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51's

Charles Skinner

By Charles Skinner
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northstar Donor Pen

northstar

Posted
Posted

It's estimated over 30 million at least, some say over 60 million.

 

Best regards.

Recite, and your Lord is the most Generous  Who taught by the pen

Taught man that which he knew not (96/3-5)

Snailmail3.png Snail Mail 

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pajaro Museum Piece

pajaro

Posted
Posted

Somewhere on line I saw some figures for years like 1948 and 1949. I think there were over eight million made in 1948.

"Don't hurry, don't worry. It's better to be late at the Golden Gate than to arrive in Hell on time."
--Sign in a bar and grill, Ormond Beach, Florida, 1960.

 

 

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FarmBoy Museum Piece

FarmBoy

Posted
Posted

1940 ?

1941 6,236

1942 214,163

1943 384,512

1944 440,645

1945 471,904

1946 1,035,369

1947 2,109,797

1948 2,007,025

San Francisco International Pen Show - The next “Funnest Pen Show” is on schedule for August 23-24-25, 2024.  Watch the show website for registration details. 
 

My PM box is usually full. Just email me: my last name at the google mail address.

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Jerome Tarshis Collectors Item

Jerome Tarshis

Posted
Posted

Is the total number of 51's made and sold known? C. S.

 

The short answer is "no." At least the number isn't known to pen hobbyists.

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pajaro Museum Piece

pajaro

Posted
Posted (edited)

1940 ?

1941 6,236

1942 214,163

1943 384,512

1944 440,645

1945 471,904

1946 1,035,369

1947 2,109,797

1948 2,007,025

 

Thanks. My memory was faulty. This includes Vac models for 48?

Edited by pajaro

"Don't hurry, don't worry. It's better to be late at the Golden Gate than to arrive in Hell on time."
--Sign in a bar and grill, Ormond Beach, Florida, 1960.

 

 

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JotterAddict62 Collectors Item

JotterAddict62

Posted
Posted

How about we all count what we all have and start adding them up?

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FarmBoy Museum Piece

FarmBoy

Posted
Posted

How about we all count what we all have and start adding them up?

I'd be scared...

 

The numbers I posted are much debated and do not really make sense unless you think of them as numbers reported in an annual report. The 6236 figure for 1941 pens can't be correct for calendar year 1941 but might for a fiscal year. Reason being I've been able to tally far to many 1st year pens unless they all survived.

San Francisco International Pen Show - The next “Funnest Pen Show” is on schedule for August 23-24-25, 2024.  Watch the show website for registration details. 
 

My PM box is usually full. Just email me: my last name at the google mail address.

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JotterAddict62 Collectors Item

JotterAddict62

Posted
Posted

I'd be scared...

 

The numbers I posted are much debated and do not really make sense unless you think of them as numbers reported in an annual report. The 6236 figure for 1941 pens can't be correct for calendar year 1941 but might for a fiscal year. Reason being I've been able to tally far to many 1st year pens unless they all survived.

Frighting would be counting by color, cap model, size, yr.... etc. etc.. to find out what is out there.

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bsenn Vintage

bsenn

Posted
Posted

Frighting would be counting by color, cap model, size, yr.... etc. etc.. to find out what is out there.

 

I suspect FB doesn't want to tally them up because he has far too many of them and finding out the exact number would make his head explode...

One test is worth a thousand expert opinions.

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Florida Blue Collectors Item

Florida Blue

Posted
Posted

 

The numbers I posted are much debated and do not really make sense unless you think of them as numbers reported in an annual report. The 6236 figure for 1941 pens can't be correct for calendar year 1941 but might for a fiscal year.

 

I've seen those numbers too. What I have wondered is if they are just the production numbers for Janesville, or if Toronto and Newhaven are included as well? If the others were not included that could boost up the numbers of 51s produced by quite a bit more. Then to add another wrench into the equations would be including the numbers for Argentinian and Brazilian made 51s.

 

I would agree with the assumption that the production figures given would be for a fiscal rather then calendar year since that was a point of contention during the many debates over how many possible Plum 51s were produced. The 1 year figure for production was determined to be a fiscal year i.e. 2nd quarter 1948 to 1st quarter 1949.

Parker: Sonnet Flighter, Rialto Red Metallic Laque, IM Chiseled Gunmetal, Latitude Stainless, 45 Black, Duovac Blue Pearl Striped, 51 Standard Black, Vac Jr. Black, 51 Aero Black, 51 Vac Blue Cedar, Duofold Jr. Lapis, 51 Aero Demi Black, 51 Aero Demi Teal, 51 Aero Navy Gray, Duofold Pastel Moire Violet, Vac Major Golden Brown, Vac Deb. Emerald, 51 Vac Dove Gray, Vac Major Azure, Vac Jr. Silver Pearl, 51 Vac Black GF Cap, 51 Forest Green GF cap, Vac Jr. Silver Pearl, Duovac Senior Green & Gold, Duovac Deb. Black, Challenger Black, 51 Aero Midnight, Vac. Emerald Jr., Challenger Gray Pearl, 51 Vac Black, Duofold Int. Black, Duofold Jr. Red.

