Ahhh... super rare.

What's it mean? How often abused. Any pen seen 1/3 as often as other similar pens gets the label?

And, does "rare" matter? Is rarity the same as cachet, desirability... significance???

For pen series overall not so scarce and produced in nearly zeelions of variants- counting size, trim, color, etc- does a wee new anomaly even matter?

All good questions (Hey, if i cannot praise my own questions, who will?)

So, at Raleigh, i pulled this Vacumatic from table-mate Paul Erano's pile. The pen is... correct... lest anyone wonder about Frankenpen.

Happy happy David, as some might say.

This 5" long "standard size" mid 1940's Vac is way scarce. When what constitutes a "variant" is considered, well, this is maybe the 2nd of these i've ever seen, though i note that color is big part of the scarcity. Black, Gray, Brown? I've handled a bunch.

Still... I've handled 5 Aztecs. I own 20 Vac-Band Vacumatics (albeit spread amongst bunch of colors). I have handled probably 20 Golden Arrows and have owned perhaps 10. But, when all is said and done, this is the only 2nd of these i've seen.

Problem- such as it is- is that few people on earth care. (sob, gnash, etc). It is true vacsoterica, exotica carried to an extreme. It is a subtle critter, this Vac is. Rarity is not the same as cachet, it seems.

Yet, for those of us who assiduously pursue those anomalous Vacs... this is a golden (well... emerald, really) find.

So, here is the pic of my extremely rare recent addition to my Vac collection.

regards
david

Hmmmm, gonna have to study this one for a while.

Okaaay, I'm dumb. What's so special about this one? Is it the triple cap band?

I think that what throws us for "rare" or not rare to others is what collectors specific to a major depth of collecting consider rare in our circles. I bet someone that has a few aztecs, would consider them not so common, if they would compare it to a acid etched pattern early parker that they did not have, or even certain chilton colors, others may consider rare. I would have to say that relating this vac to how david collects vacs, would be much similar to how I would view specific wingflow inlay patterns.

I think I had one of these in silver, a bunch a years back, and didn't think too much of it, but a serious vac collector thought more of it than I did.

cool pen.

I'll take a stab:

Triple-band (indicating high-line pen) with no Blue Diamond?

1st Q. 1945 date code (if I am reading that right - though nib code looks like a '46 - Parker was mostly making bomb fuses or some such in early 1945)?

That's all I can guess.

John

Hi,

Just spent 5 minutes looking at the picture, reading the posts and haven't got a clue what you lot are talking about. I have maybe 10 Vacs, in assorted colours, sizes, a couple of DJs, some with triple bands others not. So what is so rare about this one it looks pretty ordinary to my uneducated eyes.

In fact the sort of Vac I might pick up just thinking 'another nice Vac for the small but growing collection'.

Andy

I'm with you Andy,what the heck is so special here ?
Or maybe it is yet another one of Dr I famous jokes ?

big nib (#6?) plus the color seems to have certain odd pattern

No joke this time. Will discuss a bit more a bit later when have time to post a note.

regards
d

OK. The nuances that make this a rare Vacumatic

We will build up to it with some background.

The only catalogue-illustrated triple-band standard size (5-5.125" by 0.5") Vacs are the first generation Vacumatic Standard, and the briefly-made predecessor Vacuum-Filler Senior.

1st Gen pen: Vacumatic Standard: 1933-1938




With onset of the 2nd Generation of Vacs, the high-line standard size niche was filled by the Major, not a triple band pen.

2nd Gen pen: Vacumatic Major (relatively early form of this tricky model) 1937



By late 1939, through early 1942 (the start of 3rd Generation), Major began to appear in the slightly longer rod-stock previously reserved for Slender Maxima. I labelled these "Long" Majors to differentiate them from prior and later pens. This is same model same price sticker as the pen just seen, in slightly later trim and- if you look closely- in slightly longer stock both cap and barrel.

2nd Gen Pen: Vacumatic Major 1938-1941: "long" variant.


