Vintage Pens Designed To Compete With The Parker 51?

[Paul-in-SF]

These are just some vintage pens I have run across that I suspect were designed to compete with the Parker 51. They share various design features - slip cap with clutch ring, hooded (or more often semi-hooded) nibs, similar barrel shape (although several of these are much slimmer). At least one of them had an aerometric style filling system. So I went through my collection and found eight pens from different manufacturers that arguably fit in this category. Here they are in no particular order, but from top to bottom and left to right in the photos:

 

Centropen 3565 (Czech converter fill, slimmer profile)

Wahl-Eversharp Fifth Avenue (lever fill, perhaps the most different esthetic compared to Parker 51)

Onoto K2 (piston fill)

Mentmore Diploma (lever fill, this version noted for the translucent perspex at the end of the barrel)

Aurora 88 (original model) (piston fill, perhaps the closest in size and shape)

Wyvern 404 (lever fill, the only threaded cap in the group)

OMAS VS (piston fill, interesting nib designed to work as semi-flex on the semi-hooded side, and as firm on the other hooded side; very different 6-sided shape)

Conway Stewart 106 (aerometric style fill, slimmer profile)

 

Some of these were fairly obscure models from second-tier makers, but the only one that strikes me as having been successful is the Aurora 88, which lasted in several similar iterations for a number of years.

 

Disagreements? Additions to the list? I think Hero makes one that is an out-and-out copy, but I don't think of that as vintage. I am more interested in makers who were trying to compete with the P51 while it was still being made.

[Estycollector]

You have a wonderful collection of hooded versions. Here is a resource I found some time back. http://richardspens.com/ref/design/hooded_nibs.htm

 

 

I found and restored this Venus hooded version.

Edited May 12, 2020 by Estycollector

[pajaro]

Years and years ago I tried some Japanese takes on the Parker 51 style. Also some stuff from China. Some of all these pens will always seem like current models to me. Everybody had to compete their own way. Some of the imitators are very good. I think your chances of making a repair at this late date are likely better with the original.

 

Maybe Parker will consider an imitation 51 in memory of the Covid struggle.

[KBeezie]

Closest thing I have currently (aside from the Parker 45) is this Eversharp "Fifth Avenue".



And in that regards, here's a passage from Richard's site on the "Fifth Avenue" which was more of a scramble (and the "Art Deco" appearance which I like, did not help much in the 40s)

When Parker introduced the “51” in 1941, the new pen’s streamlined styling touched off a game of catch-up. Soon other makers began marketing streamlined pens, and one of the prominent features they all wanted to incorporate was a hooded nib in emulation of the almost-invisible nib of the “51”. But in 1941 Eversharp had just introduced its Henry Dreyfuss-designed Skyline, with an open nib. Suddenly, the company was left scrambling for a more modern look.

Designers went to work, perhaps a little hastily, adapting existing internal features into a new body. In late 1943, the [/size]“Fifth Avenue,” with a “business end” designed by George D. Cloutier (U.S. Patent N[/size]o[/size] [/size]D137,860) and wrapped in a body by noted industrial designer Raymond Loewy (U.S. Patents NosD137,866, D137,867, and D139,551), made its appearance.

 

Priced at $12.50, exactly the same as the introductory-level “51”, the Fifth Avenue actually offered a “richer” user experience in some ways; the base-model cap, instead of Parker’s wartime base-model coin silver, was made of vermeil (gold over sterling silver). The pen was poorly conceived, however; instead of looking forward as it had done with the remarkably successful Skyline, Eversharp apparently looked backward and produced a design that was strikingly Art Deco in appearance. The pen shown below is a Dubonnet Red Eversharp Fifth Avenue (men’s size). To an eye attuned to Art Deco, it was an elegant design, well balanced and aesthetically pleasing — but Art Deco was passé, and the pen did not draw much enthusiasm from the buying public.

[senzen]

I think I've seen hooded pens from most major brands, I don't think many quite reach that streamlined design, although I should say I can't stand the look of hooded nibs, so my experienced is limited to "Ooooh nice peeeen", only to be followed by "damnation, another hooded nib!".

[Rose Nibs]

Mentmore 46 should be on the list.

[jchch1950]

Aurora Duocart.

[KBeezie]

I think I've seen hooded pens from most major brands, I don't think many quite reach that streamlined design, although I should say I can't stand the look of hooded nibs, so my experienced is limited to "Ooooh nice peeeen", only to be followed by "damnation, another hooded nib!".

