Parker Vacumatics Photo Thread

[crescentfiller]

Crescentfiller, the Brown Major is the longer version of the double-jewel Major. Typically, though, the term "Long Major" is used to mean the early 1942 Single Jewel Major which is longer than the Majors from 1943 and later.

 

 

Brian, Thanks for the "clarification" (in quotation marks because my head spins whenever I try to comprehend the Vac names and sizes!). So, did the 1943+ Longs also have the bullseye barrel jewels?

 

 

PS I based the Long Major label on a certain website that specializes in this sort of thing. It states:

 

"The 'Long' Major of 1939-1942, so often wrongly labelled Slender Maxima. ...striped jewel, bullseye bottom 'jewel', two tone nib, black section"

Edited January 23, 2020 by crescentfiller

[Brian-McQueen]

Crescentfiller, There are no 1943+ Longs. The Single Jewel Long Major was only made in the first quarter of 1942. They have striped cap jewels (except blue, blue doesn't have striped jewels) and two-tone nibs. All Majors made after 1st quarter 1942 were shorter. Here is a photo showing the normal SJ Major at left, SJ "Long" Major in center, and SJ Maxima at right.

 

 

 

As further clarification, here is a 1937-1938 DJ Major at left, and 1939-1941 DJ Major at right. It's not "wrong" to call the 1939-1941 Major a "Long" Major, but typically the wording "Long Major" is reserved for the SJ version of 1Q 1942.

 

[Brian-McQueen]

Here is a Canadian Single Jewel Imperial. The cap engraving pattern is different from the USA pattern.

 

[crescentfiller]

Brian, Thanks again for the clarification--and the excellent photos! The side-by-side shots really show the differences well.

 

The "it's not wrong" "but typically" distinction neatly sums up the crazy naming system applied to these pens. (But it's not quite as bad as the DuoVac-VacuFold nomenclature.)

 

And what a fantastic Imperial! I thought the brown one I snagged in an auction in Moundsville, WV about 20 years ago was nice, but yours cap is terrific!

 

Anyway, I was happy to find the two sets!

[Brian-McQueen]

No problem on the "clarification," Daniel. The truth is that Parker just called them all "Majors" and made no other distinction about their length. So it's up to collectors to try to figure out what to call them.

 

Duovac/Vacufold is easy. There is no such thing as a Duovac. A Vacufold is a pen made in Striped Duofold plastic, but has a Vacumatic imprint. They were only made in 1942, and have a Vacumatic arrow clip. Anything else made in Striped Duofold plastic is called a Striped Duofold or a Laidtone Duofold. Duovacs are not a thing. They don't exist.

 

Here are some Vacufolds:

 

[Brian-McQueen]

And here are some Maxima pencils, both twist-style and non-stop repeater style.

 

[crescentfiller]

Again, great photos!

Since Vacufolds are "a thing", can you show a close-up of the Vacufold imprint?

I can't quite see it in any of your photos.

[Brian-McQueen]

Here is an imprint from one of them.

 

[crescentfiller]

I can't see the "fold" part in the imprint.

 

On my screen it looks more like "matic" or something....?

 

"Vacumatic"?

[silverlifter]

Duovac/Vacufold is easy. There is no such thing as a Duovac. A Vacufold is a pen made in Striped Duofold plastic, but has a Vacumatic imprint. They were only made in 1942, and have a Vacumatic arrow clip. Anything else made in Striped Duofold plastic is called a Striped Duofold or a Laidtone Duofold. Duovacs are not a thing. They don't exist.

 

I thought Parker called them Duofold Vacumatics, and laidtone was the material. The imprint on my first year senior reads: "Parker Duofold". I guess it makes sense for users to have contracted the name to "DuoVac".

 

Whatever they are called, they are the loveliest of Parker's lineup. Thanks for all of the great photos of them. I had thought that I didn't need another, until this thread...

[Brian-McQueen]

I can't see the "fold" part in the imprint.

 

On my screen it looks more like "matic" or something....?

 

"Vacumatic"?

 

Yes, it just has a regular "Vacumatic" imprint as I said in my first post about them. "Vacufold" is a collector name for this particular model. It's a very specific model of Vacumatic made with Duofold plastic, and Vacufold is an unambiguous term to describe it.

 

 

I thought Parker called them Duofold Vacumatics, and laidtone was the material. The imprint on my first year senior reads: "Parker Duofold". I guess it makes sense for users to have contracted the name to "DuoVac".

 

Whatever they are called, they are the loveliest of Parker's lineup. Thanks for all of the great photos of them. I had thought that I didn't need another, until this thread...

 

Parker simply called them the "Sacless Duofold" or the "Sac Duofold" depending on if they were Vacumatic-filling or button-filling. The term "DuoVac" is very ambiguous, because it is indescriminately applied to both Vacumatic and Button-filing styles. It doesn't make any sense to call a button-filling Duofold a "DuoVac" so the term becomes meaningless and shouldn't be used.

 

"Laidtone Permanite" is what Parker called their material, so the term "Laidtone Duofold" is useful to cover the entire range, vacumatic and button-filling alike. Some people don't know what "Laidtone" means, so the term "Striped" also came into favor and is acceptable.

[crescentfiller]

"meaningless and shouldn't be used."

 

"It doesn't make any sense "

 

"and is acceptable."

 

"Easy lies the head that wears this crown"!

[Brian-McQueen]

I will gladly continue the debate of any term and whether or not it should be used in private messages, or possibly in another thread. Let's not bog down this thread with debate, but instead continue to show beautiful photographs of beautiful pens. Here is a Vacumatic "Ripley" set.

 

[senzen]

I finally got one, a Silver Pearl, looks and works great; any idea what model and year it is? The imprint says 6 followed by a large dot. It's 129 mm capped (so a little more than 5 inches).

 

 

[Brian-McQueen]

SenZen, you have found a single jewel Major, dated 3rd quarter of 1946. It will be a great pen when you get it fixed up!

[senzen]

SenZen, you have found a single jewel Major, dated 3rd quarter of 1946. It will be a great pen when you get it fixed up!

A very big thank you! It works great, nice smooth nib, unexpectedly it gets along with Takeda Jimuji Kyo No Oto Hisoku (a dry ink). Some parts of the silvery trim look a bit dull and if I shine a light I can see the remnants of some blue ink at the end of the barrel near the blind cap, but I don't really mind, I'm just ecstatic I finally got one, that it works without any problems and that it's comfortable to use.

[Brian-McQueen]

A very big thank you! It works great, nice smooth nib, unexpectedly it gets along with Takeda Jimuji Kyo No Oto Hisoku (a dry ink). Some parts of the silvery trim look a bit dull and if I shine a light I can see the remnants of some blue ink at the end of the barrel near the blind cap, but I don't really mind, I'm just ecstatic I finally got one, that it works without any problems and that it's comfortable to use.

If you bought it unrestored and have not gotten it restored yet, I highly recommend that you get it restored before using it. Old rubber is likely to fail soon with use, and Vacumatics that fail make a mess in your pocket.

[senzen]

If you bought it unrestored and have not gotten it restored yet, I highly recommend that you get it restored before using it. Old rubber is likely to fail soon with use, and Vacumatics that fail make a mess in your pocket.

I got it restored, in fact that's what made me jump in, along with the seller's reputation and the reasonable price. It's a really light pen, getting used to that the more I use it.

[baz666]

Some Oversize Vacumatics.

 

 

Paul.

[Carguy]

Here is a Canadian Single Jewel Imperial. The cap engraving pattern is different from the USA pattern.

 

 

Man I want to find one of these! That’s PURDY,