England 1950s Parker prices

[aurore]

Gentlemen, how much did Maxima cost in England vs. Parker 51 in 50s? Thank you

 

[theredfalcon]

UK prices from October 1956:

 

Maxima Duofold 50/-  (50 shillings =£2.50)

Parker "51"- Rolled Gold cap 108/- (£5.40), Rolled Silver cap 96/- (£4.80), Lustraloy cap 84/8d (£4.27ish)

 

Prices for Insignia models from around the same time:

Parker "51" All Rolled Gold Insignia Pen £9 12s 0d (£9.60)

Parker "51" All Rolled Silver Insignia Pen £8 8s 0d (£8.40)

[mallymal1]

Just out of interest, I put the 50/- into an inflation calculator, and it's somewhere around £58.

 

If only.  🙂

[Armo]

I think £58 is a little conservative. As far as I can ascertain the average wage was about £270 so that would be the best part of half a weeks wages. Ouch!

[sherbie]

And remember, just after WW2, and well into the 50s, Britain was on its knees and some things were still being rationed i believe. So £5 for a fountain pen was still a little bit of a luxury purchase. 

 

I have only ever seen 1 Parker 51 vac, made in England with the rolled gold cap - all other P51 vacs i have seen had rather poor Q lustraloy clips 

 

the pen in Question ( now in my collection) 

 

 

[vicpen123]

On 8/13/2022 at 7:04 PM, theredfalcon said:

UK prices from October 1956:

 

Maxima Duofold 50/-  (50 shillings =£2.50)

Parker "51"- Rolled Gold cap 108/- (£5.40), Rolled Silver cap 96/- (£4.80), Lustraloy cap 84/8d (£4.27ish)

 

 

I have examples of both pens. I cannot understand why a "51" would have been twice the price of a Maxima.

 

Any ideas?

[Paul-in-SF]

I imagine it's all about what the market would bear. Duofolds were old in technology and style, originally from the 20's. I have a Duofold Maxima* from UK in the 50's; it has a large 50 nib and it is nice, but with a cheap Aerometric "Special" style filler, it is somewhat yawn-worthy in my opinion. Although 51's were getting a little dated by the mid-50's they were still highly desirable consumer objects, lots of other companies were imitating them at least in appearance, so demand was higher. 

 

*The barrel just says Parker Maxima and doesn't mention Duofold, but I think this was still considered part of the Duofold line. 

[sherbie]

For me, The UK Duofold line also uses cheaper (extruded) plastic, and doesnt have the upmarket feel of the 51 lucite ( but also just polymethacrylate - basically another polymer type), but the handling experience of the 51 vs the cheaper plastic certainly was worth the premium 

 

However the UK Duofolds, especially the Senior (35 nib) and the monster Maxima (50 nib), are great pens, and the Newhaven nibs are normally very smooth, and do flex

[vicpen123]

21 hours ago, Paul-in-SF said:

*The barrel just says Parker Maxima and doesn't mention Duofold, but I think this was still considered part of the Duofold line. 

The Senior (35 nib) says Parker Duofold. Why are they different?

[Paul-in-SF]

32 minutes ago, vicpen123 said:

The Senior (35 nib) says Parker Duofold. Why are they different?

 

I don't know the answer to that either. The records for foreign-made Parkers are not as thorough (or not as thoroughly researched) as for US-made pens. Possibly my pen is a case of using up spare parts at the end of a production cycle or something. 

[sherbie]

Interesting

 

i have a red Maxima, where the barrel stamping is 

 

PARKER

MAXIMA DUOFOLD

MADE IN ENGLAND 

 

and a green Maxima, where the barrel stamping is 

 

PARKER MAXIMA

MADE IN ENGLAND

 

 

whilst both large 50 nibs, they are different - the nib on the red pen is larger, and the nib on the green pen is also marked 9 - supposedly for 1959 according to some sources 

 

 

 

 

[mallymal1]

26 minutes ago, sherbie said:

Interesting

 

i have a red Maxima, where the barrel stamping is 

 

PARKER

MAXIMA DUOFOLD

MADE IN ENGLAND 

 

and a green Maxima, where the barrel stamping is 

 

PARKER MAXIMA

MADE IN ENGLAND

 

 

whilst both large 50 nibs, they are different - the nib on the red pen is larger, and the nib on the green pen is also marked 9 - supposedly for 1959 according to some sources 

 

 

 

 

 

I haver just one Maxima. Black.

 

The barrel is marked as your Green, and the nib is as your red. 

[Sheptonian]

Here are the English non-51 FPs in an advertising flyer from about 1962:

 

 

 

 

 

[rochester21]

On 8/16/2022 at 5:58 AM, vicpen123 said:

I have examples of both pens. I cannot understand why a "51" would have been twice the price of a Maxima.

 

Any ideas?

Same reason back in the day a modest Mercedes sold for twice the price of a Volvo. Both excelent cars, but... 

 

In this case, the Parker 51 is simply the mightier pen. More modern, more popular, made to last forever. 

 

Nobody ever made anything quite like it since then. So yeah, special price for a special pen. The Maxima is nice, but so were 100 other FPs available back then. 

[vicpen123]

Agree on the virtues of the "51". Definitely worth a premium. But still not sold on twice the price.

 

Times have changed. Paid a lot more for my Maxima last year than I paid for my "51"s in earlier years.

[dipper]

On 8/13/2022 at 10:04 AM, theredfalcon said:

UK prices from October 1956:

 

Maxima Duofold 50/-  (50 shillings =£2.50)

Parker "51"- Rolled Gold cap 108/- (£5.40), Rolled Silver cap 96/- (£4.80), Lustraloy cap 84/8d (£4.27ish)

I recall being taken shopping with my mother in the late 1950's early 60's in the UK.

Very exciting, going to one of the new "supermarkets" for the first time!

Each week Mum would fill a trolley with food for a family of four, and pay less than £5 for the lot.

We could have all starved for just one week, and bought a Parker 51 instead of food 😂😂😃.

 

[thx1138]

On 11/28/2022 at 7:08 AM, dipper said:

We could have all starved for just one week, and bought a Parker 51 instead of food 😂😂😃.

 

Is it only me, or does that sound like a reasonable proposition to others?