I’ve been enthralled with this pen since I was a teenager. In college, I had a part-time job selling men’s clothes in an upscale shop on an upscale shopping street. Every day I would wander into this small vintage gift shop across the road and look at the 2 or 3 Parker 51s they had in the case. They seemed complete out of reach, price-wise, for a college kid.
Later in life I saw one that was just beautiful. I should have bought it for myself but I made a mistake and gave it to someone as a gift. I’ve regretted it for years. These pens are just marvels. Its part engineering and part history that make them so “I gotta have it” for me. From its early use of Lucite, to the Tonight, in chatting with one of my bestest pals, I was led to search on them and came across this fantastic website, VintagePens.Com
This site has a lovely collection of pens from all over the world, including a special edition Parker DuoFold I’m now just head-over-heels for.
I bought one of their Parker 51s. **UPDATE** The pen I bought was already sold. Oh well. I’m still looking, but someday I’ll get one.
I’m new to fountain pen writing, but that Parker 51 looks fantastic.
Very tempted by a couple of the offerings at that Vintage Pen site.
I feel your pain. I’ve had a hard-on for Vacumatics since I was a kid. I actually found a set at an antique auction that apparently no one else wanted. It’s pretty similar to this one http://www.vintagepens.com/morepics.asp?id=7451&pics=4 but with the addition of the pencil as well. I can’t say I’ve ever regretted purchasing it.
My dad made some display/packaging for Parker back in the 80’s (90’s?) and i’ve loved parker pens since. He had a whole bunch of demos and sample ones, and it was hard to not snag them for myself!
Pilot makes a disposable fountain pen called the ‘Varsity’; it’s only a few bucks and available at various office supply stores or on Amazon.
I read about Parker 51 pens and in general about older fountain pens some months back; I picked up the Varsity so that I could experiment with a fountain pen (admittedly lower-quality) and see what it was like before blowing a lot of money on a rare antique.
The bottom line?
- The fountain pen was interesting to write with. People would comment on it.
- It ran out of ink pretty quickly.
- Because ink came out more quickly, rougher paper tended to have some ink bleeding. Thin paper tended to show through to the other side.
- When I pulled it out of my pocket, I’d have to make sure I had it oriented the right way to the paper before writing. A very minor hassle, except that it’s repeated every time I ever wrote something.
I’m generally going to stick with the Uni-Ball Visions I usually buy; the Varsity pen wasn’t bad, but neither is the Vision. If I buy a pen, especially for a lot of money, I want to be able to use the heck out of it without having to fiddle.
I have to say. I am heartbroken I didn’t get the one I ordered last night. As soon as I have some time I am gonna prospect the net for one I like.
I went with the Lamy Safari as my starter fountain pen. I really like the fine point and I try to write with it as much as I can.
It’s all plastic, but it’s German so it’s well-done.
they’re all over ebay dude(s). I myself just got on the leadholder bandwagon after using ink for so long. I hate ballpoints and my gel pens are showing through/not drying fast enough for use in my moleskines. I picked up a couple of rotring300 2mm holders from Russia to start the obsession.
for all things leadholder: http://www.leadholder.com/
I understand your desires to own a Parker 51, I recently inherited my grandfathers 1954 Parker 51 Pen/Pencil set and it is one of my prized possessions. They are in no way comparable to the Lamys and certainly not the Varsity. When you get yours look into Noodler’s ink they have many colors and several that are highly secure.