Sometimes…

[FarmBoy]

… it is not just about a pen. Look at that price card. 
 

[Mr.Rene]

In 1930´s years $80 dollars price was a lot of money  wasn't it?

Regards...

René

[jchch1950]

4 hours ago, Mr.Rene said:

In 1930´s years $80 dollars price was a lot of money  wasn't it?

Regards...

René

I think so and the Parker Company thought the same which is why the name "Heirloom".

[senzen]

$80 from 1941 would be about $1,674.40 today. 

[es9]

Wow, that’s awesome. 

[Brian-McQueen]

Yes, sometimes it's about what comes with it.  I love papers like this.  Minimum wage was 30 cents an hour in 1941.  $80 was nearly 7 weeks' pre-tax wages at minimum wage.

[inkstainedruth]

In 1939, when my mom was a freshman in college, her biology professor ran his annual car trip down to FL from WV over the winter break between semesters.  My mom told me she talked everyone into going someplace "nicer" for Christmas dinner, and the professor was apparently APPALLED because they ended up going to a place that had a BAR -- therefore, dinners at that place were 50¢ apiece instead of the usual 35¢.... 

And yesterday I had to go have something weighed at the post office because I wan't sure if it would be light enough for regular 1st class postage.  It wasn't.  So instead of 60¢ I had to pay 66¢ for it -- and I'm old enough to remember when the cost of a stamp went from 4¢ to 5¢....

Of course, this is why I buy rolls of "Forever" stamps....  

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

 

ETA: If the USPS is going to shoot themselves in the foot that way?  You bet I'm gonna take advantage of it....

[FarmBoy]

9 hours ago, inkstainedruth said:

In 1939, when my mom was a freshman in college, her biology professor ran his annual car trip down to FL from WV over the winter break between semesters.  My mom told me she talked everyone into going someplace "nicer" for Christmas dinner, and the professor was apparently APPALLED because they ended up going to a place that had a BAR -- therefore, dinners at that place were 50¢ apiece instead of the usual 35¢.... 

And yesterday I had to go have something weighed at the post office because I wan't sure if it would be light enough for regular 1st class postage.  It wasn't.  So instead of 60¢ I had to pay 66¢ for it -- and I'm old enough to remember when the cost of a stamp went from 4¢ to 5¢....

Of course, this is why I buy rolls of "Forever" stamps....  

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

 

ETA: If the USPS is going to shoot themselves in the foot that way?  You bet I'm gonna take advantage of it....

Isn't regular first class postage 66 cents?

[inkstainedruth]

Did that just happen?    

Sigh....  

The roll of "forever stamps" I have are from when the price of a stamp was still 60¢.  Or maybe even when the price was 55¢ -- because other than paying bills, I don't send out a lot of mail.... 

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

[FarmBoy]

July 9, 2023.

It goes to 68 cents on January 24, 2024

[VacNut]

14 hours ago, FarmBoy said:

July 9, 2023.

It goes to 68 cents on January 24, 2024

Does this mean there won’t be enough room on the boxes for all your stamps? You will need to use the Midsize Box for priority mail😂Haha 

[VacNut]

On 11/28/2023 at 8:14 AM, Brian-McQueen said:

Yes, sometimes it's about what comes with it.  I love papers like this.  Minimum wage was 30 cents an hour in 1941.  $80 was nearly 7 weeks' pre-tax wages at minimum wage.

Sad to say, there are collectors willing to pay that amount for a new pen in today’s $$$ at $16/HR

[Sheptonian]

My Goodness, FarmBoy, what a survival! There can't be many of those cards left at all. It really does set off that beautiful set wonderfully.

 

My modest contribution, for what it is worth, is nowhere near the same league; It is merely a box and some paperwork that provide context.

 

It has been said previously that it is not uncommon for the current variant of Vacumatic filler to have been fitted to earlier Vacumatic models returned to Parker for repair.

In this instance the barrel and nib of a Canadian Vacumatic are both dated 1939 but the pen has the later plastic filler. Both barrel and nib are contemporaneous, the blind cap is jewelled (the jewel matches the pen), and the metal trim is nickel throughout. The repair for which the pen was sent to Parker's service and repair department in Dover (Kent, not Delaware) is thus most unlikely to have been anything other than to the filling system.

