Jump to content

What Is/was Your Family?


ParkerDuofold

Recommended Posts

Hi all,

 

Just like the line from "A Christmas Story," that ends with the punchline: "my dad was an Oldsmobile man." It raises the point that brand loyalty used to be a quasi-religion for many... and still is for some.

 

Growing up, my family were Parker's. My mom came from a Sheaffer family, but became a Parker after she married my dad. :D

 

While I do not think brand loyalty exists like it used to in our global market society; I am still curious to learn what was/is your family?

 

 

- Anthony

 

EDIT: Corrected typo. :)

Edited by ParkerDuofold
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Replies 67
  • Created
  • Last Reply

Top Posters In This Topic

  • ParkerDuofold

    19

  • ac12

    3

  • pajaro

    2

  • MercianScribe

    2

Mixed marriage, Parker 51 and Sheaffer Vac desk pen.

"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.

 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

My Mum was Mabie Todd then Parker (specifically a Blackbird, as her mum had been - I have my Granny's now, with its very modest monogram from her maiden name), my Dad Parker I think... A mixed marriage in many ways.

 

I never liked Parker (mainly I think as the Parker of the moment was the skinny Vector), shunned the No-Nonsense also popular at my school, and struck out as an Osmiroid, my school essays invariably in B2 Blue-Black.

Hi, I'm Mat


:)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Sheaffer, "all the way!"

 

My Mother worked for a Horse Farm, of which the owner made his money for the Farm's expenses by Advertising in Chicago, where Sheaffer was one of his clients. My Mother's desk was routinely furnished with the "latest Sheaffer Desk set" & my Parents received Christmas gifts of Sheaffer pen sets. So Sheaffer was the majority of writing instruments I grew up around.

 

My Father received several Parkers from various Clients, so I did see a few of them, but they were surely a minority.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Sheaffer School pen in grade school.

Then a gap were I do not know what FP I wrote with.

Parker in college and ever since.

 

However, I am NOT a complete Parkerholic.

On my table I have 3 desk pens: Parker 51, Pilot 200, Sheaffer Touchdown.

In my pen cup:

  • Parker Classic
  • Parker Vacumatic
  • Parker Duofold Junior, waiting to be inked
  • Sheaffer School pen.

In my pocket protector, to carry my carry pens:

  • Parker 45, x2
  • Sheaffer School pen
  • Baoer 388

Parker has the majority of the active pens, but not all.

San Francisco Pen Show - August 28-30, 2020 - Redwood City, California

www.SFPenShow.com

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Not sure I could classify our house. I do remember using Parkers beginning in my teens.

Brad

"Words are, of course, the most powerful drug used by mankind" - Rudyard Kipling
"None of us can have as many virtues as the fountain-pen, or half its cussedness; but we can try." - Mark Twain

Link to comment
Share on other sites

My parents and my grandparents were very frugal folks. I vaguely remember seeing fountain pens while searching for crayons. I believe they were probably Wearevers. Of course, I don't have them today!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I was a Parker kid from the start. There were always Parker jotters around the house. My first fountain pen was a Parker 21 with peacock blue ink,(not sure the brand). I had permanent inky fingers.

 

For a long time I was a chevy guy. Then the Japanese invasion came. Ford took up the challenge and made serious improvements in quality control. Chevy really didn't. That's when I got my first Mustang and I've been a Ford man since.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

My paternal grandfather was a dedicated Sheaffer man. I have his Sentinel Deluxe set, his EDC, and the Sentinal Deluxe set that was my father's HS graduation gift in 1947.

May we live, not by our fears but by our hopes; not by our words but by our deeds; not by our disappointments but by our dreams.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Well, my grandfather on my mother's side had and used a Parker Vacumatic and all of the pens he gave me that had been given to him by one of his business associates were Parkers, starting with a Parker Lucky Curve. I have them all restored and use them each occasionally. Most of his business associates gave him liqueur, turkeys, hams, etc. He was in the newspaper business from 1934 till 1983, except for service during WW2 in the Marines. Only one business associate providied Fountain Pens, and only the early years apparently. I suspect either the gifts stopped due to concerns of his employer, or more than likely they switched to cash. One business associate kept him supplied with theater tickets however, but I never knew which one. Another provided him with a pass which allowed me (& the rest of the family) to seldom pay to see a movie. The first one I paid to see was Star Wars in 1977 at the age of 16 as it was initially no passes and I went with some friends to see it when it first came out. I work in Government and so I can't except any gifts, except for nominally valuable ones such as an occasional tomato or zucchini, cup of tea, bottle of water or fruit juice; whatever my clients cultural traditions prescribe providing to a visitor as long as it is truely only a courtesy.

Back to pens.

My Father had a Sheaffer Snorkel, which I had restored and use occasionally as well.

