Canadian Made Parkers

[Scrawler]

Hello Gentle Denizens of Parkerland,

I need to find out about the Canadian manufactury of Parker Pens. I know that Waterman used to be one of the largest manufacturers of pens in Canada, but it seems that Parker had some influence here too. Does anyone know when Parker were active in Canada, how many pens they likely made here and what models were made in Canada. If the Parker 51 was manufactured in Canada I am keen to locate an example.

[ralfstc]

Ooooh, I have a nice Canadian 51 for sale!

 

Parker made pens right in downtown Toronto from the early 20s into the mid to late 70s. The factory has gone now, and it's hard to find any exact history on its activities. In general, the Vacs from Toronto tend to have flexier nibs that the American ones, for some reason, but are otherwise identical in design. It's very common to find unusual colour combinations etc. from the Canadian production, and pens made in Canada long after production has stopped elsewhere.

 

There are also "51"s marked "Made in USA T6" or "T7" and this is a highly controversial phenomenon. The consensus seems to be that they were assembled in Canada from US parts to avoid Commonwealth duties but nobody seems to know for sure.

 

Hope this helps!

 

R.

[penpalace]

Ralf is correct. Models you will find are Duofolds, depression era Parkers from the 30's such as Challengers or Moderne's, Vacumatics, Duofolds from the 40's, 51's (both Vac fill and aero), 21's 41's 61's 45's and 75's. I have personally owned examples of all of these pens at one time or another that were made in Canada.

[algabatz]

http://parkercollector.com/bilder/troak/Canada_Factory_01.jpg

 

 

http://parkercollector.com/images/anfanger/b.jpgefore the war it was forbidden by law to export directly from the US to the British Empire, which Parker in the 1920's hoped would prove a lucrative market. So Parker decided to make Canada its first subsidiary. In 1923 Parker rented space on 350 Sorauren Avenue in Toronto, and began making pens by assembling US parts. Most of these pens shipped to Europe.

 

 

 

By 1932 the Duofold pens were being made in Toronto and anticipating a success of the upcoming Vacumatic Parker decided that the space on Sorauren Avenue was too small. Parker bought and moved the production to a plant on 154-158 University Avenue. In time the factory in Canada would be shipping to 70 countries all over the world.

[Scrawler]

Ooooh, I have a nice Canadian 51 for sale!

 

Parker made pens right in downtown Toronto from the early 20s into the mid to late 70s. The factory has gone now, and it's hard to find any exact history on its activities. In general, the Vacs from Toronto tend to have flexier nibs that the American ones, for some reason, but are otherwise identical in design. It's very common to find unusual colour combinations etc. from the Canadian production, and pens made in Canada long after production has stopped elsewhere.

 

There are also "51"s marked "Made in USA T6" or "T7" and this is a highly controversial phenomenon. The consensus seems to be that they were assembled in Canada from US parts to avoid Commonwealth duties but nobody seems to know for sure.

 

Hope this helps!

 

R.

The flxier nibs may be because of the penchant Canadians had for copperplate style writing.

[Ernst Bitterman]

We just need more spring so the points don't break in the bitter cold. Our magnificent handwriting is simply a side-benefit

 

I was looking at the entry on Tony's site for the 65, which indicates that the Canadian plant ceased production in 1982.

Edited March 2, 2011 by Ernst Bitterman

[Buzz J]

Or maybe they were flexier because flexier nibs are lighter than stiff nibs (ie less costly gold)?

John

[northlodge]

Ooooh, I have a nice Canadian 51 for sale!

 

Parker made pens right in downtown Toronto from the early 20s into the mid to late 70s. The factory has gone now, and it's hard to find any exact history on its activities. In general, the Vacs from Toronto tend to have flexier nibs that the American ones, for some reason, but are otherwise identical in design. It's very common to find unusual colour combinations etc. from the Canadian production, and pens made in Canada long after production has stopped elsewhere.

 

There are also "51"s marked "Made in USA T6" or "T7" and this is a highly controversial phenomenon. The consensus seems to be that they were assembled in Canada from US parts to avoid Commonwealth duties but nobody seems to know for sure.

 

Hope this helps!

 

R.

 

This evening I striped down a English 51 Vacumatic dated 1948. Under the very crusty ink was a Canadian 1947 nib. So I would guess that Canada was producing its own 51 parts rather than importing them from the US.

[D Armstrong]

Or maybe they were flexier because flexier nibs are lighter than stiff nibs (ie less costly gold)?

 

From what I've seen the shape of the nib is the same, which would indicate that it's likely the annealing and work-hardening that was slightly different. That and, as Ernst pointed our, you can just open the window for absolute zero cooling. ; )

 

As a side note, I took a look at the street views (GoogleMaps) for both of the plant addresses. The University building seems to be a glittery skyscraper now, but the Sorauren address is a quaint condo building. It's not too far from us, so maybe I'll try to swing by and get some photos of what it looks like today.