My grandfather's Parker 51

[Nimrud]

When my mother found out about my fountain pen hobby a few weeks back, she mentioned she had some old fountain pens lying around somewhere and asked me whether I wanted them. I said sure.

 

Today, mum gave me an old gilded tin with a bunch of old pens in it. The first one I picked up was a Parker 51, a gift to my grandfather apparently, which had been handed down to my dad. It was dusty from being left there for decades and my first thought was maybe I would have to take it to a pen repairer to get it working. I decided to clean it up a bit, and it looked like the ink sac still worked.

 

Hmmm... I thought, why not just fill it up and try it. I had a bottle of Quink black lying around which I don't use much. Quite an appropriate ink for a 51, so I filled it up. Lo and behold! It wrote! It made a nice fine line, not too wet and not dry either. The nib was smooth, though not buttery smooth. The pen felt comfortable posted and unposted. Wonderful! What an unexpected find. A pen from my grandfather, whom I have never met.

 

I am having a great pen week.

Edited July 9, 2006 by Nimrud

[DavidM1]

Great to hear this. Isn't it amazing how durable the aero 51s are? Enjoy it.

 

David

 

PS what colour is it?

[Nimrud]

Thanks. The barrel is a dark teal green, with a gold plated cap.

[JimStrutton]

Very nice

 

And with a family history too,

 

Enjoy using the "51"

 

Jim

[FLZapped]

Wow, neat story. In my case, I received my grandfather's Parker 21 pen and pencil set directly. Still has the original sac and it has to be at least 50 years old now.

 

-Bruce

[maia]

Nice. Here it was a Parker 75 given to my grandfather who has given it to my mother (never inked/dipped) and I use it

[RonB]

What a wonderful heirloom to have. My uncle scooped up my grandfather's Parker Duofold. He left me the desk base, for some reason. I hope to reunite them at some point.

 

I have been told by my father that he found some old family fountain pens and he's promised to give them to me. I can't wait to see what they are.

 

Ron

[Nimrud]

I thought I will include some pictures of the pen.

[Nimrud]

Here's one of the box I found it in.

[rosey]

What a nice piece of your family history to always cherish. You have a beautiful Parker 51, hold on to it!

[krz]

It's pretty special to get a pen that was your Grandfather's. Getting A Parker 51 that was your Grandfather's is cosmic! Enjoy.

Edited July 10, 2006 by krz

[Onion]

Man I would give all the other pens I own for a pen that belonged to my Grandfather.

That's a great find.

[Nimrud]

Yeah, I know I'm blessed by this gift. I'll hang on to this, until it's time to pass it on.

[kissing]

I guess its totally fitting for such a treasure to come in its own Treasure Box

 

Great Find!! My father told me that he might have some of his old fountain pens lying around back home overseas. Can't wait to dig them up and see what they are He looked at the Hero 100s and Parker 51s and said they looked very familiar to him *fingers crossed*

[JimStrutton]

That Quink is a bit of a vintage item itself, Parker stopped making the Solv-X stuff about 12 years ago, but it should help clean that "51" out a bit.

 

Now you have got it going, give it a good flushing and it will behave even better

 

Amazing how robust the "51" Aero is.

 

Jim

[Nimrud]

It certainly amazed me. It wrote better "out of the box" than some of my more expensive pens.

[southpaw]

Congrats! Very nice keepsake. Looks like the pen is in excellent condition. Beautiful gold cap. Enjoy it, and thanks for sharing.