism. This results in the tube no longer holding in place the small round metal section which was meant to fit tightly in its front. I have repaired several such mechanisms by judiciously applying (with a toothpick, under high magnification) two-part epoxy adhesive along the crack itself as well as around the end of the tube, fixing the small section in place. Mechanisms that I repaired in this fashion 15 years ago are still in working order, though I must admit, the pencils do not see daily use. I have often wondered whether this damage could also be repaired by a skilled jeweller using the appropriate soldering or welding equipment.

Two more Big Reds

A Later Big Red

Black and green Duofold Seniors

Another green Duofold Senior - I found this one recently. It has better color than the one above.

Two Junior pencils - The red pencil in the middle, made of hard rubber, bears the three-line imprint; the barrel has shrunk a little just behind the gold-filled fore-section.

Smaller Duofold pencils - The blue one is missing the ring and the half-ring which belong on its cap.

Another small Duofold pencil - If I had to name this color, I'd call it "mauve". I wonder what Parker called it.

A boxed Duofold "Duette"

A Duofold "Convertible" - new (!), in the box with instructions and a $5 price tag (I imagine that's for pen only) on the pen's blind-cap.

Jade Green ladies Duofold with ring for "chatelaine"

A Duofold set - The pen may be missing a gold-filled ring on its blind-cap.

A Duofold pencil

Another Duofold pencil - slightly smaller than the one above. This pencil has a beautiful pattern: the brown blotches are irridescent with copper colored speckles. Does anyone know what the pattern was called and how it was made?

Black and blue Duofold Juniors - These pens are equipped with the (Vacumatic) arrow style nib and feed bar. Because of the superior stain resistance of the newer nibs and the ink collecting capability of the "collector" fins on the newer feed bars, it was common for Parker's customer service to repair these pens using the newer parts. I don't know if any were originally manufactured this way.

A little Herringbone Royal Challenger

Two Lucky Curve pens - The longer one of these is a real oldie. Its barrel bears the full large imprint like the Duofold Seniors, but with five patent dates: 1-9-94, 6-28-98, 1-2-05, 6-6-05, and 4-25-11. It's cap is imprinted "JACK-KNIFE SAFETY PAT. JUNE 4, 1912" and has a white-metal clip. Its nib is marked "PARKER Lucky Curve PEN". The smaller pen is a Duofold, as proclaimed on its nib. It bears the full "banner" imprint in the same size as a Junior (but without the "Duofold Jr.").

A Lucky Curve "Accident Policy" (Document)

A Duofold desk set

Another Duofold desk set

A double Duofold desk base with one jade green pen. Ignore the $60, 1972 Bulova; it's there only to pacify the scanner.

A Vacumatic desk set

Compare this "Writefine" desk pen and holder to the Vacumatic above. Though the Writefine has a steel nib and is of solid black plastic, its styling is the same as that of the Vacumatic. Inside the "Writefine" however, is the Duofold filling mechanism. At one time, Parker made instruments under other names, to be sold as "inhouse" brands by the likes of Sears and Roebuck. The "Writefine" name is an example of such.

An English Duofold - This pen is maroon in color.

A Big Red advertisement

A Duofold Duette advertisement

A Duofold Convertible advertisement

Another Convertible advertisement

A "Sacless Duofold" - It actually fills like a Vacumatic; its barrel imprint says "PARKER DUOFOLD 1."

A note on Parkers numbering scheme: It's not much of a scheme. The digit one finds on many barrels and some nibs (from the Vacs to the early 51 Aerometrics) indicates the year the part was manufactured. So the barrel of the pen above was made in (the third quarter of) '41. The digit is often accompanied by one, two, or three dots; at the beginning of a year, dies which imprinted a number were given three dots and after each quarter, a dot was removed from the die. Thus, three dots indicates first quarter ... no dots, last quarter. (Thanks to Kit Chu for clearing up my misunderstanding of the dots.)

A Parker "Vacuum Filler" - In the first year of the Vacumatics, 1932-1933, they were called Vacuum Fillers. The imprint on this pen's barrel says "Parker Vacuum Filler". With the quick success of the new line, Parker changed the name to the more familiar "Vacumatic". This pen is of solid opaque black plastic. When new, its trim was chrome plated. It bears the monogram "CAR".