 

When I'm vintage hunting (particularly for 2nd or 3rd tier brand), that's usually the case that pops up, you end up with seeing some semi-hooded or hooded nib which is most likely steel, and most likely corroded by now).

[kazoolaw]

Waterman Taperite

[FarmBoy]

The Sheaffer Snorkel was a direct competitor.

 

FB

[Paul-in-SF]

Some good additions.

 

Mentmore 46 should be on the list.

Interesting, I'd never heard of this model before. And it's got the oddest-looking hood I've ever seen.

 

Aurora Duocart.

Pretty similar look to the 88, I think, with a different filling system. Was it really cartridge only, or could they also use converters?

 

Waterman Taperite

This one I've heard but never used. Maybe I should hunt one of these up.

Edited May 13, 2020 by Paul-in-SF

[Freddy]

You have a wonderful collection of hooded versions. Here is a resource I found some time back. http://richardspens.com/ref/design/hooded_nibs.htm

 

 

 

That's a comprehensive list.....http://richardspens.com/ref/design/hooded_nibs.htm

Yup that's the ticket.................................

 

Fred

Is it safe?....Szell

 

Howdya think Babe responded? Would ya like some clove oil...Babe?

[OMASsimo]

A "comprehensive list" that only lists US makes? Interesting. How about the Pelikan P1? And the already mentioned Aurora 88? And the OMAS 361 with hooded double-sided nib?

Edited May 14, 2020 by OMASsimo

[jchch1950]

The original Duo cart was only for cartridges and is similar but not the same pen as the Aurora 88 that was the flagship model. The new version of the Aurora Duo cart can be use converter or cartridges.

[Paul-in-SF]

A "comprehensive list" that only lists US makes? Interesting. How about the Pelikan P1? And the already mentioned Aurora 88? And the OMAS 361 with hooded double-sided nib?

 

If this is a response to Richard Binder's list, at the bottom of the linked page he has this:

 

"This article is obviously not a comprehensive survey of all the hooded-nib pens ever produced, not even all those made in the U.S.A. Notable European hooded-nib pens include the famed Aurora 88, the Lamy 2000, and several Montblanc models with semi-hooded nibs."

 

So I assume his list was of pens that he had in his collection, and could therefore easily photograph.

[Ermennda]

More than competing equal to equal most of those pens were trying to ride the wave of the aesthetic shift that the Parker 51 provoked at lower prices, much like Parker themselves did with the 21. Here in Spain the example is the Inoxcrom 55, probably the absolute best seller of Spanish fountain pen manufacturing and a respectable competitor in price and quality to the Parker 21, but not the 51.

[OMASsimo]

 

If this is a response to Richard Binder's list, at the bottom of the linked page he has this:

 

"This article is obviously not a comprehensive survey of all the hooded-nib pens ever produced, not even all those made in the U.S.A. Notable European hooded-nib pens include the famed Aurora 88, the Lamy 2000, and several Montblanc models with semi-hooded nibs."

 

So I assume his list was of pens that he had in his collection, and could therefore easily photograph.

 

Not at all, Richard Binder's website is a fabulous resource of reliable information. And as you state correctly, he mentions in his last paragraph that his list is not comprehensive even regarding US pens. But one of our very experienced members claimed it was and I would not like this statement to go uncorrected. The present thread already is testimony of the incompleteness of that list (that apparently didn't even try to be comprehensive). And if you'd consider semi-hooded nibs as well, the list could become pretty endless since every maker and their dog produced semi-hooded designs in the 1960s. Parker kicked off a pen design revolution with the 51 that resonated worldwide.

[Mercian]

In Europe, the LAMY 27.

 

There are some reviews on FPN that still have photos - e.g. this one, that taught me that former-Parker-exec Mr. Lamy initially marketed his pens under the name ‘Artus’.

[adamselene]

Lamy 27N

[Estycollector]

From the Parker 51 site, "“trap any overflow and traps it inside-makes this a Pen that won’t flood, leak or sweat-yet keeps the point surrounded by ink, thus makes it a split second starter!”.

http://parker51.com/index.php/education/51-history/

 

My questions, did simply adding a hood over the nib produce a functional copy of the Parker 51? Was there a problem with FP's being a "split second starter" without the hood?

 

"The body was sleek and the material used was Lucite, a very stable and durable material needed to withstand the high acidity of the special Parker “51” ink uniquely developed for this pen."

http://parker51.com/index.php/education/51-history/