New or Old

[thisteensy]

Update: I did get a couple of Parker51 vacs that I was able to restore. One is a humble black with weirdo SS cap with no feather or arrow? This cannot be the correct cap. It says Parker on it, but would have to be from a different, modern line. This pen smells of vinegar, which I've been unable to do anything about. The other is cedar blue with a blue diamond 16k gold fill cap. Both fine nibs, and just extremely smooth writers after the teensiest bit of tuning, and the weight is just so unexpected. I totally get it now.

[inkstainedruth]

Yeah.  51s just rock.  Some people don't like the hooded nibs, and some people think that the pens are too small to be comfortable, but I LOVE mine.  They were the flagship line at Parker for something like 20 years -- with good reason.  Every dime they spent went into the R&D to make them the superb writing instruments they are.  

I read in some thread on here a number of years ago that Parker made 12 MILLION 51s.  And then stopped counting.... So there have been estimates that they probably made close to 20 million in all.  Most of mine cost between $50-$80 US (although that was a few years ago). The two outliers, price-wise?  A Dove Gray Aero with an OB nib, at the Saturday night auction at a pen show (I was bidding on the nib, and surprised I got it for as LITTLE as I did).  And a Forest Green Aero at an estate sale a few years ago that I was then going "I have out-sumgaied myself!" about and someone then said, "Well, you know, Forest Green is the 3rd rarest color after Plum and Cocoa...." (No -- no I didn't know that.  I just knew that it was a color I didn't have, and two bucks for a Parker 51 in a color I didn't have was probably a steal.... ).

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

[thisteensy]

I am writing notes on a course that I am taking in my new Rhodia Goalbook, and it is just the perfect amount of glide and grip for me. The black one with the dodgy cap was under your range, but the blue one was within it. The gold cap is a bit dinged up, though, and it needed a new sac.

[Bo Bo Olson]

2 hours ago, inkstainedruth said:

the pens (51's) are too small to be comfortable

When I was a lad a P-51 was considered a big pen...as medium-large....the '20's and '30's were long gone.

Shaffer's PFM, was all Christmas advertising in TV or top flight mags. I never saw one in real life.   Late '50's? mid '60s in H. school & collage, or later in life.

It is if one is use to posting standard or even medium-large pens, the PFM was clunky.

 

I was really shocked that a thin Snorkel was actually large pen....found that out when it was laying next to Safari. It never felt large and clunky, even posted.

 

To folks that grew up thinking large and oversized pens as normal it can be understood.

If one posts the '51, it is not small at all.

OF Grumbles.

[thisteensy]

1 hour ago, Bo Bo Olson said:

If one posts the '51, it is not small at all.

⬆️⬆️⬆️ Posting this one makes a huge difference. Those caps have a lot more weight than I would have guessed.

[Bo Bo Olson]

[Arkanabar]

My work environment can be pretty rough (I'm a nurse).  My work pens are therefore either sturdy, inexpensive, or both.  What they are not is in any way any hassle to replace.  Usually I have a Jinhao 51A XF clipped to the outside of my scrub top's collar for the narcotics logbook and random jotting, and either my very trusty emerald FPR Himalaya stub or (lately) a recently acquired Jinhao 82 for longer-form writing.

 

The only really "nice" pen I always have inked is my beloved aqua Pelikan M205 F, filled with Iro Ku-Jaku (a match made in heaven, btw), that is used for any billets-doux I might pen for my beloved wife, because they were her entirely inspired Christmas gifts to me. 

 

If I'm going to be writing a lot, and want something really nice, I might fill one of my older pens (Dad's Parker "51", a MontBlanc 72 F, Estie Copper SJ with a stubby 9460 nib) or other nicer pens (FPR Tanoshii Blue Dragon Art stub, Parker Duofold Centennial Pearl & Black F, Pelikan blue M200 F [my first Pen of a Lifetime, around/almost 30 years old] or blue M400 F or black M205 F [one of these days; it still has never been inked]).

 

One recent change in my preferences is that I find shiny black sections undesirable.  If there's ink on it, you won't notice just by looking.

[bsenn]

On 1/3/2024 at 12:57 PM, thisteensy said:

Update: I did get a couple of Parker51 vacs that I was able to restore. One is a humble black with weirdo SS cap with no feather or arrow? This cannot be the correct cap. It says Parker on it, but would have to be from a different, modern line.

 

If the cap fits properly it may be from a Parker VS. The VS cap has the same main body as the 51, but a different clip.

[thisteensy]

57 minutes ago, bsenn said:

 

If the cap fits properly it may be from a Parker VS. The VS cap has the same main body as the 51, but a different clip.

Oooooooohhhhh, yeah. This could even be a Parker VS, then? I had no idea (and neither did the seller, obviously). This is what it looks like.

[thisteensy]

8 hours ago, Arkanabar said:

My work environment can be pretty rough (I'm a nurse).  My work pens are therefore either sturdy, inexpensive, or both.  What they are not is in any way any hassle to replace.  Usually I have a Jinhao 51A XF clipped to the outside of my scrub top's collar for the narcotics logbook and random jotting, and either my very trusty emerald FPR Himalaya stub or (lately) a recently acquired Jinhao 82 for longer-form writing.

 

The only really "nice" pen I always have inked is my beloved aqua Pelikan M205 F, filled with Iro Ku-Jaku (a match made in heaven, btw), that is used for any billets-doux I might pen for my beloved wife, because they were her entirely inspired Christmas gifts to me. 

 

If I'm going to be writing a lot, and want something really nice, I might fill one of my older pens (Dad's Parker "51", a MontBlanc 72 F, Estie Copper SJ with a stubby 9460 nib) or other nicer pens (FPR Tanoshii Blue Dragon Art stub, Parker Duofold Centennial Pearl & Black F, Pelikan blue M200 F [my first Pen of a Lifetime, around/almost 30 years old] or blue M400 F or black M205 F [one of these days; it still has never been inked]).

 

One recent change in my preferences is that I find shiny black sections undesirable.  If there's ink on it, you won't notice just by looking.

I love everything about this story. It has you sneaking joy into your busy and challenging work day. It has romance. It has sentimentality. It has a lot of Pelikans (I only have one, but it is my favorite by leaps and bounds!). I feel you about black sections. It's not a deal breaker for me, but I no longer work in a profession where I have to touch people. When I was a physical therapist, I used Pilot V5s, but I still defended them with my life.

[Estycollector]

1 hour ago, thisteensy said:

Oooooooohhhhh, yeah. This could even be a Parker VS, then? I had no idea (and neither did the seller, obviously). This is what it looks like.

Reminds me of the cap shape on my Parker 21. 

[bsenn]

2 hours ago, Estycollector said:

Reminds me of the cap shape on my Parker 21. 

It is a 21 cap. The ridge clip caps did not have a clutch (at least mine do not). I would expect that cap to slide right off a 51 (the pen is a 51).