Two Vacumatics

The Vacumatic Sizes - I am fortunate to have gotten three old and complete Parker catalogs ... A Lucky Curve catalog from around 1920, including the very earliest Duofolds, A Semi-Centennial Jubilee catalog (1938), featuring the Vacumatic line, and a 1938-1939 catalog, also featuring the Vacumatics. This picture is from the Jubilee catalog. It shows and names the sizes of Vacumatics (except for the Debutante ... coming soon). I scaled it to appear life-size on a 1024 by 768 display and included a ruler at the bottom of the scan. The text at the bottom may be hard to read; it identifies the instruments, left to right, as: Senior Maxima Pen, Maxima Pen, Maxima Pencil, Major Pen, Major Pencil, Standard Pen, Standard Pencil, Slender Pen, and Slender Pencil. According to the catalog, the Debutante (not shown) was introduced in this year (1939) "to make feminine hearts leap with joy". In 1939, the line remained the same, though the "Maxima" became the "Slender Maxima". Also in 1939, the blue diamond "Parker" clip appeared, and the sections and jewels became black. As best as I can determine, the sizes are described as follows:

Senior Maxima - 13 mm diameter, overly long, wide 3/16 inch cap band, wide top

(Slender) Maxima - 12 mm diameter, overly long, wide 3/16 inch cap band, tapered top

Major - 12 mm diameter, normal length, 1/8 inch cap band, tapered top

Standard - 12 mm diameter, normal length, 3 narrow cap bands, wide top

Slender - 11 mm diameter, normal length, 3 narrow cap bands, untapered but narrower top

Here's another, uncropped, unsized scan of the same page in its entirety. It's huge (470 KB) but shows the great detail of the illustrations in the catalog.

Parker "La Plume" - Made in France, this very small pen (which is blue, by the way) has an 18 Kt nib and fills (like 21's and 41's) by removing the barrel and squeezing the tweezer shaped spring 4 or 5 times to compress the sac.

A 51 "Blue Diamond" Vacumatic

A Parker "VS" - the "Victory Successor" - This pen was combined an exposed nib, 51 styling, and the Duofold's sac and compression bar filler. This pen is from 1947.

A midnight blue 51 Vac - from 1943.

A couple 51 Vac Demi's - shown with a teal blue standard size aerometric.

A cordovan brown 51 Vac desk pen - with "magnetix" holder and base.

51 "Insignia" set - 14 Kt GF caps and barrels, monogrammed "M.B.C.". The 51 repeater pencils were called "click-clicks" by the folks at Parker's Customer Service.

51 "Flighter" set - so named because their durability (not to mention the 51's "aerometric" flow control) made them popular among aviators.

51 "Demi" black/gold set - a smaller version of the 51

51 "Demi" set, black with "Lustraloy" cap

A teal blue 51 Demi

Another teal blue Demi - with the somewhat unusual combination of Lustraloy caps and gold-filled clips.

A cocoa Demi set

A burgundy/GF 51 demi - Like the midnight blue, the burgundy had variations. This pen is a quite brownish shade of burgundy.

A burgundy 51 "Special" - The 51 "Special" was a less expensive model, with a steel nib, a highly polished (mirror finish) stainless cap, and its PliGlass reservoir only half shrouded in metal. These steel nibs are very well made, and though these are economy models, they are very good writers. The pen is shown with a style of rotary pencil which often accompanied a "Special" and which used the same mechanism as the 21 pencil.

Forest green 51's - I had to do a little touching-up to get these to look green. Shown are a late Aerometric rotary pencil (a replacement for the repeater), a full-size pen, and both sizes of the "click-click" pencil.

Gray 51's - A ballpen is shown at the top. This was a late addition to the Aerometric line (late 50's). It was the first in a long line of cap-actuated Parker ballpens. It's actuating mechanism was entirely of solid brass; this made it a little top-heavy. Also shown are a full-size pen and both sizes of the repeater pencil. A color variation is pretty obvious here, the two older instruments (the repeater pencils) being a more bluish shade of gray. I have heard the terms "dove gray", "gunmetal gray", and "battleship gray". They may apply respectively to the 51 Vac gray, the more blue Aero gray, and the less blue Aero gray ... I'm not sure. Perhaps someone would contribute some definitive information on the 51 grays.

