Hi all,

Does anyone know of a good website or method for determining the date of a Parker "Big Red"? Currently all I know that they are big and red (well sorta' orange). Thank you in advance.

Best,
Rich

Duofolds do get tricky, especially when you throw in ladies, juniors, deluxe etc...

Start with this site:

http://www.penhero.com/PenGallery/Parker/P...foldFlattop.htm

Good Luck.

philm

Another good site is Tony Fishers Parker.net. Try this page:

Duofolds

John

philm and John, thank you! Those are both very informative sites and have given me more than enough information.

Best,
Rich

Rich,

You are welcome. Please post a picture of your Big Red when you get a chance. Some of my favorite pens are old Duofolds. The variants of production over a short time period have always intrigued me. This is often complicated by parts changes after repair, which makes the variations multiply.



philm

Some time ago I found this article on Duofolds. It is in Portuguese, but I think it is easy to get the general idea. It also contains references. Hope it helps.

Alejandro

Alejandro,

I have not seen this before.. Thank you so much. Just made its way to my desktop.

philm

I wish I could help you on this, BUT
My Sheaffers wont let me date a Parker

Thanks OldGriz, I knew I had to be coming. But if your Sheaffers ever change their mind . . .

Philm, here is my Big Red:





And here are my biggest and smallest pens together:



The imprint is fairly worn away, but reads: "Geo.S.Parker Parker Duofold Made In U.S.A.". The nib reads "Parker Duofold Pen P". It doesn's say "Lucky Curve" anywhere on it.

All I can tell is that this is a later version -- after 1928 when the cap band split and as late as 1931 according to the imprint dating in acfrery's portugese document. It seems to be in good shape to my limited experience and writes very well. Compared to my other vintage pens, this has a much stiffer nib, yet smooth, which I enjoy switching to from time-to-time. Also despite its size, it has proven to be very comfortable for extended writing. Currently I have Private Reserve Orange Crush loaded in it, but it's a little too close to the color of the pen and for some reason bothers me; almost like the pen is bleeding when I write with it.

Thanks again for your help!

Best,
Rich

Thanks Rich -

Great picture and nice example of a great vintage pen and a solid current one.

My guess would be 1928 on the Duofold.

Here is a pic of an earlier Red Hard Rubber on with a 1926ish Junior and later Lady



not quite the quality of your photo (or pen) but rescued from messy starts.

Thank you for sharing Philm (and for the compliments too)! It's nice to see the various models in relation to one another -- clearly I have some hunting to do.

I'm always surprised to see how the color of these pens changes in every picture and lighting. They really did make a statement with this color.

Best,
Rich

It reminds me of a bigger MontBlanc Hemingway
http://www.fountainpenhospital.com/images/...s/hemingway.jpg

When Parker switched over to 'Permrite'?, basically plastic, was it really more durable than hard rubber?

And do all pens before the switch to plastic contain the lucky curve imprint? Or was it only the very very early pens that had those (before they came out with the JR and Lady)?

EDIT: by the way, can any of you refer me someone who can do a top notch job in restoring these pens?

Sonnenblume,

I've never handled a hard rubber version, so I don't have a basis for comparison, but my Permanite one seems to be in very good shape for its age. In the histories people cited to earlier, I recall reading about Parker dropping them out of plains, off buildings and apparantly into the Grand Canyon in order to demosntrate their durability.

Fortunately my pen came in good working order so I haven't looked into any repairers that specialize or regularly work on Big Reds. Hopefully someone has a recommendation.

Best,
Rich

hi,

i can reccommend, no particular order, ron zorn at mainstreetpens.com
richard binder at richardspens.com and deb kinney--you can google her and get her web site. i have used all three and have been satisfied with the repairs they have made.

regards, rebecca

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