 

Parker's English service and repair facility moved from London to Dover in the late 1940s or early 1950s, and remained there into the 1960s. The box is c.1950s English production (from before the introduction of the Parker "Halo" in 1958) so here we have what is most likely to be the paper trail confirming the replacement of the filler, where it was replaced, and roughly when.

 

P.S. Current mail prices over here are 1st Class: £1.25 ($1.59), 2nd Class: £0.75 ($0.95)...

 

 

 

 

[VacNut]

 The “Order #85” is cool. That would now be a 10 digit no/letter tracking number. The technician could probably also remember what was done on the previous 84 repairs that year.

 

The paperwork definitively documents the filler was repaired by Parker. The debate then is whether or not the filler should be replaced with a lockdown filler. I suspect a new owner would consider replacing the filler, if there was no paperwork, since it puts pressure on the end cap. 

I am ambivalent.

 

[VacNut]

Wow, sad when your memory starts to go. I thought this was a standard lockdown filler. I disregarded the 39 date and the pics. Plastic filler is great!

[Nethermark]

On 11/29/2023 at 5:28 AM, FarmBoy said:

It goes to 68 cents on January 24, 2024

In Denmark postage for a letter is DKK 12 ($ 1.75) right now. That doubles to DKK 25 ($ 3.5) from next year

[Sheptonian]

20 hours ago, VacNut said:

Wow, sad when your memory starts to go. I thought this was a standard lockdown filler. I disregarded the 39 date and the pics. Plastic filler is great!

 

Thank you!

 

I know what you mean about memory - been there myself. Of course I could have made things easier for you by photographing the blind cap from an angle other than end-on..

 

Whilst I am pretty well clued-up on P51s, P61s and postwar Newhaven pens, Vacs are another country to me (I only have a couple) so any pearls of wisdom such as yours about the the plastic filler and lockdown-era blind caps are gratefully received.

 

I am trying to resist the siren call of the Vacumatic for the sake of my wallet and my sanity given the variety of variants and finishes. Somebody on here has suggested that there are more than 1,000 variations. I can quite believe it. I am by no means a completist but just a reasonably representative collection must run into many dozens of pens.

 

 

[VacNut]

“…am by no means a completist but just a reasonably representative collection must run into many dozens of pens.”

Sorry about the error on the filler. I enjoy the earlier Vacumatics more than the later models. The celluloid barrels were made from rolled sheets that were seamed into a cylinder during the curing process. The material and technique was start of the art. (There is a vintage youtube  sample video of the process).
A representative collection was my first goal - one of each color; then it became one of each color of each model; and then it was one model of each less common pen. We won’t talk about the current state of the hobby, other than if one is good, then two (or more) are better…

There are many Vacumatics. Their breadth is part of the allure. Take your time on the hobby. 

[Sheptonian]

My point, exactly 😄. One of each model picking up all of the model changes (including name changes for the same pen between years), and covering all of the colours = loads of pens (you must have an enviable collection!).  As opposed to P51s where, ignoring the cap rabbit hole and solid gold variants you could probably cover P51 Vacumatic DJ & SJ, Aero Mk I, Mk II & III (counting Mks II and III together), a couple of oddities, and the 2 SEs in, what? 40-something pens? The number would be less than 30 if we are looking at a representative set of P61s.

 

This is my idea of representative for an easily boxed-off model range - one of each variant, all of the UK colours:  

 

 

 

But I digress (apologies to FarmBoy for thread drift).

 

I got over the initial collecting enthusiasm a few years back now so by and large nowadays I take more time, and am a bit more selective about what I buy and from whom. It doesn't stop altogether the odd over-collecting splurge if I get caught unawares occasionally, though. I am sure Vacumatics will feature more frequently now that they have caught my eye...

 

 

 

[Bo Bo Olson]

I read this twice, and missed the '51's date .

 

I see by the end of the barrel it must be a old one.

Gold was $40.00 an ounce then. Devaluation of money happened in the early '30's long before the pen debuted.

 

 

Many years later as a low paid draft era service man, in the late '60's, I wasn't going to pay $40, for a double eagle.

 

Even knew the FDR made ownership of gold illegal (it was for years), so that pen was one way to get around that law. 

That is two solid gold caps, so not overly expensive.