Cocoa and plum 51's - Sorry, I couldn't get the plum color to appear well.

A 51 aerometric desk set

Three other 51 pencils - with gold filling - a midnight blue demi, an all GF demi, and a late black rotary one. (Sorry, the midnight blue looks black.)

Inside a 51 Aerometric - From top to bottom, left to right: nib, feed-bar/filler-tube assembly, collector, clutch ring, section/reservoir assembly. After the feed-bar and nib were positioned in the collector, the collector was fitted into the section in such a position so it would line up with the hooded shell after assembly. Getting these to line up takes a bit of trial and error. In the end, the threads of the shell and section are sealed (see the bit about the rosin/castor oil mixture).

The 51 Aerometric colors - I'm not sure if this is all of them and whether I have the names just right ... from the left: Black, Midnight Blue, Cocoa, Forest Green, Plum, Burgundy, Teal, (Gunmetal?) Gray

The 51 "Classic" - These pens date from the late '60s and early '70s. I'm told the Classic still appears in the 1975 Parker catalog. The top one is blue/Lustraloy/GF-clip, the bottom one, black/GF. These instruments have the built-in aerometric filler (shrouded PliGlass sac). I understand that there are also 51's from the early '60's which used a cartridge or a converter but I have never seen one.

Two 51 "Classic" ballpens - to match the black/gold fountain pen above. Also available in those days was a 7 mm continuous feed lead cartridge which could be installed in place of the Jotter refill.

Some Quink from the fifties, in permanent royal blue, microfilm black, permanent green, permanent brown, and permanent red. These bottles (28 in all) are still full, and the ink, still good, with vivid colors. They apparently spent twenty-some years in the basement of a defunct stationery store until their discovery in 1981. And they have spent the last 16 years again in a basement. The cool, humid environment is apparently good for the ink (and not so good for the cardboard boxes).

Here (*) are some notes on dating 51 Aerometrics.

A mixture of rosin and castor oil, that's what was used to seal (shell to filler) the 51's. Each repair bench at Parker had an alcohol lamp above which was a partially open enclosure (to trap some heat). The fore-part of a 51 would be moved in and out of the heat, while being turned, to soften the rosin before disassembly. I found that touching the instrument to my upper lip gave a reliable indication of how warm it was getting. On top of this enclosure for gently warming things sat a small bottle of the rosin-castor oil mixture with a bent paper clip (the applicator) hanging over the edge. When necessary, someone would go to the local hardware store and pick up a box of dance-floor rosin (even at Parker, a couple of pounds of rosin must have gone a long way). I bought a hunk of violin bow rosin (easily more than any collector would ever need); it wasn't powdered like the dance-floor rosin but a hammer quickly turned it into small enough chunks to be put into a small vial where, with heat, it mixes nicely with castor oil. I'm still on the same 1 cc. vial of this mixture that I made 17 years ago so I can't help much with the proportions. If I had to guess, I'd say about 60%-70% rosin, by volume. I have always preferred (to the paper clip) the torn end of a bookmatch as an applicator.

Orange Shellac - use it to affix pen sacs. While I have heard of successes with rubber cement, I have also heard that it attacks some plastics. Being alcohol based, orange shellac dries quickly and, as you'd know if you ever had to scrape it from the section of an old pen, makes a darned good seal. As with the rosin/castor oil mixture, the torn end of a bookmatch makes a nice applicator. As I recall, orange shellac is sold in a couple of "weights" (a measurement of how much lac is actually in it); I use the heavier one. It needs to be stirred (not shaken) before use because the lac settles. A half-pint can should last several pen collectors several lifetimes.