The long rod stock for Major persisted into start of 3rd generation, so early 3rd Gen single jewel Majors (early-mid 1942) are Long Majors too. Here is a correct early 3rd gen Long Major

3rd Gen "Long" major 1942



By late 1942-1943 Major returned to its 1937-8-ish Short rod stock and would so continue through end of USA production in 1948

3rd Gen "usual" Major 1943-1948


Both 2nd Generation and 3rd Generation Vacumatic Junior (a non-lifetime standard size pen) were done in the typical "short" rodstock, even when Major was going "long". Junior is best known by its double cap-band. As follows:

2nd Gen striped Junior 1939-1941



3rd Gen striped Junior 1942-1948



Confused yet?

OK. Let's return to triple cap-bands. As noted, the only catalogued standard-size triple cap-band pens were the 1st Gen Standard (and its nearly identical if differently named predecessor, Vacuum-Filler Senior)

1st Gen Standard



But, around late 1938-1941 Parker- using the same "long" rod stock that was original to Slender Maxima and had been later used for "Long" Major- produced a 2nd Gen Pen with triple cap-band that essentially was a streamlined Standard, much as the entire 2nd Generation of Vacs were more streamlined than first Gen pens. We've labelled this uncatalogued pen- not surprisingly- Streamline(d) Standard. It was a gray-zone model, featuring clip evolution like an economy-line Vac, but having initially the two tone nib, striped section and striped jewels of a high line Vac. Charming model available in five colors and three clip styles for at least 15 pens.

2nd Gen off-catalogue Streamline(d) Standard



Again, compare it to the Long Major. Same rodstock




Far less common than the 1938-1941 "long" rodstock Streamline(d) Standard are some occaionally seen 3rd generation "short" rodstock pens with triple cap-band. We are coming home now.

Take either the shorter 3rd gen Major (blue diamond) shown below, or the Junior (non-blue diamond) shown below and imagine with triple cap-bands and non-BD clip, producing a 3rd gen "short" Streamlined Standard

Major:


Junior:



With triple Bands... Streamlined Standard 3rd Gen: I don't have the "catalogue" style shot for one of these just yet, but here is the original pic (same size pen as the above two) in green. This is not the well known (if uncatalogued) 2nd Gen cap frankenpenned onto a later barrel. The cap has both short rod-stock dimension and the olive-green color of the later green Vacs (vs more bluish-green of pre-1943 pens). The short 3rd Gen pens with this band are far less common than the already uncommon 2nd Gen pen shown above, in red.



OK. So... issues of scarcity???


Here's the deal. These late "short" Streamline(d) Standard vacs appear usually with 1945-7 date codes, iirc. This does not disprove continuous production from 1941-2, but might represent small sampling available. Of course it is possible Parker returned to this cap-band after a gap. We don't have info regarding this.

And, Whilst I have handled probably 20 pens of this sort over the years, they almost all are Black or SIlver Pearl. I might have a brown lying about (need to check). I have seen one cap previously in green and now this pen. So... having photographed 6000 vintage pens over the years and thus having had chance to handle truly the pens of great rarity and cachet, owning- idunno- many hundreds of Vacs now not to mention the hundreds sold, this is maybe the 2nd green, uncatalogued short Streamline(d) Standard I've ever seen.

No doubt others are out there buried in collections, underappreciated for their scarcity. Such is the charm of Vacumatic collecting.

The scarcity of green in this trim also points to a pet issue in my Vac collecting... the underrepresentation of Green amongst off-catalogue cap-band styles. That is a chat for another day.

As per my original post, the question of "who cares" is fair, but those of us- the few, the proud, the crazy- who live to map out the oddities of Vacdom- like this stuff.

regards

david

While it's not something I personally care about, I do love that someone has a soft spot for underappreciated colors. Also, the work you've been doing in cataloging rare variants is useful -- I just don't have the patience (or photography skills) for it.

funny, I can appreciate the rarity of the find of a pen like this, as esoteric (or vacsoteric) as it may be. You got to love the weird stuff, when it comes up.

I guess if I was absorbed in vacumatics, I would be drooling, right now!

My curious question, is this one on the list of variants in all that is vacumatic? I think you spoke of a list some times in the past of 380+ vaireties, or something similar, now I wonder how much this number has grown over the last several years....

nice find Doc....

Nice bit of history David and some more nice pics to save. Eventually I will probably work out what you are talking about, just wandering upstairs to collect my small selection and start comparing/measuring them.