So, I would say my family was mixed Parker and Sheaffer as far as pens, but in the vain of automobiles, my mother's side starting with her father were Chrysler people, my father's cars were varied initially and included a Porsche and a Studebaker, followed by switching to Chevrolet during hard financial times. My Stepfather has always bought Fords and except for a Jeep, my wife's' family have always bought GM products, typically Pontiacs, but also Oldsmobile an Buicks. My father in law worked for GM most of his life and retired from there.

Me, my first car was a Renault, my wife's a Pontiac. My second was an Opel. Our first car together was a Peugeot. This was followed by a variety of GM products of different badges, plus a Volvo, and a VW.

Today we share a Buick and our daughter drives a Fiat.

In regard to pens, I try to get as many different brands of high quality pens I can afford. Sometimes only one example, due to price, or obscurity.

So, brand loyalty, little I would say.

But, then what is a brand? The Buick I drive is sold in some markets as an Opal , some a Vauxhall and has a more Spartan twin as a Chevrolet.

Sheaffer is no longer Sheaffer and almost dead. Parker, while a bit more alive, is no longer Parker, but a Waterman product in Parker livery.

Pelikan diversified and has an unusual ownership situation and Montblanc is now a Luxury Brand, not simply a Pen maker.

What really is a brand anymore, but a name, a design, a bit of history and an owner. Venerable Brands can go from high quality to near nothing with the change of owner, and/or marketing strategy.

And, sometimes up and coming Brands, such as Tesla, when you look real close, you find they are built using the same parts suppliers that the established car makers have used for a long time and the cars are actually being produced in an old GM plant that used to make Pontiac Vibes, Toyota Corollas and Toyota Tacomas less than a decade ago.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

...my parents are Korean and I'm pretty sure they never used fountain pens. My grandfather on my mother's side did brush calligraphy, which he learned in university in Japan during the occupation, and which he continued to practice for years after.

 

I am fond of Waterman and Wahl-Eversharp in vintage pens. I tried to get my sister into fountain pens with a Lamy Safari, but I think the few dozen ink samples I sent with it overwhelmed her and I should have stuck with cartridges. She currently uses these particular pens that she buys during her yearly visits to Korea. My daughter owns two Pilot Metropolitans because she thought the designs were pretty, but doesn't actually use them. I told her that if she ever starts using fountain pens seriously, we can discuss getting her something more expensive, but until then, she can enjoy looking at the Metropolitans.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

As far as I can recall, my father most likely used a Parker 51.

 

My first fountain pen was a Sheaffer school pen in high school @ 1965, then a Targa @ 1980, which I still have, and a bunch of others starting around 2013. It seems to be sticking this time.

 

My wife's father used a Sheaffer Triumph, and a Wahl-Eversharp Skyline, both of which I still have, and both write very nicely.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Like my father before me, I like my midnight blue Parker 51. After that, a riotous excess of trying different pens, but always coming back to that first Parker 51 There's really nothing like it.

"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.

 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Oh as to my parents.

 

Dad had at least 2 fountain pens, which I saw in the house before we moved. I don't know the brand Sheaffer or Parker, but I think at least one was a Sheaffer :wacko: Then I never saw them again. It was likely thrown out during the cleaning before the move :(

 

Mom who was an accountant, had at least 4 desk pens (different brands), and likely a clip/purse pen also.

I have 3 of her desk pens and bases; Parker 51 (I used this one in college), Sheaffer Dolphin, Wahl/Eversharp (man talk about a SHARP nib). She also had an Esterbrook desk pen, cuz I had the 8-ball stand, which unfortunately one of the relations threw out when cleaning the house :angry:

San Francisco Pen Show - August 28-30, 2020 - Redwood City, California

www.SFPenShow.com

Link to comment
Share on other sites

My father used a Sheaffer as did I at school and Uni. None of those survive and I have not felt the slightest inclination to buy another; nor a Parker for that matter.

X

Link to comment
Share on other sites

My grandfather was a Sheaffer man while dad was Parker. Gpop was Hamilton watches but dad was Elgin. But Baltimore at the time was divided along the Stirling Silver line. Two of the biggest employers in town were Stieff and Kirk. Families were either Stieff Silverware or Kirk Hollowware families even if they never owned a single piece. Someone in almost every family worked for one or the other companies and so loyalty followed. But even in Stirlingland you sometimes found mixed marriages. In addition there was the major subdivide between the Betsy Patterson pattern and the Betsy Patterson Engraved pattern.

 

My Website

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

...I never liked Parker (mainly I think as the Parker of the moment was the skinny Vector), shunned the No-Nonsense also popular at my school, and struck out as an Osmiroid...

Hi M.S.,

 

I admire your originality. :thumbup:

(I had never heard of Osmi until I came here).

 

 

 

Sheaffer, "all the way!"

 

My Mother worked for a Horse Farm, of which the owner made his money for the Farm's expenses by Advertising in Chicago, where Sheaffer was one of his clients. My Mother's desk was routinely furnished with the "latest Sheaffer Desk set" & my Parents received Christmas gifts of Sheaffer pen sets. So Sheaffer was the majority of writing instruments I grew up around.

 

My Father received several Parkers from various Clients, so I did see a few of them, but they were surely a minority.