Moulding feed-bars to conform to nibs: You may know from experience that a pen whose feed-bar does not conform snugly to its nib is likely not to work well. With the judicious use of heat, hard rubber feed-bars (most old ones) can be moulded to conform to the nib. When possible, I mount the feed-bar and nib in a "dummy" section; in the case of the "51", a spare collector. Heat the front part of the feed-bar while moving it in and out of the column of heat rising from an alcohol lamp (don't put it in the flame, and take your time so that it heats evenly and thoroughly). When it's just the right temperature, it can be moulded to the nib by pressing (quite hard) on the feed-bar with the end of a finger or a fingernail while supporting the nib on the side of another finger on something like a pad of paper, continuing to apply pressure until things cool down. There is some art to this and the technique requires practice; I don't recommend trying this on anything of value unless it really needs it and you are quite confident that you can pull it off.

Several Parker pencils From left to right, briefly: midnight-blue/GF demi repeater, "Insignia" demi repeater, green repeater for 51 Vac, "Continental", 45 Insignia, four 51 rotary pencils, 21 with GF cap.

A "Super 21" set - The Super 21 and later the 41 were less expensive versions of the 51 Aerometric. They had steel nibs, a less durable plastic (nice colors, though) than the 51, and a reservoir the size of a 51 Demi's.

Two regular 21's - a black pen with 1/10 12K GF cap and a gray pencil with 1/30 12K RGP cap.

A deluxe Super 21

61 "Insignia" set - I have two such sets; all the instruments were new when I got them. They are not "perfect" matches. The two ballpen/pencil combos were purchased as combos; they are earlier models, the caps having a little shield above one of the "61"s bearing "1/10 12 Kt GF" in its little windows, and the pencils having the older mechanism with the fat top and which ratchets when turned backwards beyond its home position. The two fountain pens, purchased separately, seem to be newer, perhaps among the last of the 61s. These caps do not bear the little shield though they are marked "1/10 12 Kt GF" on the back, and they have the newer (and in my opinion, inferior) "finger clutch" (vs. the older "window clutch"; the clutch is the mechanism by which the cap engages the shell when the pen is closed). This suggests that this cap (with the appropriate "61" or "51" markings) was used for both the late model 61s and the late '60s remake of the 51.

61 "Flighter" set

A 61 set - black/Lustraloy - Like the 61 Insignias above, this pen has the later cap with the "finger clutch"

Inside a 61 - Shown are the shell, nib, feed-bar/collector/reservoir assembly, sleeve and trim ring (assembled and partially slid onto the reservoir), and the spring-loaded sealing cup which accepted the open end of the filler. After the nib is mounted in the collector and the nib/feed-ber/collector/reservoir inserted into the shell, it is automatically kept from turning by a groove/tab engagement of the collector and the inside of the shell. The sleeve is then slid over the reservoir and screwed into the shells threads. When home, the fore-most end of the sleeve contacts a small soft plastic washer (right behind the collector); this prevents the pen from leaking through the inside of the sleeve. A sealant was necessary at the threaded joint between the sleeve and the shell. The spring-loaded sealing cup assembly (generally not seen) can be popped out of the pen barrel after removing the barrel's decorative jewel.

What's Norman Rockwell doing here? In the early 80's, Dorothy Thomas was the receptionist at Parker's 219 Court Street office building in Janesville, Wisconsin. About the reception area there hung three Norman Rockwell paintings, each depicting folks happily opening gifts of new Parker 61's. The paintings were a recognition of the patronage and hospitality shown to Mr. Rockwell by Mr. Parker around the time of the 61's inception. Dorothy gave me this postcard replica of one of the paintings as a souvenir of my visit there.

A "VP" pencil - I'm sorry I don't have a "Very Personal" pen to show. Like the pen, the pencil has a sculptured grip. The pen featured a squeeze-the-sac-with-the-spring type reservoir/filler that had a glass-like nozzle which slid into the front part of the pen and was sealed by an o-ring. To fill the pen, you removed the reservoir from the pen, stuck the glass nozzle into ink, gave the spring a squeeze, wiped off the nozzle and stuck it back into the pen. You could turn the nib in the shell (like a 75) to customize the grip by giving the reservoir a twist.

45 "Insignia" set

45 "Flighter" set

45 Flighter ballpen - I don't know how this one missed being photographed with the rest of the set above.

A double 45 desk set - Brand new, box, paperwork, and all. The base is of Mexican onyx. Here's a better shot of it.

