Vintage Workhorse Daily Writer

[thirdguess]

Hi,

 

In that time period, you can get the Lamy 2000 even although it may not what you think of as vintage. Anyway, that aside, the Parker "51" is quite an excellent pen, or the Parker 45. If you like something Japanese, there are actually a lot of options. If you want a long/short Japanese pocket pen, I recommend Pilot because you can use a readily available converter in the pen. That aside, there are also a lot of full-sized Japanese pens that are available. Maybe you could get a Japanese eye dropper with an ink shutoff or a pen that take cartridges and converters. There are other pens like the Aurora 88, 98, and Hastil that would fit your criteria.

 

All these pens are quite lightweight and well balanced in general especially if you get a plastic or ebonite pen. Some of these may be just a little out of your price range, but I think you should definitely look into the Japanese options.

 

Dillon

[biancitwo]

Yup, another +1 for a properly tuned Parker 51 Aerometric (have a bunch of those). Their rigid nibs most definitely have their uses.

 

That said, the ones I use the most often (EDC & desk pens) are vintage Pelikans, namely the 100N and the 400-series (400/N/NN, 500 etc.) pens. Actually, let me reply with my answer to another post that was asking which pens (Pelikans) make you smile when writing with them:

 

I wholeheartedly concur.

 

Not sure what happened, but my quote of Mana cut off most of his description and praise of vintage Pelikans. His glowing report was on Pelikan 100Ns and 400s. Whether flexible, or stiff, they write wonderfully, and have many years left in them. They are only 60+ years old. I would also commend Pelikan 100s. Though smaller, 120s and 140s are terrific.

Edited February 21, 2019 by biancitwo

[Honeybadgers]

For the money, a vintage steel nib pelikan 120 mertz is one hell of a pen. Piston filler that's easy to service, well made, classic style, light weight, a superb nib, and you can find 'em CHEAP.

 

I paid $28 for one and it was in nearly mint condition with the original box.

 

Also solid, reliable, and inexpensive are manifold nibbed eversharp skylines. They tend to run in the $40-50 range in good shape

 

Everyone loves esties but I'm not the biggest fan.

 

I don't love the parker 51 due to its rather steep prices, especially with the wing sung 601 being a perfect copy of the very best vacumatic models (and they have ink window models!)

 

The parker 45 is solid. The waterman phileas is well known for being good (it can still be bought new in transparent colors with a different name, the kultur)

 

If you want vintage appeal with moder everything, a good old lamy 2000.

 

Vintage japanese pens like various pilot elites pop up with steel and gold nibs in the $15-30 range all the time on ebay. they tend to be pretty well used, but I have three and they're all superb. Some have quite soft nibs, too, and they're all compatible with the pilot Con-40 or Con-20.

Edited February 22, 2019 by Honeybadgers

[Inkyways]

Mabie Todd SWAN PENS  THEY HAVE many type of nibs and suits for any writing style.

[PennyTheDog]

On 7/14/2014 at 1:42 PM, DrCodfish said:

I too am strong on Pelikans, and one of my 140's is an every day journal pen. I also like vintage Parkers, Vacumatics and Duofolds. But the vintage Parker which I think is most likely to fit your criteria is a Parker 51 w/F to M nib. You should be able to score a well kept and/or reconditioned P-51 in or near your price range. If you want to take a chance without spending a lot of money, consider either a Parker 45, or a reconditioned Esterbrook J. Many P-45's are available as NOS, or lightly used pens. Either of these pens should arrive at your door step for considerably less than half of your target price.

I have a Parker 45 with a medium steel nib that writes very nicely. You can always get these for under $50 in good condition, and there are also some gold nib models you can get for a little more. They work with any Parker cartridges or converters.

[inkstainedruth]

My first semi-vintage pen -- and first pen with a gold nib, was a 45 with a medium nib I found in a little antiques shop on the edge of town in Corry, PA, on a weekend jaunt through the northwest counties of the state east of Erie.  It's a lovely smooth writer.  And is the pen that sent me down the "vintage" rabbit hole....

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

[kazoolaw]

On 1/6/2025 at 8:37 AM, PennyTheDog said:

I have a Parker 45 with a medium steel nib that writes very nicely. You can always get these for under $50 in good condition, and there are also some gold nib models you can get for a little more. They work with any Parker cartridges or converters.

A found 45 never failed through the end of college and law school.  Unassuming, always delivered.

[Runnin_Ute]

First 45 was a Flighter version. Ebay find. Seller (who became a.lomg term penpal. Still.writing after over a decade) thought it had a gold plated nib, turned out to be a 14k nib. I think I paid under $20. Have six now including a desk pen on a nice oak base with a lid. (1968 dated) I don't believe I paid more than about $30-35 for any of them, most under $25. And 3 or 4 are gold nibs!

[welch]

On 1/8/2025 at 5:05 PM, kazoolaw said:

A found 45 never failed through the end of college and law school.  Unassuming, always delivered.

 

I used a P-45 from 7th grade -- Xmas 1960 -- until I graduated high school. Dropped it on asphalt, snapped off the decorative "hood", misused it in every possible way, and it still wrote perfectly until I gave it to my girl friend when we graduated in 1966. Any part can be unscrewed and replaced. Five Star Pens even has gold nibs, last I looked. 

 

Cost was about $4.98 in 1960; EBay has them from about $25 up to $50 from sellers who think they have a rare P-45. (None are really rare, but...) 

[sandy101]

My Parker 51s (49-52) Parker 45s (66-70) and Mabie Todd Swan (38?) have worked well as everyday carry pens.

 

The 51 ((England) nibs write with a medium-broad line, the P45 fine is an excellent nib - it writes with a consistent line- not a lot of flex - but excellent if you don't want it. Again the Movie Todd produces a medium-broad line too.

 

Earlier vintage pens produce great lines, with some flex, but are not so portable. They'll burp/vomit ink at the drop of a feather.

 

A P45 with a fine nib is a good choice.

[inkstainedruth]

2 hours ago, welch said:

 

I used a P-45 from 7th grade -- Xmas 1960 -- until I graduated high school. Dropped it on asphalt, snapped off the decorative "hood", misused it in every possible way, and it still wrote perfectly until I gave it to my girl friend when we graduated in 1966. Any part can be unscrewed and replaced. Five Star Pens even has gold nibs, last I looked. 

 

Cost was about $4.98 in 1960; EBay has them from about $25 up to $50 from sellers who think they have a rare P-45. (None are really rare, but...) 

I got extremely lucky a couple of years ago at an estate sale company's warehouse sale and found a 45 in the original box which had the original price tag on it.  And paid, the "original" price of  $5 US.  The first one I think I paid a little under $11 for, with sales tax (I didn't even know what it was -- just that it was some Parker model -- because I was still pretty new to the hobby.  Posted photos of it on the Parker Forum at the time and people ID'd the pen for me and roughly when it was made and also pointed me to some online info -- including a video on how to take the nib unit apart for really thorough cleaning.  And oh, MY what a nice writer that pen, with its 14K medium nib, is.... 

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

[chromantic]

OMG, I literally just posted in another thread that you'd have to pry my 140 from my cold, dead hands.

[Estycollector]

The vintage Esterbrook 2556 nib.