Hi BP,

 

I'm a little confused... :huh:... more so than usual... are you saying your mom worked for the guy who owned the agency, (and a horse farm on the side), that did the advertising for Sheaffer?

 

If so, how cool is that?! Pretty cool. B)

 

 

 

Sheaffer School pen in grade school.

Then a gap were I do not know what FP I wrote with.

Parker in college and ever since.

 

However, I am NOT a complete Parkerholic.

On my table I have 3 desk pens: Parker 51, Pilot 200, Sheaffer Touchdown.

In my pen cup:

  • Parker Classic
  • Parker Vacumatic
  • Parker Duofold Junior, waiting to be inked
  • Sheaffer School pen.
In my pocket protector, to carry my carry pens:
  • Parker 45, x2
  • Sheaffer School pen
  • Baoer 388
Parker has the majority of the active pens, but not all.

Hi AC,

 

You have a nice ensemble of pens there... but three desk pens? Naturally, I get it completely... but I can hear my father now, from the Great Beyond: "THREE desk pens... just how many hands do you use to write, Antonio?" :D

 

 

- Anthony

 

EDITED for typos... smartphone typing is a PITA. :angry:

Edited by ParkerDuofold
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Not sure I could classify our house. I do remember using Parkers beginning in my teens.

Hi Ute,

 

Actually, its very telling how the first pens you remember using were Parker's. ;)

 

 

 

My parents and my grandparents were very frugal folks. I vaguely remember seeing fountain pens while searching for crayons. I believe they were probably Wearevers. Of course, I don't have them today!

Hi CherylMarie,

 

I try to be frugal, but fortunately, I usually fail. :rolleyes:

 

 

 

My parents are Bic Stic fans (the horror), but I know my grandfather was fond of his Parker 51.

Hi Phillies,

 

Don't sweat it... and don't let it haunt you... we all have skeletons in our closet that we have to overcome.

 

I have to admit... that while we were a Parker family; they were Parker ball points and fiber-tips... no fountain pens... we also had some of those "unmentionables" by Bic and PaperMate flying about the house as well.

 

We all have these tragic little secrets in common. :ninja: The thing to do is put it all in the past and rise above it. :)

 

 

- Anthony

 

EDITED to fix typos and add quotes.

Edited by ParkerDuofold
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Mixed Parker-Sheaffer upbringing.

My mother had a Sheaffer that was lost before I ever saw it. She got me a Sheaffer for school, and another when I broke the first one.
My father had a Parker (from my mother) that he never used, and once brought a souvenir Parker home from work.
Curiosity and some regret about those lost or broken pens led me here, and to more 'exotic' pens. What remains is more a lingering aesthetic preference than brand loyalty.
These days my mother uses ballpoints for convenience - a Jotter and a Montblanc among them, but whatever’s handy - while my father still prefers disposable finepoint rollerballs.
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now


  • Most Contributions

    1. amberleadavis
      amberleadavis
      43844
    2. PAKMAN
      PAKMAN
      33494
    3. Ghost Plane
      Ghost Plane
      28220
    4. inkstainedruth
      inkstainedruth
      26624
    5. jar
      jar
      26101
  • Upcoming Events

  • Blog Comments

    • Shanghai Knife Dude
      I have the Sailor Naginata and some fancy blade nibs coming after 2022 by a number of new workshop from China.  With all my respect, IMHO, they are all (bleep) in doing chinese characters.  Go use a bush, or at least a bush pen. 
    • A Smug Dill
      It is the reason why I'm so keen on the idea of a personal library — of pens, nibs, inks, paper products, etc. — and spent so much money, as well as time and effort, to “build” it for myself (because I can't simply remember everything, especially as I'm getting older fast) and my wife, so that we can “know”; and, instead of just disposing of what displeased us, or even just not good enough to be “given the time of day” against competition from >500 other pens and >500 other inks for our at
    • adamselene
      Agreed.  And I think it’s good to be aware of this early on and think about at the point of buying rather than rationalizing a purchase..
    • A Smug Dill
      Alas, one cannot know “good” without some idea of “bad” against which to contrast; and, as one of my former bosses (back when I was in my twenties) used to say, “on the scale of good to bad…”, it's a spectrum, not a dichotomy. Whereas subjectively acceptable (or tolerable) and unacceptable may well be a dichotomy to someone, and finding whether the threshold or cusp between them lies takes experiencing many degrees of less-than-ideal, especially if the decision is somehow influenced by factors o
    • adamselene
      I got my first real fountain pen on my 60th birthday and many hundreds of pens later I’ve often thought of what I should’ve known in the beginning. I have many pens, the majority of which have some objectionable feature. If they are too delicate, or can’t be posted, or they are too precious to face losing , still they are users, but only in very limited environments..  I have a big disliking for pens that have the cap jump into the air and fly off. I object to Pens that dry out, or leave blobs o
  • Chatbox

    You don't have permission to chat.
    Load More
  • Files






×
×
  • Create New...