Lady/junior Duofold

[Darcy1978]

Sorry to be spamming the Parker forum, but I have another conundrum. I bought a batch of pens and two of them were these nice Duofolds. The seller marked them both as Ladies from 1929, but I think the red one might be a Junior. It is nearly exactly the same size but wider. The lapis lazuli pen has both a ring (indicative of a Lady I think) and a clip. The Junior has no clip at all.

 

1. Am I correct in thinking Lapis is Lady and Red is Junior?

2. Can a Lady have a clip and a Junior nothing at all?

 

I would be grateful for any comments - especially regarding the dating of these pens.

 

[joss]

What do the barrel imprints say? They might answer your question on the exact model.

 

There is also a very helpful Duofold size chart at parkerpen.com, see bottom of this webpage:

http://parkerpens.net/duofold.html

 

The blue pen, which is 1927-28, likely came without clip from the factory. The red one had a clip.

 

The section on the blue pen looks odd, not what you expect on a 1927 Duofold.

[Darcy1978]

Thank you!

 

Ah yes, the barrels - hadn't tought of that! The blue one says Lady Duofold Lucky Curve, so that makes that clear. The red one only says 'Geo S Parker Duofold'. Red was made in the US, blue in Canada by the way.

 

Chart indicates red = junior. One mm taller than the lady.

 

If red should have a clip and blue not, I could just switch it around.

 

edit: Cap top on blue comes off easily, look fine without the clip. Red cap top is very firmly stuck in place, and unlike the Lady does not have grooves in the cap top (which I think would be for turning?)

Edited May 13, 2020 by Darcy1978

[Darcy1978]

I'm thinking that the red pen may be a vest pen. They seem to have come without clips and with these smooth, tight cap tops. Barrel inscription indicaties 1930s. Does that make sense?

[joss]

I'm thinking that the red pen may be a vest pen. They seem to have come without clips and with these smooth, tight cap tops. Barrel inscription indicaties 1930s. Does that make sense?

 

1930s makes sense: the smooth cap top is a feature that appeared on all Duofolds at the end of 1929. Also the shape of the blind cap and section was streamlined. So the red pen can be dated as being late 1929 to early 1930s.

The cap and blind cap design of your blue pen (the section on that pen is not correct for that pen) would date that pen to 1929 or earlier. Your pen is actually earlier because Lapis blue appeared in 1927 and the wide cap band on the Lady Duofold disappeared in the course of 1928.

 

All these dates should be regarded as 'approximate dates' because designs did not change every 1st of January of each year.

 

I do not think that the red pen is a vest pocket pen: the vest pocket Duofold was a tiny petite pen (8,5 to 9,0 cm long). I think that the red pen is a Junior from which the clip was removed. The black cap top of the red pen may be stuck but it can definitely be unscrewed, if a previous owner did not glue it onto the cap of course.

[Darcy1978]

Thank you VERY much, this is quite useful. On the basis of your comment I dared to exert some more pressure and the cap top screwed off nicely. The clip from the Lady obviously doesn't fit as it is too narrow for the Junior. Which now leads me to wonder if it might not be a special lady-size clip after all.