You've Got Your First Found In The Wild Parker 51 In Your Hand, Now What?

[FarmBoy]

1 hour ago, JFox22 said:

Guess it's a Parker "Frankenstein" 51... any guess on origin of said above clip if it's not from a 51? Cheers

Non-lifetime Vacumatic. 

[Estycollector]

10 hours ago, FarmBoy said:

Wrong clip for a 51. 

Good eye. 

[es9]

Definitely don’t get rid of the clip. They come in handy. 
 

Sourcing the right clip shouldn’t be hard. If I’m not mistaken, it would be a GF shorter arrow clip. 

[mitto]

11 hours ago, FarmBoy said:

Wrong clip for a 51. 

+1

[crescentfiller]

Nice estate sale find! As noted, the clip in incorrect; however, it appears to fit ok and does nothing to detract from the form or function as a user pen. Unless you're intent on selling it or a purist, leave it alone and enjoy it! 

[inkstainedruth]

I recall reading that you can partly date Aerometrics by what it says on the sac sleeve (i.e., whether it says "Press 6 times" or "Press 4 times"): the earlier pens (1948-49) say "6"; 1950 and later it says "4".  And apparently this is also the case for the Demi size pens.  And post-1956 the engraving no longer says to use Superchrome ink, instead saying "Parker ink".

You can read more about the differences here:

http://www.parkercollector.com/parker51.html

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

[FarmBoy]

Someone around here should write an article on how to determine when a 51 was manufactured in absence of a date code. 

[Armo]

Style of clip is from a 51 vacumatic as opposed to aerometric and is probably wrong for the cap as Parker is repeated is on the base of the cap which is superfluous, earlier caps being plain around the base. I read somewhere that when they stopped putting blue diamond caps on American pens, due to a law suit, they shipped out remaining stock to Britain and Canada to use them up. It appears to me that the different factories had quite a lot of automony.

Looking at the pics again it appears that the jewel is black and the clip looks a little to broad for the cap so prob replaced from a regular vacumatic. Right cap, wrong clip and jewel. At the end of the day does it really matter, nice pen.

 

[Dip n Scratch]

I have two P51's & a P21. I am using a Navy Grey '51 untouched from my receiving it. The black 51 did need the Ammonia treatment due to lots of ink residue.

I believe the 21 also needs the Ammonia. It writes very dry.

The 21 is the 'economy version? That is my understanding.

I just wonder if the writing experience was any less smooth than with a '51. Just wanted to know before I reached for the Ammonia.

[FarmBoy]

The clip lacks a diamond. 

[JFox22]

On 3/16/2023 at 11:36 PM, Paul-in-SF said:

Both the clip and the jewel might have been replaced on the cap at some point, probably during a repair (the cap appears to have had an active life). 

 

But it's the wrong kind of cap for an aerometric filler, as the transition from vacumatic to aerometric fillers coincided (more or less) with the transition to the updated "art deco" non-split arrow clip. Also gold-filled caps were a lot less common with aerometric-filler 51's. There were probably some transition cases of early aerometric bodies with the older caps, but statistically more likely is that the cap was swapped in at some point, a very common occurrence with 51's. 

 

Lacking a date code on the barrel, and not relying on the cap for date clues because it probably didn't belong to the barrel originally, it would be difficult to narrow the date down very much on the barrel. Since it was made in England, that might also affect dating -- I don't know if the filler-type transition took place later in England or about the same time as in the US. So at the earliest maybe 1948, latest probably some time in the early 60's. 

 

Hi Paul - Thanks for this insights

 

 

On 3/17/2023 at 9:57 AM, crescentfiller said:

Nice estate sale find! As noted, the clip in incorrect; however, it appears to fit ok and does nothing to detract from the form or function as a user pen. Unless you're intent on selling it or a purist, leave it alone and enjoy it! 

 

Hi Cres - Thanks, I was looking for insight since helping manage an estate, so it's actually available for sale - Have it listed on eBay as: Vintage PARKER 51 Black Fountain Pen - 1/10 12Ct R. Gold Cap NO RESERVE

 

On 3/17/2023 at 8:06 PM, inkstainedruth said:

I recall reading that you can partly date Aerometrics by what it says on the sac sleeve (i.e., whether it says "Press 6 times" or "Press 4 times"): the earlier pens (1948-49) say "6"; 1950 and later it says "4".  And apparently this is also the case for the Demi size pens.  And post-1956 the engraving no longer says to use Superchrome ink, instead saying "Parker ink".

