Please help me identify this Vacumatic?

[tmenyc]

I know, I should know bettter, but this one defeats me. It's:

Canadian, 1944, clearly 3d generation. 5.4" long capped, 4.8" long uncapped, barrel girth .5" at its widest. Has two skinny cap rings.  Seems too long for a Major...

I thought that maybe it's a mongrel, but the azure matches perfectly. The nib is one of the Parker longer-tined ones, so measures longer. 

Any clarification will be appreciated!  

Tim

 

 

[joss]

5.4" long capped and barrel girth .5" are almost Maxima dimensions, but your pen is obviously not Maxima. I checked the essay on the Slender Maxima that DI wrote long time ago:

http://www.(bleep).com/SlenderMax/SlenderMaximadebate9999.htm

and I think that your pen is similar to the Canadian Blue Pearl Vac in the pen tray in picture 4 from the top. If you scroll down in the text, your pen is described as "The atypical, extra long  Canadian single-jewel  Parker Vacumatic JUNIOR". 

 

Text Edit: there is a (bleep) in the link that I included above but I guess that you know where the text is located, or you can search the www for "slender maxima debate".

[VacNut]

A Slender Maxima should have a 9-10 barb arrow on the nib. It also typically has a wider single cap band. A standard Vacumatic or major cap can screw onto a Slender Max barrel.

There looks to be a misalignment at the end cap. Is that a trick of the photo? Can you take a picture of the imprint?

[VacNut]

I forgot to mention, these are just my concept of a Slender Maxima. I don’t think Parker ever gave it a name. There are other ideas about what constitutes a SM. 

[tmenyc]

Wow...that article is really something else. His research is always enlightening, and it always makes me feel comfortable living my life in a certain amount of ignorance. The imprint is shown below. The nib appears to have 6 barbs. The end cap is not out of alignment; I need to tighten it down a tiny bit more. 

I guess what I have is a 1944 Azure Canadian Junior. It is clearly not the mythical Azure Slender Maxima, which I didn't even know existed before reading the article! 

Many thanks!

Tim

 

[joss]

2 hours ago, VacNut said:

A Slender Maxima should have a 9-10 barb arrow on the nib. It also typically has a wider single cap band. A standard Vacumatic or major cap can screw onto a Slender Max barrel.

 

Yes, the pen is definitely not a Slender Maxima. The Slender Maxima essay actually shows how to recognise a Slender Maxima and which models are not Slender Maximas, such as the OP's pen, which is briefly discussed and identified as a long version of the Canadian Junior.

[tmenyc]

thanks, Joss, much appreciated. 

Tim

[PAKMAN]

Beautiful!  Does it have any flex with those long tines?

[Beechwood]

My sympathies OP, despite having many Vacs over the years I still struggle with model identification, even with the help of the Binder guide, Tony's site and the David Shepherd book on the Vac.

 

I measure them up, identify that it should be a certain model by length or breadth but the cap is wrong, or the clip has a different design or too short or the cap band/s doesn't line up with the year and the model. And the Canadian made Vacs throw a whole new element into the mix, randomness!

 

Perhaps this does not matter so much until the pen is up for sale.

 

 

[tmenyc]

Pak -- yes it does have flex...not modern or Italian, but yes...

Beechwood -- thanks -- I've always said that a Vac is a XXX, to the best of my knowledge. Easier this time, I will lean on, and credit, the good doctor/author, and describe what in fact I have. It's a site condition, just there, part of the magic, right?

Tim