Two Parker questions: Nassau Green P51 color, and size of Oversize Vacumatic

[Paul-in-SF]

1 minute ago, joss said:

The Vacumatic book mentions that the French Parker Vacumatics were in fact received from Canada and England. So the "Made in France" imprint on your pen barrel might also be understood as "Partially assembled in France".

 

Thanks for the information, maybe I should find myself a copy of that book. But I want to make sure I understand this part: the barrel and maybe other parts were made in Canada or England, exported to France where the pen was assembled, then sold (mostly) in France? Did Parker only manufacture nibs in France, and not other pen parts (for Vacumatic pens)? 

 

I do have one other question, for anyone who knows: both my pen and the pen that @joss linked to in post 8 right after my photo of this pen, have a very definite inscribed dot on the barrel between "Parker" and "Made in France" and in a position where I would expect to see a date code. Does anyone have any idea what the purpose of that dot was? 

 

[joss]

8 minutes ago, Paul-in-SF said:

Thanks for the information, maybe I should find myself a copy of that book. But I want to make sure I understand this part: the barrel and maybe other parts were made in Canada or England, exported to France where the pen was assembled, then sold (mostly) in France? Did Parker only manufacture nibs in France, and not other pen parts (for Vacumatic pens)?

 

Unfortunately it is not that clear. The entry in the book on Parker France is just two pages of which 50% are pictures and the text is mainly on the history of the foundation of "Agence Parker" in Paris. The text that is relevant for pens says "Agence Parker received Vacumatic pens from London or directly from Toronto, Canada. The latter pens had a distinctive imprint, Importé du Canada".

I think that the latter statement refers to pens that had a barrel imprint "Importé du Canada" (these do exist) while on your pen the imprint is on the nib only. The fact that the barrel on your pen has a "Made in France" imprint must have a meaning but as far as I know there was no French Parker production plant in the 1930s-40s. But there are early 1940s Parker pens that are unique to France only, such as the Parker Plexor which also had a prominent Made in France barrel imprint. There is a whole history on the advantage of importing pen parts rather than complete pens in order to reduce import taxes and it is well documented that Parker was doing this since the late 1920s with their Duofold pens. 

[joss]

6 hours ago, es9 said:

I’m still confused: is there a difference between a senior maxima and a maxima?

 

It is confusing because the answer can be yes and no. If your question refers to the model name then the answer is yes because within a certain year, Senior Maxima and Maxima were two different pens. If your question refers to size then the answer is no because the "Senior Maxima" of 1937 and the "Maxima" of 1941 have a similar size (of course not similar looks).

 

This is the basic background (see also https://parkerpens.net/vacumatic.html) :

In 1937-38 there was a "Senior Maxima" and a "Maxima" in the Parker catalog and these pens had different length and girth (the Senior Maxima being the biggest).

In 1939-40 there was a "Senior Maxima" and "Slender Maxima" in the catalog, these still were two pens with different length and girth.

In 1941 there was only one Maxima-sized pen in the catalog, simply called "Maxima" but this pen's length and girth were comparable to the 1939-40 "Senior Maxima". I think that this remained as such until the Vacumatic was phased out in the USA in 1948.

 

 

[Paul-in-SF]

"Not clear" is right. As with several of my other vintage pens, I will have to rest without perfect knowledge. 

 

52 minutes ago, joss said:

The entry in the book

 

Which book is this, by the way? I don't think you have mentioned the title. 

[es9]

1 hour ago, joss said:

In 1941 there was only one Maxima-sized pen in the catalog, simply called "Maxima" but this pen's length and girth were comparable to the 1939-40 "Senior Maxima". I think that this remained as such until the Vacumatic was phased out in the USA in 1948.

 

Ok, I think you’ve answered a question that’s been bugging me for a while. I have a Maxima* but it has takes a standard-sized diaphragm. It’s always confused me. I guess it must be one of the later ones. 

 

*135mm long, ~13.5mm wide barrel, 15.5mm wide cap, thick cap band, big nib, speedline filler

 

 

 

 

 

[joss]

1 hour ago, Paul-in-SF said:

Which book is this, by the way? I don't think you have mentioned the title. 

 

It is the Parker Vacumatic book by Parker, Shepherd & Zazove (www.booksaboutpens.com/catalog_en/index.asp?id=2837). It is out of print since a few years, pricy copies pop up on ebay now and then.

[Paul-in-SF]

1 hour ago, joss said:

 

It is the Parker Vacumatic book by Parker, Shepherd & Zazove (www.booksaboutpens.com/catalog_en/index.asp?id=2837). It is out of print since a few years, pricy copies pop up on ebay now and then.

 

Okay, thanks. I had hopes maybe there was another reference source around.