You can read more about the differences here:

http://www.parkercollector.com/parker51.html

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

 

Hi Inkstained - Thanks for that info, since its marked "4" it lines up with the 50-60s timeline from the info I know about owner

 

On 3/18/2023 at 6:07 AM, Armo said:

Style of clip is from a 51 vacumatic as opposed to aerometric and is probably wrong for the cap as Parker is repeated is on the base of the cap which is superfluous, earlier caps being plain around the base. I read somewhere that when they stopped putting blue diamond caps on American pens, due to a law suit, they shipped out remaining stock to Britain and Canada to use them up. It appears to me that the different factories had quite a lot of automony.

Looking at the pics again it appears that the jewel is black and the clip looks a little to broad for the cap so prob replaced from a regular vacumatic. Right cap, wrong clip and jewel. At the end of the day does it really matter, nice pen.

 

Hi Armo - Thanks for this, Gentleman who owned it was a WW2 Lancaster pilot from the UK who moved to Canada in the 50s, so the origin of the pen according to this estimation of parts assembly fits this. Very neat, cheers.

 

On 3/18/2023 at 9:28 PM, FarmBoy said:

The clip lacks a diamond. 

Hi Farm - Thank yes this was the original oddity that made me question what the heck it was in the first place.

 

Thanks all again for the help pointing more toward what it actually is - If you are interested in adding the Parker 51 Frankenpen to your collection, I have it listed open bid no reserve on eBay. Regards & Cheers

Edited April 3, 2023 by JFox22

[Dip n Scratch]

My black '51 is 1950-56, The grey one and a related Parker 21 are post 1956.

The Parker 21 is the 'economy' version of the '51. The '21 seems to have a Fine nib, but I think that it has issues with dried ink inside that is beyond the Ammonia trick. probably needs a strip and and a session in an ultrasonic cleaner.

[stoen]

Hello, Everybody,

my previous post was about my “First Parker 51 found in the Wild”, this one delas with “now what”.

🙂

It “boils down” to my second Parker 51, also found in the wild. I found it neglected, dirty and forsaken in a friend’s box with all sort of pen scrap from various makers. Got it in as is condition, as a gift. So it took me a bit of time to clean and fix it, but it turned out to be a really nice pen in very good shape, a classic in fact: USA 1945 Cedar-blue vacumatic with steel cap and nice smooth writing 14k F nib. Inked with Quink washable blue. So, here it is. Hope you like it:

 

[Glenn-SC]

On 10/11/2023 at 2:49 PM, stoen said:

USA 1945 Cedar-blue vacumatic with steel cap and nice smooth writing 14k F nib. Inked with Quink washable blue. So, here it is. Hope you like it:

 

Beautiful pen.  
The Blue Cedar color is one of my favorites and it “looks right” with that SS cap.  

[inkstainedruth]

One of my Cedar Blue 51 Vacs has a really nicely tuned EF nib -- and that's the pen I ink up when I have to do a lot of research and write copious amounts of notes.  

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

[Blue Inked Fingers]

On 3/18/2023 at 12:06 AM, inkstainedruth said:

I recall reading that you can partly date Aerometrics by what it says on the sac sleeve (i.e., whether it says "Press 6 times" or "Press 4 times"): the earlier pens (1948-49) say "6"; 1950 and later it says "4".  And apparently this is also the case for the Demi size pens.  And post-1956 the engraving no longer says to use Superchrome ink, instead saying "Parker ink".

You can read more about the differences here:

http://www.parkercollector.com/parker51.html

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

To complicate things further, English made 51s don’t mention ink type at all. And they don’t appear to have any kind of date marker on the body. I have three vintage 51s, all made in England, and the most I can narrow it down is they were manufactured in the 50s. Most of the dating advice I’ve seen has been about American made pens. The English factory seems to have danced to it’s own tune.

Edited August 27 by Blue Inked Fingers

[Blue Inked Fingers]

28 minutes ago, Blue Inked Fingers said:

To complicate things further, English made 51s don’t mention ink type at all. And they don’t appear to have any kind of date marker on the body. I have three vintage 51s, all made in England, and the most I can narrow it down is two were manufactured in the 50s, and one in the late 40s (longer clip). Most of the dating advice I’ve seen has been about American made pens. The English factory seems to have danced to it’s own tune.