6 replies to this topic

[mark andrew]

Hi everyone,

Mark here from Frankfurt, more a user than a collector at the moment, also developing an ink addiction.

I have a Parker 51 which I was given new as a schoolboy in the 70s and am horrified to hear it now described as a "vintage pen" - does that make me a vintage person? Turns out to be a lousy pen for messing around with different inks because it takes so long to flush the feed out. Still writes like a dream though.

I also have a "LeBoeuf" of which there are some pictures in my Gallery. I'll open a new thread about that though.

Looking forward to talking to you all
--
Mark

[david i]

Hi everyone,

Mark here from Frankfurt, more a user than a collector at the moment, also developing an ink addiction.

I have a Parker 51 which I was given new as a schoolboy in the 70s and am horrified to hear it now described as a "vintage pen" - does that make me a vintage person? Turns out to be a lousy pen for messing around with different inks because it takes so long to flush the feed out. Still writes like a dream though.

I also have a "LeBoeuf" of which there are some pictures in my Gallery. I'll open a new thread about that though.

Looking forward to talking to you all
--
Mark

Welcome

The running joke (or not a joke?)... the definition of a "vintage" pen: "Any pen that was around before I started using pens..."

regards

david

[Wahl]

Welcome to Board, Mark, I also enjoy my P 51´s.

Looking forward to see that LeBoeuf.

[Greg Minuskin]

Welcome Mark!

You will find the folks here on the FP Board really nice, and quite knowledgeable when it comes to the finer points of collecting, identifying, and valuation.

Don't be afraid to ask questions or have any fear any sort of retribution, or to be steered in the wrong direction; you will, for sure, get misguided suggestions and information on that "other" forum, but not here!

If there is something I can do for you nib wise, please let me know, I am at your service!

Greg Minuskin
greg@gregminuskin.com
www.gregminuskin.com

Edited by Greg Minuskin, 10 May 2013 - 10:31 PM.

[cedargirl]

Hi Mark. Welcome. I agree that aerometrics are a nuisance to clean.

[welch]

No, no... a vintage pen is any pen that is older than I am.

However, I lean toward thinking that "vintage" is any pen designed to be repaired by a specialist, in particular by someone in a pen company's service center. That puts vintage at about 1960, and convinces me that the Parker 45 was one of the first modern pens: all components meant to unscrew for replacement, cartridge/converter.

This would make your P51 Mark III a vintage pen, and a treasure if you have owned it from the beginning. It would make modern piston-fillers mostly non-vintage, because their companies make cartridge / converter pens...a little fuzzy, but life is fuzzy.

[mark andrew]

Thanks for all your comments everyone, I just found an entry in my diary from Christmas Day 1972, written using that 51 which I had just been given. So at least I have documentation I can trust.
Only problem is, the clip is broken and various searches and enquiries have turned up no replacement so far.
Any ideas?