Valentine

April 7, 2008

This post perhaps skews the subject slightly away from the straight and narrow, but since my question relates to Valentine pens, I'm going to post anyway! I have an old (pre war) Valentine pen, originally belonging to my grandfather. It works well (thanks to service/reconditioning by MK Pens). It's a button filler. The blind cap has 03 on it, and the pen body is marked as "Made in England by the Valentine Pen Company". Can anyone give me any more information, e.g. date of manufacture, materials etc? Apologies for the photos: I'm not yet competent at close up work, but hopefully they're good enough to give a reasonable idea of the pen.

You're making me sad- an 04 in this material just closed on eBay and I forgot to bid on it.

This material also appears on Parker Televisor pens and I have one or two Parker Victory pens with that material. I think the date range for the Televisor is roughly 1935-1939 (sorry- at work- no reference materials here).

I've haven't seen Valentines referred to with model names, only model numbers on either the blind cap (button fillers) or end of the barrel (lever fillers). There isn't always a number.

04 is the same size as a regular Parker Victory or a Duofold Special (sorry- nothing here at the moment to measure), 02 is a thinner model without a comparable Parker size. There is an 06 that is thicker- don't have one, but I want one.

Got any measurements you can throw my way? I'll pull the old collection when I get home and have a look. I might have an 03 (can't remember ATM).

The first picture below shows an 02 in with some 04s, an English Duofold Special, and a Mentmore of suspiciously similar material and hardware. The shorter pen in the second picture might be an 03 (I don't remember what's on the blind cap).

Andy

http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a383/ttobbaa/parker/valentine/valbox00202.jpg

http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a383/ttobbaa/parker/valentine/valbox00402.jpg

Andy

Edited April 7, 2008 by Andy

April 7, 2008

skybird: I am truly sorry that you were upset by andy's replies, but I think his (initial) posts was entirely good-natured, and also extremely appropriate and helpful. If you think about what you are really upset about, it is the idea of your pen not being what you thought it was. But Andy did not cause this; he merely pointed it out -- which was useful to all on this network interested in these types of pens.

I actually think that on FPN, too much information that should be posted publicly, is exchanged via pm, because people are afraid to say things against particular pens, nibmeisters, dealers, etc., that are considered here to be beyond reproach. As friendly as this forum is, its purpose from what I understand is predominantly to exchange FP information, and not provide a feel-good-for-all regardless of reality. If I posted a happy message with erroneous assumptions or information in it, I would appreciate it if someone corrected me.

Your pen really is quite beautiful and historically unique, in some ways more so than if it were a Valentine.

Best wishes,
QM2

Thanks for that. I have been collecting Valentines, Victories and Duos from the era of late thirties to mid forties. I have a range of those pictured in this thread, plus all the marbles a couple of herringbones and twirls, but no lizard - but no lizard. That's why I got this one even if its not the streamline that all the others are. I have posted a pic of about half of them elsewhere on the network.

Just didn't expect a bucket of water to be splashed.

April 8, 2008

This post perhaps skews the subject slightly away from the straight and narrow, but since my question relates to Valentine pens, I'm going to post anyway! I have an old (pre war) Valentine pen, originally belonging to my grandfather. It works well (thanks to service/reconditioning by MK Pens). It's a button filler. The blind cap has 03 on it, and the pen body is marked as "Made in England by the Valentine Pen Company". Can anyone give me any more information, e.g. date of manufacture, materials etc? Apologies for the photos: I'm not yet competent at close up work, but hopefully they're good enough to give a reasonable idea of the pen.

You're making me sad- an 04 in this material just closed on eBay and I forgot to bid on it.

This material also appears on Parker Televisor pens and I have one or two Parker Victory pens with that material. I think the date range for the Televisor is roughly 1935-1939 (sorry- at work- no reference materials here).

I've haven't seen Valentines referred to with model names, only model numbers on either the blind cap (button fillers) or end of the barrel (lever fillers). There isn't always a number.

04 is the same size as a regular Parker Victory or a Duofold Special (sorry- nothing here at the moment to measure), 02 is a thinner model without a comparable Parker size. There is an 06 that is thicker- don't have one, but I want one.

Got any measurements you can throw my way? I'll pull the old collection when I get home and have a look. I might have an 03 (can't remember ATM).

The first picture below shows an 02 in with some 04s, an English Duofold Special, and a Mentmore of suspiciously similar material and hardware. The shorter pen in the second picture might be an 03 (I don't remember what's on the blind cap).

Andy

<center><img src="http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a383/ttobbaa/parker/valentine/valbox00202.jpg">
<img src="http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a383/ttobbaa/parker/valentine/valbox00402.jpg"></center>

Andy

The pen is around 13.5 cm long unposted, 15.5 cm long posted. Am I right in thinking it's celluloid? I guess from your reply that it would have been made sometime in the 1935 to 1939 period: from what I'm aware of from family history, I suspect it would be towards the earlier part of that period. It's a fairly fine point, and also a nice smooth writer. It's certainly thinner that the Victory Mk4 I have (same family source!), and around a cm shorter than a P51 vac. Is the decoration the "herringbone" pattern? I've seen photos of Parker pens made in Newhaven with what appear to be identical clips, and similar shapes/patterns. When did Parker take over the Valentine plant, and did they initially just carry on producing the Valentine pens under the Parker brand? I have the vague notion that the plant produced P51s, and "English" Duofolds, but I'm not at all sure what else they made. Is the plant still in operation making pens?

Sorry, questions, questions, but I've been able to find very little about Valentine by Googling it.

February 14, 2012

Here's a cheer for the fact this was left unmoderated. I just acquired a valentine pen, and I've been searching FPN to learn more about it (and figure out what would be the correct clip for it).

Posts of these nature are critically valuable as reference to our hobby. Thank you Andy for posing it publicly and NOT going back channel where it would be lost to all of us.

February 14, 2012

AMEN!

FWIW, and I don't know Andy but I didn't get the impression he was trying to harsh anyone's buzz about their new pen and it's unfortunate it came across that way to a few.

I learned alot from it and I'm glad it was brought back up.

Thanks!

Bruce in Ocala, FL

February 15, 2012

AMEN!

FWIW, and I don't know Andy but I didn't get the impression he was trying to harsh anyone's buzz about their new pen and it's unfortunate it came across that way to a few.

I learned alot from it and I'm glad it was brought back up.

Thanks!

Bruce in Ocala, FL

I would agree on three counts:

1. it's informative

2. Andy was spot on, the original pen is not a Valentine, it is certainly a Summit.

3. I would love to get my hands on it (in exchange for a Valentine if need be!).... where is it now?