22 replies to this topic

[NABodie]

Just when you get around to it.

[John Jenkins]

David,
My sightings of Crystals is too small for anything but the most casual observations. A few questions:

Which Crystal are more plentiful - Vac Filler or Vacumatic? (seems I've seen more VF than Vac)

I've seen some Crystals that are yellow and others that are red. Are we convinced that these are all the same plastic but in different stages of staining or perhaps are there two different colors?

Finally, I've only seen one Crystal with a clear section and filler end (a Vac Filler). I assume these are less common. Do they also exist in Vacumatic?

Here's the full Crystal along with the more commonly seen black section and filler end (both Vac Fillers; the crazed section is sooooo sad!)

John

[david i]

David,
My sightings of Crystals is too small for anything but the most casual observations. A few questions:

Which Crystal are more plentiful - Vac Filler or Vacumatic? (seems I've seen more VF than Vac)

I've seen some Crystals that are yellow and others that are red. Are we convinced that these are all the same plastic but in different stages of staining or perhaps are there two different colors?

Finally, I've only seen one Crystal with a clear section and filler end (a Vac Filler). I assume these are less common. Do they also exist in Vacumatic?

Here's the full Crystal along with the more commonly seen black section and filler end (both Vac Fillers; the crazed section is sooooo sad!)

John

Hi John,

First, for those new to this subject, Parker Vacumatic pen family had different names at first. Very briefly stamped Parker Golden Arrow and then Parker Vacuum Filler, we now discuss the clear-barrel Crystal pattern (A Junior line pen with all-clear barrel) that is known to have Vacuum-Filler and Vacumatic imprints. The pen was early product, which last appeared in the 1934 Vacumatic catalogue. Parker literature about Vacuum-Filler is quite limited.

All we have for prevalence of this pen as VF or as Vacumatic, proper (or even as DEMO with either imprint) are anecdotal experiences, obviously.

There is argument that Vacuum Filler ran from perhaps very late 1932 through June/July 1933 though other arguments can make the run as late as fall 1933. Crystal VACUMATIC is shown in an undated Vacuum-Filler catalogue page, appears in the Dec 1933 Parkergram as Vacumatic (this P-gram a relatively late discovery for our hobby) and appears in the 1934 Vacumatic catalogue.

I've probably seen, handled, or owned fewer than a couple dozen Crystals with either imprint, and obviously memories fade. I cannot say with strength, which imprint dominates. Gut feeling is Crystal Vacumatic should be bit more common than Crystal Vacuum Filler, as presumably (eep!) sales ramped up after initial roll out as awareness of the pens grew. Who knows?

My belief- subject to modification by new information- is that all these started out same color, probably truly clear, with perhaps even the slightest yellow tint being acquired.

The clear-section pen raises an interesting twist, and has not been addressed in detail before, I believe.

All the pens I've handled appear to have black sections, save for one Canadian Demonstrator (Crystal pen but with Demo markings). Vacuum-Filler Crystal pens have one-piece barrel-sections, and the assumption has been that black stock was solvent welded to clear stock before final thread cutting. I would need to peek at Vacumatic Crystal to see if any are 2-piece arrangements. Most early Vacs were one-piece of course. It would seem easier to have kept the section clear, though the crazing on yours raises chance that high stress area exposed to tight rubber feed rendered clear plastic more at risk for that. Of course, this assumes Parker knew enough about 80 year effects on celluloid

I suppose, following the Pelikan 100-N pattern, it is possible, and never explored, that all sections are clear and that no "welding of two stocks" was done before putting threads on pen, and that all the "black" sections seen on these have been painted (internally or externally), but that's a dangerous path to follow

And of course, far scarce than Crystal Vacuum Filler, Crystal Vacumatic, Demo Vacuum Filler and Demo Vacumatic, is the Vacumatic Standard Crystal. For years, with the first of these I found, fellow collectors claimed, "parts swap with Junior Crystal Barrel, Standard cap etc", even though the barrel was Standard length and the (swappable) nib two tone. Then we found the literature, about 5 years ago.

regards

David


=d