Vintage Fountain Pen

Parker Vacumatics

By Myrna Lehrer | Published January 26, 2015

The Parker Vacumatic are some of the most beautiful vintage pens because of their wonderful laminated and striated caps and barrels. They were launched in 1932 and were so popular they soon outsold their predecessor, the Duofold. The name changed twice: from “Golden Arrow” to “Vacuum-Filler” and finally to “Vacumatic.” The pen (not surprisingly) features a vacuum-filling system that took five years to be perfected, at no small cost of $125,000 (in 1930′ dollars!).  The filling mechanism was so popular …

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Waterman Coin-Filler

By Myrna Lehrer | Published January 24, 2015

Waterman has produced several filling mechanisms in addition to the lever-fillers and eyedroppers; for example, there was also the “coin filler.” The coin filler operates with a prop: Waterman provided a special “coin” to use with these pens. In the side of the barrel is an open rectangular shaped slot under which is a press bar.  Once depressed by the special coin (or of course anything else the user might decide to use), the bladder was evacuated …

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Dummy Pens

By Myrna Lehrer | Published January 21, 2015

In addition to demonstrators/Ink-Vue fountain pens for showing customers how the inside of a fountain pen worked, Waterman also made Dummy Pens. They look like a regular Waterman at first glance, but they were not functional pens – they were just “dummies” for display. Since the pens often sat in display cases in shop windows, they were painted black to minimize fading from sunlight exposure. A hard rubber pen sitting in sunlight and heat for …

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Waterman #7 Pink Nib

By Myrna Lehrer | Published January 19, 2015

Pen #20 is a 1921 Waterman in a beautiful Red Ripple. It’s a #7 lever-filler with a “Pink” color-coded nib and matching band at the top of the cap. Waterman produced 10 nib “colors” for the #7 pen: red, green, purple, pink, blue, yellow, brown, grey, black, and white (an example of the “white” has yet to be found). Each “color” corresponded to the style of the nib.  The “Pink” is usually “fine/triple-flexible” with the highest flexibility of …

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Postal Reservoir Pen

By Gary Lehrer | Published January 17, 2015

The Postal Reservoir Pen could only be bought through mail order – there were no retail stores that carried it. The intent was to offer an affordable pen which performs as well as any higher priced pen. You could acquire the pen through the mail (the “Post”) and, with not needing to pay for thirty days, had plenty of time to try it out. Apparently the pen in the ad below was $2.50 and was advertised to be comparable to pens of $7 or $8.75. …

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Waterman Lady Patricia Sheraton

By Myrna Lehrer | Published January 12, 2015

Here is a 1929 Lady Patricia LF set in gold-filled, in the very rare Sheraton/pinstriped pattern. For those of you that enjoy flexible nibs, this one could be for you. It has a fine flex nib, is new-old-stock, and is mint in the original box. Along with the Sheraton finish, there were many others: the cable twist, Gothic, Basket Weave, BayLeaf, Smooth, in addition to Nacre, Persian, Onyx, Turquoise, Moss Agate, Jade, Grey Lace DeLuxe, …

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On Point – The Parker Duofold

By Gary Lehrer | Published January 10, 2015

The Parker Duofold is “unecessarily good.” Parker was so certain of their Duofolds that they advertised, “Not one can fail, or we’ll make it good free!”  The nibs were advertised as “ultra-smooth, which relieves writing pressure,” and it “won’t hard start.” In addition, the barrels were improved, no longer made of rubber, but now non-breakable “Permanite.” Combined with an oversize ink capacity and beautiful colors, it is a tempting pen. Check out our Catalog #73 – …

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Putting Waterman Inks in Vintage Pens

By Myrna Lehrer | Published January 7, 2015

One of my preferred inks, particularly for use in vintage fountain pens, is Waterman ink. Vintage pens require care and maintenance, which includes regular flushing. Since vintage pen mechanisms can sometimes be complicated, depending on the filling system, and not easy (or recommended) to disassemble, ink that flushes easily from the pen is preferable. Waterman inks behave well; they have good flow, wash out easily, are relatively non-staining, and are non-pigmented. In other words: they are safe for your fountain …

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Gift Certificates

By Myrna Lehrer | Published January 5, 2015

Did you know we also offer gift certificates? If you can’t figure out what that special someone in your life might like from our Catalogs, provide them with a gift certificate! Perfect for birthdays, anniversaries, special occasions, and just about anything else. Available in any dollar amount, just indicate the dollar amount and recipient’s name in the “Comments” section of your purchase.

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What is Conklin’s Self-Filling Fountain Pen?

By Gary Lehrer | Published January 3, 2015

In a recent post, we shared an ad about the Conklin Self-Filling fountain pen. It was a celebrity endorsed ad, in a somewhat comical way, where Mrs. Grover Cleveland suggests that self-filler pens would have greater sales if the filling mechanism was better known. The logic made sense  — the Self-Filler is a lot easier to use and carry with you than an eyedropper-fill pen. How did the Conklin Self-Filling fountain pen actually work? Pretty simply, and Conklin emphasized in …

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