Sure is a lot to this pen collecting game, with all the subtleties that people like me aren't even aware of. I still tend to buy Vacs because they look nice (and when working write pretty well) my personal favourite is a Burgundy DJ with a lockdown filler and an OM nib I bought from eckiethump on ebay for what I thought was a pretty good price (rather less than I expected to pay, but that's the beauty of ebay I suppose).

Andy

Fascinating stuff, nicely laid out. Thanks for taking the time to put this information down and passing it along.

--Daniel

You feeling ok?

d

Okaaay. David, please, could you simplify the explanation to the very basics for the really dumb?

Splendid. Credit where credit's due, always.

--Daniel

One of the things I love most about this forum is the chance to learn more and more about this wonderful hobby.
Thank you for sharing this with us David,its always a please reading your posts.

So I wonder if the buying public knew or cared about these differences. Did Parker use them as selling points with different prices? Or were all these subtle differences just a matter of happenstance and convience? Were pens going out of style so quickly that Parker came out with different ones to "keep current"?

No formal list. Just my ballpark adding up various variants. There are vacs out there not shown on any website, article or text, IMO. Me? I need to get moving with the "project". Problem is it looks to be about 400 pages now. All... about collecting the darn things.

d

Confessions of a Vac Hunter?

Okaaay then. The realllly short form.

By mid 1940's Vacumatic (3rd generation so single jewel) came in standard-ish size (5 to 5 1/8" by 1/2" at the cap) in two well know trim levels:

1) Major: Blue diamond clip and wide band //\\\///\\\///

2) Junior: Non-Blue Diamond clip and thin double ring band.

A triple-cap-band form "should not" exist. It is an apparent throwback to earlier era, but cannot be made by mixing an earlier cap onto later barrel. It is not a mix. It is an anomaly.

I have seen (gone to nearly 80 pen shows, i think. Hit ebay every day), maybe 20 of this sort of pen, but only 1 or 2 EVER in green.

That's the summary.

d

Let me try....

a vac with this late of a date code, non blue diamond clip, and in this size, should not exist, but does, and is found on a super infrequent basis, especially in green.

is that right??

Close.
The size exists- perhaps the most common size from the era. It is the triple band that is a wee bit odd.

d

I know it's irrelevant really, but how does the pen write?

To be honest it, looks very ordinary compared to some of the other vacs you've shown & if the nib's nothing much - Oh dear!

Regards

Richard.

Ah, thank you I got a little bit lost in your full version of explanation

So, I was almost right about the triple cap band

Does it matter?

I refer you to the Vacumania Essay: COLLECTOR VS. USER

Though, if/once restored, it will write quite well, as most Vacs do.

regards
david

A pertinent groups of issues/questions- applicable in numerous instances in vintage pendom- for which answers generally lack, though for which speculation abounds.

For such anomalies as this, "parts blow-out", possible factory repairs, small batches for niche markets or particular stores/chains... all have been invoked, with mixed reasonableness.

regards
david

I like the "Let's see if we can sneak one past the inspector" or "Ooops, ran out of fancy bands! Use the skinny ones but add a third one!"

Actually, the "getting lost in the explanation" is one of the challenges to presenting these oddities and their associated context. The buildup to "what is usual" before showing the unusual, can be overwhelming. This i wrestle with as i organize this stuff.

d

Whenever I see "rarities"(to us pen collectors in this time period)like this,it always makes me think that to folks back in the
1940's(or whatever the time period)nuances like these didn't really mean a whole heapin' lot to folks that were just eking out
a living--they might have bought something cheaper just to have a fountain pen to write with.

John

Thank you Dr. for sharing these excellent photos and details.... it should help newbies like me....

many thanks for this piece. this is what i really go to FPN for, beyond the sense of community--truly expert information about things only we wacky few may care about (but if we won't, then who else will?)

Gosh. I should have gone to med school rather than law.

Nicely done, Dr. I. Always enjoy these dissertation-style posts.

For those of you who haven't read it yet, Dr. Isaacson has one of the best posts I've ever read about cataloging the Sheaffer's Balance (which if you can believe it, is magnitudes more difficult than Vacumatics). You can find that post here.