Parker Desk Pens

April 3, 2019

I recently purchased a Parker Challenger desk set and I would like to know more about it. Has anyone documented the range of desk sets Parker offered in the 30's? Also, how did Parker sell the desk sets? It seems many of these pens are convertible and still have a separate cap and blind cap to use as a pocket pen. Were all the desk sets sold with a generic celluloid blind cap/extension to be combined with any parker pen (at least until Parker replaced threads with springs on the desk sets)? I haven't been able to decipher this from the few Parker ads that I could find.

April 7, 2019

You have many questions and some are difficult to answer, maybe that is why you received no response yet.

Firstly: can you show a picture of your Challenger desk pen set? It is always nice to actually see what we are talking about.

The range of Parker desk pen sets is documented in the Parker catalogs. It is not clear whether desk bases could be bought separately from the desk pens. I believe they could in the 1920s Duofold period because the early Duofold catalogs mention that "any parker desk set can easily be equipped with the style, color and point of pen desired".

However, the 1941 catalog clearly states that "Parker desk pen sets are sold as complete units. We do not sell bases seperately".

The Parker desk pens of the 1930s-40s (Vacumatic, Challenger, Parkette, Duofold and 51) had their 'familiy' of dedicated desk bases with typical style for the base and for the socket. Sometimes the differences in the sockets were subtle. For instance the 1940 Vacumatic socket differed from the Challenger socket only by the presence of a narrow decorative band at the top of the socket. A similar socket with a slightly wider decorative gold band was used later for the 1941 Parker 51 desk pen. These three different sockets could be friction-fit mounted in any Parker desk base of that period.

Tapers were not generic and they differed in colour (eg striated for the Vacumatics), length and width between the different pen models.

About the convertibility: in the early 1930s (but not before), Duofold pens could be purchased as fully convertible desk pen sets, in luxury boxes containing the regular pen with cap and blind cap plus a taper and a desk base. Parker heavily advertised this ‘convertibility’ with slogans like “Two pens in one: instantly convertible from pocket to desk set is an advantage that only Parker users can enjoy”. The latter claim proved wrong because Sheaffer also had a 1931 Balance version with a similar convertible feature and this pen was even described as being a “Three-in-one convertible pen”. Selling these convertible desk pen sets was most likely an attempt to boost sales in the economical tough times of the Great Depression. As far as I know, the later Parker Challenger, Vacumatic or 51 pens were never sold again in 'convertible' boxed sets.

About the barrel threads: Early Duofold (1920s-early 1930s), Vacumatic, Parkette and Challenger desk pens all had barrel threads. These pens could thus take a regular cap and blind cap and they are technically all ‘convertible’. However, from 1939 on the barrel threads disappeared from the Challenger and Vacumatic desk pens, making them 'proper' desk pens. The late Duofold desk pen never had barrel threads.

I did not understand what you mean by ".. until Parker replaced threads with springs on the desk sets".

Hope this helps.

Edited April 7, 2019 by joss

April 9, 2019

Thanks for the response. The main reason I ask is because the fountain pen barrel is threaded near the section, yet the stand does not seem to have any internal threads for the pen. Are those threads there so the barrel is interchangeable with a normal pocket pen or was it originally designed to have a cap as well as the base?

I did not understand what you mean by ".. until Parker replaced threads with springs on the desk sets".

I believe later vacumatic desk pens had an unthreaded barrel/section and were held in place by a specially designed spring, while earlier models had a threaded barrel and a threaded holder. Is that correct? I haven't seen many in person.

Here are some pictures:

April 9, 2019

Beautiful set!

April 9, 2019

Thanks for the response. The main reason I ask is because the fountain pen barrel is threaded near the section, yet the stand does not seem to have any internal threads for the pen. Are those threads there so the barrel is interchangeable with a normal pocket pen or was it originally designed to have a cap as well as the base?

I believe later vacumatic desk pens had an unthreaded barrel/section and were held in place by a specially designed spring, while earlier models had a threaded barrel and a threaded holder. Is that correct? I haven't seen many in person.

That is a very elegant desk set indeed. The base is from ca 1936-38. The pen might be the same period or maybe a bit earlier but still correct for this base. There should be a date code imprinted on the barrel.

These Parker desk pen sockets/bowls never had internal threads. The pen that you have is indeed from the 'convertible' period. Parker's 1930s publications suggest that the tapers and desk bases were available seperately, allowing converting a Parker pocket pen (except the Parkette) into a desk pen.

Parker introduced a 'proper' desk pen line only in ca 1938 for the Vacumatic, Challenger and Parkette model. These pens still had barrel threads but could be distinguished (in the absence of the taper) from pocket pens by a decorative gold band at the center of the barrel (except for the Parkette which technically never was a 'convertible' pen anyway).

On the spring: the Sealomatic sockets indeed had a mechanism that locked the section of the pen inside the socket but this did not involve the barrel threads.

The set that you have looks really neat. Imagine it on a 1937 desk. Which modern items on our desks today will still have such a timeless elegance in the year 2100?

April 11, 2019

I recently put together my dream Parker desk set from parts. I've become quite enamored of later 50s- early 60s style, and for me the shape of this 61 desk pen, with its finial referencing the angular "atomic" styles of the time reminded me of so many things in my grandparents' house that I found odd while I was young, but have since come to appreciate and love.

I was able to obtain the pen and the appropriate socket shown in ads, (though I might prefer the look of a partially black resin socket instead of the all gold-filled one), but have found nowhere even hints of the "prismatique" base in the ad. That said, the onyx one I paired it with is pretty awesome, I think!

Does anyone know if this pen is/can be paired with other than all-gold sockets?

April 11, 2019

I recently put together my dream Parker desk set from parts. I've become quite enamored of later 50s- early 60s style, and for me the shape of this 61 desk pen, with its finial referencing the angular "atomic" styles of the time reminded me of so many things in my grandparents' house that I found odd while I was young, but have since come to appreciate and love.
I was able to obtain the pen and the appropriate socket shown in ads, (though I might prefer the look of a partially black resin socket instead of the all gold-filled one), but have found nowhere even hints of the "prismatique" base in the ad. That said, the onyx one I paired it with is pretty awesome, I think!

Does anyone know if this pen is/can be paired with other than all-gold sockets?

That is a nice desk set indeed.

The Parker 61 desk pen had a short production period (1961 to ca 1963, maybe early 1964) and I think that the long slender 'all metal' gold filled socket had the same short production period. This socket's sister version with gold plated stem and plastic 'receptacle' is ca 1957 - mid 1970s and also correct for a Parker 61 desk pen. An 'all plastic' socket without that slender metal stem would not be correct.

I am not sure from which period your desk base is. Almost all 1960s Magnetix desk bases had a flat top surface, except for the series of transparant glass bases of which a version is shown in the ad above.

Edited April 11, 2019 by joss