I went to my favorite local junk shop this morning and was doing some rummaging for anything that caught my eye. In the dustiest corner of the building, I found this old lock box. I picked up and it rattled when I shook it gently. I wondered what sort of treasures were within and curiosity got the best of me. I asked how much it was and was told $2. I bought it because I had to see what was in it. I got it home and busted the lock off with a screwdriver. Upon opening the lid, I saw that the rattle was caused by 8 pennies amidst the clutter of old receipts and telegrams. I was disappointed until I saw that in the very bottom of the worn metal box was a small velvet pouch. I opened the pouch to find the most wonderful surprise ever. It was a perfect specimen Parker "51" minus the cap jewel. It's nothing fancy, just a plain black barrel and stainless cap, but $2 and a bit of breaking into my own newly gotten stuff and I have another "51".

Long story short...
I love rummaging.

Edit to add pics.
Sorry, my camera has taken a mind of its own about color saturation and exposure time.
Click to view attachment
Click to view attachment

Wow lucky you! That's a great story

Sweet!!!!

Congratulations.

Can we have a photo?

Wow! So curiosity does indeed pay What do the telegrams say? What dates were they sent/received?

What are the chances that you, a pen lover, would be drawn to a locked box containing a nice pen?

Spooky or something else?

To be honest, I'm sort of like a ferret in a junk shop. I assume that everything is treasure and am often proven wrong.

As for the telegrams most look to be supply order confirmations. The print on most is faded beyond readability(I could only tell what they were from the Telex envelopes) . The rest are dated from the late twenties and early thirties. All were received by the (then) president of the local electric cooperative. I think that the legible ones will be taken to the county historical society for restoration as museum pieces.

As soon as I get home from the library, I plan on posting pics.

Why the heck would the owner not open the box? So strange!

But a totally cool story. I, too, would like to know about the details of the found paper.

No kiddin'. What if the rattle had been gold or silver? :/

His loss I suppose. It could have been that he had opened the box and didn't immediately see anything of value. Either way his loss, my gain.

Nice work!

I think there may be places where you can scavenge a new cap-jewel.

I have a neighbor who's a machinist. I'm going to see if he can turn one on his lathe at work for me. maybe out of some black celluloid or a piece of stainless.