Parker 75 nib codes - I thought I had lost this! And I don't remember who to thank for it in the first place. But here's a list, apparently, of the codes found on the feeds of many 75's, indicating the grade of the nib.

Two Parker 75's - the common sterling silver one with hatching on the cap and barrel and a gold-filled one. These (and the Keepsake, below) are new and from the earliest years ('63-'68?) as is evidenced by the longer clip and the solid (vs. indented) clip screw and tassie (*). The GF cap has "PARKER" on its backside, leaving the front available for engraving. I don't know if they were still using the designation "Insignia" for the gold-filled models at this time.

A 75 "Keepsake" - This model is solid sterling silver with a smooth finish; meant to hold a lot of engraving, say, as a retirement gift. They didn't make this model for long. I have only seen one other ... during a visit to Parker's customer service center in 1980. It belonged to Mr. Parker and was in the shop to be polished. I have recently received documents from Parker confirming that the Keepsake was made only in 1967 and 1968. This shows that the features of the earliest 75's (flat clip-screw and tassie, long clip, "0" center mark on the nib-position guage) continued at least until 1968.

A vermiel 75 ballpen - 14 Kt gold filling on top of sterling silver.

A 75 "Flighter"

A pair of Titanium ballpens - The space-age metal made for a very lightweight pen but gave Parker so much trouble that the line, which included a fountain pen, was discontinued before long.

A Titanium 75 (?) - a homemade hybrid. The parts from the 75's cap fit readily into this titanium cap. The "shoulder" of the 75's section had to be moved to allow for its fitting into the titanium barrel the correct distance; my "lathe" for that operation was a heavy-duty Sears electric drill with a 1/2 inch chuck. At 17.7 grams, the 75 Flighter (with cap & cartridge) is a very lightweight instrument; this one's significantly lighter at 15.3 grams.

Another homemade hybrid - This one has a 51 filler/collector/nib mounted in a '70's "Big Red" (a black one in this case).

A boxed commemorative "100 Millionth Jotter" - Like the postcard you may have seen earlier, this pen was given to me by Dorothy Thomas as a souvenir of a visit to Parker.

A boxed "Jimmy Carter" commemorative - This instrument bears no imprint; it accepts soft-tips, those liquid roller-ball thingies, and, with adapters, jotter refills.

A Flaminaire - A French designed butane fueled cigarette lighter. Parker (exclusively) manufactured these in the U.S. from '51 to '54. I have two of them, new and in gift boxes, one with the instructions. They actually work if you can find a way to get some butane into the tank (see it) which is removeable and strongly resembles the auxilliary gas can on a military jeep.

Miscellaneous Parker desk pen parts - a couple of "magnetix" holders and a 61 pencil.

A tribute to Bob Jones and Romain Brunett

If ever the term "gentleman" were appropriate, it was appropriate to describe Bob Jones and Romain Brunett. I was fortunate to live in Chicago (a couple hours from Janesville) in 1980-81. I visited Parker's customer service department several times, and the folks there were delighted that someone took so great an interest in pens. Bob Jones was manager of the customer services department. He would take me into his office where he'd show me the manuals for the various Parker instruments and tell stories as he made a list of the parts I needed. Romain Brunett was the chief repairman and had been so for a long time. He would take me to the work-benches, show me the tools and techniques, and occasionally let me in on a "secret" or two. My favorite was the "A-11" secret solution with which they would condition the 61 fillers so that they would more readily accept ink when they were returned to the customer. On a shelf near the work area was a canister of crystals, inceremoniously labelled "A-11"; in it (here's the secret) ... "All" laundry detergent. Both gentlemen are deceased now. I remember them with much affection.

Some informative documents from Parker - I don't recall whether these documents were souvenirs of a visit to Parker's manufacturing facility at "Arrow Park" or of a visit to the 219 Court Street office building. Keep in mind two things when you read them; first, they were created in 1979/1980 and second, I scanned the originals and then did optical character recognition (which isn't perfect) on the scans. I tried to correct the errors introduced by the OCR, but no doubt, some sneaked by.