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pajaro Museum Piece

pajaro

Posted
Posted

 

I've seen those numbers too. What I have wondered is if they are just the production numbers for Janesville, or if Toronto and Newhaven are included as well? If the others were not included that could boost up the numbers of 51s produced by quite a bit more. Then to add another wrench into the equations would be including the numbers for Argentinian and Brazilian made 51s.

 

I would agree with the assumption that the production figures given would be for a fiscal rather then calendar year since that was a point of contention during the many debates over how many possible Plum 51s were produced. The 1 year figure for production was determined to be a fiscal year i.e. 2nd quarter 1948 to 1st quarter 1949.

 

There weren't any figures broken down by color, though, were there? Maybe in the Parker archives? It seems like someone would have wanted to know.

"Don't hurry, don't worry. It's better to be late at the Golden Gate than to arrive in Hell on time."
--Sign in a bar and grill, Ormond Beach, Florida, 1960.

 

 

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Florida Blue Collectors Item

Florida Blue

Posted
Posted

 

There weren't any figures broken down by color, though, were there? Maybe in the Parker archives? It seems like someone would have wanted to know.

 

I'm sure Parker must have pre-determined how many of each color would be produced ahead of time, but unfortunately I haven't seen any production figures that were broken down by color.

 

Clearly certain colors, like Black and Teal, were produced in greater numbers then say Forest Green or Cocoa, and that was most likely based on which colors sold best.

Parker: Sonnet Flighter, Rialto Red Metallic Laque, IM Chiseled Gunmetal, Latitude Stainless, 45 Black, Duovac Blue Pearl Striped, 51 Standard Black, Vac Jr. Black, 51 Aero Black, 51 Vac Blue Cedar, Duofold Jr. Lapis, 51 Aero Demi Black, 51 Aero Demi Teal, 51 Aero Navy Gray, Duofold Pastel Moire Violet, Vac Major Golden Brown, Vac Deb. Emerald, 51 Vac Dove Gray, Vac Major Azure, Vac Jr. Silver Pearl, 51 Vac Black GF Cap, 51 Forest Green GF cap, Vac Jr. Silver Pearl, Duovac Senior Green & Gold, Duovac Deb. Black, Challenger Black, 51 Aero Midnight, Vac. Emerald Jr., Challenger Gray Pearl, 51 Vac Black, Duofold Int. Black, Duofold Jr. Red.

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trdsf Extremely Rare

trdsf

Posted
Posted

I don't know how many they made, but I know the one that I have isn't enough. :D

"Well, believe me, I calculated the odds of this succeeding versus the odds I was doing something incredibly stupid... and I went ahead anyway."

--Crow T. Robot, Mystery Science Theater 3000: The Movie

My Flickr, if you're interested

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welch Antique

welch

Posted
Posted

Many. As someone else mentioned, Parker quit counting at some high number...five million?

Washington Nationals 2019: the fight for .500; "stay in the fight"; WON the fight

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J English Smith Collectors Item

J English Smith

Posted
Posted

Thank goodness! We can all still get 'em as a result.

<i>"Most people go through life using up half their energy trying to protect a dignity they never had."</i><br>-Marlowe, in <i>The Long Goodbye</i>

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mitto Museum Piece

mitto

Posted
Posted

Let us forget about the colors and enjoy the 51 as one of the best writing instrument to have ever been made.

Khan M. Ilyas

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mitto Museum Piece

mitto

Posted
Posted

Many. As someone else mentioned, Parker quit counting at some high number...five million?

 

 

I read somewhere 12 million.

Khan M. Ilyas

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inkstainedruth Ancient Artifact

inkstainedruth

Posted
Posted

So, i

 

I'd be scared...

 

The numbers I posted are much debated and do not really make sense unless you think of them as numbers reported in an annual report. The 6236 figure for 1941 pens can't be correct for calendar year 1941 but might for a fiscal year. Reason being I've been able to tally far to many 1st year pens unless they all survived.

Actually, given that there's an ad that Parker put out (not sure what year), basically saying "We'd love to sell you pens but we've converted over to production on behalf of the war effort), the number for 1941 may not be all that far off the mark; even though the US didn't enter WWII until after Pearl Harbor got bombed, I believe that supplies were being shipped to the Allied Forces, especially to the UK. One of the things my dad did in the war (he was a radio operator on various naval vessels) was Liberty Convoy duty (not sure how early that started),

As for JotterAddict62's suggestion that we all just count our pens -- do you want to do a breakdown by color, or just by model (Vac/Aerometric) and are you including 51 Specials in there?

As for all the suggested criteria, it sounds more like counting Vacumatics than 51s.... :lticaptd:

Oh, for the record, I'm at:

four Aerometrics (including the Plum Demi) -- Teal, Plum, Black and Burgundy (although the black one with the EF is *technically* for the husband);

three 51 Vacs -- one Black and two Cedar Blues (one having a gold-filled cap)

one 51 Special -- Burgundy.

And for completeness' sake, I also have a red (burgundy?) 21 [plus parts to fix it] and a Turquoise (?) 41.... B)

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

"It's very nice, but frankly, when I signed that list for a P-51, what I had in mind was a fountain pen."

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