New To Me P51 (Near) New Old Stock

[DuckMcF]

Hi Gang,

Just a quick note to rave on about the Parker 51 aerometric that I recently acquired, and to pose a question.

 

As you’ll see in the picture below its stunning and as close to NOS as I've been able to find. I've long wanted an English made, Navy Grey P51 with a broad nib as it's just like the one my father bought some time back in the 50's.

 

 

As a 10 year old in the mid 70's I found my father’s Parker 51 and tried to fix it for him. I'm not entirely sure what had happened to his pen up until that point, but my memory was that it wasn't filling properly and the nib was all over the place. With a 10 year's patience and skill level my repair went as could be expected and the pen disappeared into the mists of time.

 

Fast forward to last week and I've picked up the pen pictured above. I ran with the, "You've Got Your First Found In The Wild Parker 51 In Your Hand, Now What?", playbook and then inked it.

 

It was smooth as silk, but drier than it should be. After a few days of flushing and ultrasonic cleaning it wasn't getting any better and so it was time to look under the hood. I expected it to have some caked in Superchrome or P51 ink that needed to be sorted out. Amazingly, it was crystal clear, the only issue was that the feed & nib weren’t correctly aligned with the collector.

 

A quick check of “Da Book” indicated that the wide channel should be directly above the nib, but it was actually rotated about 70 degrees. I reassembled it, inked it; perfection!

 

I was originally looking for a P51 to use as a daily writer. My problem is that as this pen really is near new old stock, complete with chalk marks and a perfect period correct box, I’m really starting to think that I should preserve it rather than use it.

 

That said, pens are to be used, and a pen as glorious as this deserves to be written with every day.

 

So there it is. What would you do?

 

 

 

 

[Manalto]

Use it, enjoy it, reminisce. Take the best photos you can of the markings before they wear off. Store the pen safely, but don't use (put wear on) the original box. Try not to lose it. (Ha, ha)

[OcalaFlGuy]

Very nice and a nearly NOS Broad nib too. Wow.

 

I've watched several nearly news close recently in the 125-175 area. I thought they were still a decent deal compared to any new modern pen for the same money.

 

[EDIT] I might consider carry case only duty for it. For the cap. Minty fresh factory frosting is indeed becoming

rareR.

 

Bruce in Ocala, Fl

Edited April 24, 2015 by OcalaFlGuy

[DuckMcF]

Hi James.

That's great advice.

Thanks very much.

 

Cheers

Noel

 

Use it, enjoy it, reminisce. Take the best photos you can of the markings before they wear off. Store the pen safely, but don't use (put wear on) the original box. Try not to lose it. (Ha, ha)

 

[PAKMAN]

Congrats on a great find! I would use and enjoy it myself.

[DuckMcF]

Thanks Bruce.

 

I must admit that I thought I paid over the odds but at current exchange rates it translates to about US$115, so it turned out to be a bit of a bargin.

 

I have Lamy 2000, which is pretty close to a modern P51 equivalent, but I've never really come to terms with the L2k. I can't quite put my finger on it, but there's something about it that just doesn't gell with me.

 

With the Parker 51, as soon as I picked it up, it was like I was home and at US115, it's probably line ball with the L2k on price.

 

Anyway, excellent point about the cap. The frosting is just fantastic so I do need to keep it as good as I can for as long as I can.

 

Cheers

Noel

 

Very nice and a nearly NOS Broad nib too. Wow.

 

I've watched several nearly news close recently in the 125-175 area. I thought they were still a decent deal compared to any new modern pen for the same money.

 

[EDIT] I might consider carry case only duty for it. For the cap. Minty fresh factory frosting is indeed becoming

rareR.

 

Bruce in Ocala, Fl

 

[DuckMcF]

Thanks PAKMAN.

 

I think you're right. At some point in its life someone is going to use it and it might as well be me.

 

You know, it's really nice to use a P51 more or less as it came out of the factory as opposed to one that's had 50+ years of use. The nib is simply fantastic and gives great line variation. Looking at it closely under a loupe, it looks to me that, side-on the nib is spherical. In use, it's almost a stub like nib on Rhodia paper with fine to extra fine cross strokes and big old broad lines on the down stroke. Just lovely.

 

Once I set the collector correctly, I've had no skipping, no hard starting, no dripping and the perfect level of wetness.

 

There's no wonder that the P51 is a legend. I can't imagine what its reception must have been like in the 40's when Parker released it to the world. People must have been staggered by it. I know I am in 2015.

 

Cheers

Noel

 

Congrats on a great find! I would use and enjoy it myself.

[OcalaFlGuy]

 

I can't imagine what its reception must have been like in the 40's when Parker released it to the world. People must have been staggered by it. I know I am in 2015.

 

Cheers

Noel

 

 

Maybe about the same as people's reaction to Stereo music for the first time (in the movie Fantasia for example), which happened

at the same time.

 

Bruce in Ocala, Fl

[Manalto]

 

Maybe about the same as people's reaction to Stereo music for the first time (in the movie Fantasia for example), which happened

at the same time.

 

Bruce in Ocala, Fl

 

That's a great comparison, Bruce. One of my first memories as a child was going to my uncle's house. He showed us the latest thing - a stereophonic record player - in his living room. He put on a sound effects record (popular at the time) to demonstrate. I remember, as if it were yesterday, the thrill of hearing that train racing through his living room, its whistle wailing.

Edited April 24, 2015 by Manalto

[Frank C]

I'm glad that you decided to use it. My view is this: you can either use an item and enjoy it, or your heirs will inherit something in brand new condition, not know of its value to you, sell it in the estate sale, and someone else will get a deal on it and use it and enjoy it.

 

Alternatively, it may greatly appreciate in value, you are able to sell your unused item at a tremendous profit, and buy that island in the Caribbean you have always wanted.

 

I think that the former is much more likely to occur.

 

(Edited to remove repeated word.)

Edited April 25, 2015 by Frank C

[inkstainedruth]

Congratulations on your find, and your repair job. I have a few 51s, but nothing wider than what I think is either an M or an F/m nib.

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

[DuckMcF]

Thanks everyone for your kind words.

 

I'm still struggling with close up photos, but here are three more.

 

Cheers

Noel

 

[Manalto]

Great-looking pen, elegant color. Let's see some scribbles!

[mitto]

The broad nib 51 is fun to write with.

Edited April 25, 2015 by mitto

[Runnin_Ute]

That is a beautiful pen. Glad you decided to enjoy it.

[ink-syringe]

Look at that sucker! Epic nib. Huge score. Congrats.

[DuckMcF]

Great-looking pen, elegant color. Let's see some scribbles!

 

Hi James,

I really should've posted some earlier... whoops.....

 

Cheers

Noel

 

PS Apologies for my appalling handwriting.