A large Waterman 52 - This pen was brand new when I found it at an antique shop in Lake George, NY back in the 80's. Only very slightly faded where exposed to light, the barrel is still jet black where it was protected by the cap and, near the back of the gold ring, by its original price sticker. The GF decorative band is engraved with a floral design except for a small portion, reserved for engraving.

A long, slim Waterman 52 1/2 - quite discolored

A Carter "Inx" pen - yup, the ink people. This pen has a spring-loaded clip; as you press on the upper end of it, the lower end moves away from the cap.

Some Carter ink

A Morris pen - The gold filling is pretty well gone except in the low spots but the underlying brass looks pretty good when polished up.

An Eversharp Ventura set - modern (mid '50s) with GF caps and barrels - called the "burp pen"

An Eversharp Symphony

Eversharp repeater pencils

Wahl/Eversharp pencil lead and eraser case

A Wahl/Eversharp Repair Kit ... or whats left of it. Here's the bottom shown with a Lucky Curve box so all the black wouldn't freak out the scanner. Here's the top, which has raised lettering. And here's the alcohol lamp and sac spreader from the kit.

Pencils: huge Autopoint and tiny Cross

A Moore repeater pencil

Black/GF Waterman repeater pencil

Black/black Waterman repeater pencil

A pair of fat Esterbrooks

A pair of slim Esterbrooks - The one on top is maroon and its cap snaps on.

A slim black Esterbrook - and matching repeater pencil

Three more Esterbrook repeater pencils - The one on top, clearly older (see the clip) uses the thicker 1.1 mm lead.

Esterbrook Ink-well - and two dip pens. This had to be for the person who wrote (or drew) all the time and who didn't want to be bothered by having to fill a pen several times a day. The well holds nearly 3 ounces of ink, more than a bottle of some inks.

A single ceramic Esterbrook holder - and lever filling pen

A double ceramic Esterbrook holder - with matching pens still in their original cellophane wrappers. I also have a similarly new black such set whose pens have red clear tails. (You'd see it, but there was just too much black for the scanner to handle.)

A "Norma" four-color pencil - This instrument rolled around in a kitchen drawer at my parent's home from the mid '50s until I appropriated it about 20 years ago. Since then, it has rolled around my desk drawer. There is still not a spot where the 1/10 14Kt gold filling is worn off.

An Autopoint utility pencil - This pencil uses .075 inch thick (1.9 mm) leads (shown). "Standard" leads were .046 inch (1.1 mm); "thin" ones were .036 inch (.9 mm).

Double-ended Autopoints - from the old days. These use the standard leads.

Speaking of leads ... here's some old ones. The Sheaffer Finelines are thin B-soft. I actually use 40-50 year-old Fineline 2B's in my Autopoints and Parker "click-clicks". The Eversharps are purple-copy (indelible) in thin and standard, and V-mail in thin and standard. The indelible leads were impregnated with a purple dye which stained the paper when wet or, I imagine, with the long-term effects of humidity. I remember seeing some V-mail stationery (wartime, lightweight airmail stuff). Does anyone know the story on the V-mail leads? They are a little soft and write dark. Were V-mails photocopied for security reasons? I know they were censored.

A "Pilot" set - from the '70s. The Pilot instruments, from Japan, have inlaid 18K nibs and write very nicely. The pilot line seems to have been taken over by the modern day Namiki Company.

Piston filled Sheaffer Triumphs - I'm not sure about the nomenclature here. I rather generically call any one of the Sheaffer torpedo-shaped pens a Triumph (except the Snorkels). The brown pen shown here, as well as the Triumphs, the Snorkels (except the monogrammed one), and the PFMs (all below) were new when I found them in the early '80s; I have several of the Triumph Touchdown's gift boxes and one for a Snorkel set. The black/GF pen shown here is monogrammed "D.A.C. 9-16-47".

A lever-filled Triumph

A ballpen to match the lever-filled Triumph above - This instrument has a small raised pip near the top of the clip so that it could be distinguished by touch. Right now, it houses a Jotter refill, thanks to a pair of highly modified 70's "Big Red" adaptors.

A boxed Sheaffer Admiral threesome - This set sold for $13. It had a $5 fountain pen, a $3 pencil, and a $5 ballpen. These early Sheaffer ballpens were called "stratowriters".

A Triumph with "Touchdown" filling ... and matching pencil, with solid "14K" bands

Two more Triumph/Touchdowns ... the burgundy one with a fine (?, about 3/128 inch) butterfly nib

A Sheaffer "Snorkel" with Palladium-Silver nib - a one-of-a-kind in my experience. See the closeup of its nib. Here's another closer-up of its nib. It seems (*) that later white metal nibs on the Snorkels, though not marked as such, were also of this alloy of precious metals.

A Snorkel with solid "14K" band

A Snorkel set - This set seems to be an early specimen. Its barrel bears no imprint; rather, the cap is imprinted "Sheaffer's Made in U.S.A." just above the trim band. The pencil barrel bears the same imprint in quite large lettering. The pen has a brass snorkel tube. The barrels of these two instruments are monogrammed "REV. G. DURIE".

A Snorkel with butterfly point - I've been told this model was called the "Saratoga".

A Snorkel set - I used to say that these white metal nibs with no indication of materials were stainless steel. But I have been informed by several persons "in the know" that Sheaffer continued to make the white metal nibs from palladium-silver, but discontinued so labelling them.

A Sheaffer "PFM II" set - the "Pen For Men" - (*) - also with the Palladium Silver (marked "PdAg") nib; except for the polished band near the end, the caps have a "brushed" (lengthwise) finish.

A "PFM IV" - with gold nib. Though the pen looks a little speckled, it's not; it's plain green. Here's another shot of it.

A dark blue "PFM II" set - a recent find ... in the box, with instructions, never been filled.

An old Sheaffer pencil

Sterling silver Sheaffer "Imperial" Touchdown set - ("Sovereign", maybe?) This was my first fountain pen (except for those see-through cartridge ones that fourth-graders used it the mid '50s); I bought it in 1971.

Burgundy Imperial Touchdown set

Black Imperial Touchdown set

50th Anniversary "Lifetime" cartridge pen - I've got four of them; they're from '63-'69 and say "Lifetime" on the clips and on the 14K nibs. (*)

Three Sheaffer pencils - The smaller ones (there were fountain pens too) with the very short clips were popular with military men since, in at least some services, it was contrary to regulation to have a pen clip showing from under a dress uniform's pocket flap. The bigger pencil is bright red and labelled "Fineline" on its clip.

Did you ever write with one of these? - in fourth grade, maybe ... I did.

Miscellaneous Sheaffer pencils - blue, black, burgundy, and brown.

Sheaffer desk pen parts - three screw-in holders for normal size Touchdowns and Snorkels, and a brown barrel/taper for a Snorkel. I also have a holder/barrel/taper for an Imperial Touchdown.

A Sheaffer "Life Time" advertisement

Another Sheaffer advertisement

Yet another Sheaffer advertisement

Montblanc 126/156/186 set - These instruments have sterling silver caps which are rhodium plated. In regular use, the rhodium easily wears off the high spots revealing the more lustrous silver which is kept polished by the use, yielding a striking and pleasing appearance.

Montblanc 1266/1566 set - Like the 126/156 but with sterling/rhodium barrels too.

Montblanc 7847 ballpen

A 1973 Montblanc desk set - with No. 20 pen and the monogram of yours truly.

My "Diplomat" turns 25 - (next year) I bought it at Farrney's Pen Shop in Washington, D.C. in 1972 (for $40!). It has an unusual "EF rigid" nib.

An Eversharp pen tray

A Waterman pen tray

A Parker Vacumatic pen tray

I only show this note-pad sized desktop clipboard because ever since I got it I have wondered what the N.Y.S.R.H.A. and P.& A.S.H.A. were. Does anyone know? This item commemorates their second joint convention in New York City - Feby. 1918.

Some autopoint pencils - of the type I like to use. I also like the plain thin 8-sided ones with the open (or capped) eraser ... the older ones with a brass sleeve in the front of the barrel.

Other Pen Sites on the Internet -

Thanks for visiting


Vincent Fatica