What Parkers Have Joined Your Collection Lately?

[I am not a number]

12 hours ago, OCArt said:

@I am not a numberWhat town id you say you lived in?  

I'm in Wiltshire, only a few miles from Bath. There's lots of 'old money' around these parts, so charity shops can yield some great things!

[Beechwood]

3 hours ago, I am not a number said:

I'm in Wiltshire, only a few miles from Bath. There's lots of 'old money' around these parts, so charity shops can yield some great things!

 

I suspect that OCA is teasing you.

 

You have done very well, I am close to some very posh parts of Cheshire and although the charity shops have fresh stocks, in terms of good pens there is beggar all less 10%

[I am not a number]

1 hour ago, Beechwood said:

 

I suspect that OCA is teasing you.

 

You have done very well, I am close to some very posh parts of Cheshire and although the charity shops have fresh stocks, in terms of good pens there is beggar all less 10%

There's some serious money around those parts!

 

I suspect I'm lucky because of house clearouts, with any stuff less than the current asking price of a Picasso sketch, going to charity shops.

[inkstainedruth]

I've had similar experiences around here, but Pittsburgh *always* had money (didn't know that about Bath, although I've been there).  But I've NEVER run across a 51 with an oblique nib ANYWHERE -- let alone MULTIPLE ones!  Now totally jealous!

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

[Beechwood]

24 minutes ago, I am not a number said:

There's some serious money around those parts!

 

I suspect I'm lucky because of house clearouts, with any stuff less than the current asking price of a Picasso sketch, going to charity shops.

 

 

Yes, I have heard of this type of situation. A lone parent passes, any children need to sell an empty house, sometimes they just hire a skip (dumpster) and fill it with everything, if they are benevolent they take certain items to a charity shop, even leaving bags of stuff outside the shop overnight.

 

A friend passed, he collected Victorian pen and ink drawings, hundreds of them. His children were clearing his house and threw everything away. I knew one of them and we talked, they had London apartments and said that they were sorry but they simply had no space.

 

 Must admit, it is something I worry about. 

[inkstainedruth]

Yeah.  The stuff I see at estate sales is just astounding sometimes.  And even if it's not something I would want, at least they're making an attempt to find homes for those things, and making at least a little money for the heirs (I'm staggered at the deals I've gotten on pens at estate sales around here -- not of course that I'm gonna argue, but still...).

When my dad died, I asked the estate attorney about having a sale and got told (my dad lived in a retirement community in NJ) to just take what I wanted -- "everything else was going to Goodwill" (or possibly just getting tossed in the trash) -- because I was told by the guy that there was "nothing of value"  (we ended up with a lot of my parents' books, and some of the furniture; not sure what my brother ended up with).  I did salvage his ham radio equipment and gave it to a friend of ours (she was absolutely ecstatic!).  Not sure what happened to my dad's camera stuff and telescopes.  Hopefully that stuff found good homes.

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

[I am not a number]

I've actually put a codicil into my will, that the executors need to get a fountain pen collector in to sort through my stash when I pop my clogs. There's some seriously good stuff in there, and last week I started labelling some of the boxes to make things easier. I even suggested looking on here for a suitable candidate, with the payment being that they can select three pens to take away.

[InkyProf]

Three recent additions: a 51 Demi aerometric in Plum, either F or a narrow M, 1948; a VS in Rust, M, 1947; and the pen I finished today, an Azure Pearl Vac Major from 1945, with a firm but beautifully smooth wet F nib. The clip ring on the Vac has some significant plating loss on one side, but the rest of the pen is in great shape; I’ve been hoping to find an Azure with good color so this really makes me happy. 🙂

 

[I am not a number]

Oooooooooooooh! Nice!

[inkstainedruth]

@InkyProf Azure Blue Pearl is my favorite color for Vacs.  And I really should put my Plum Demi back into rotation at some point (I'd dearly love to get a full size one some day, but the prices give me nosebleeds.... 

Not familiar with the VS model at all.

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

[InkyProf]

2 hours ago, I am not a number said:

Oooooooooooooh! Nice!

 

Thanks!

 

1 hour ago, inkstainedruth said:

Azure Blue Pearl is my favorite color for Vacs.

 

Mine too, although a really brightly colored Emerald Pearl can make me weak in the knees, too...

 

1 hour ago, inkstainedruth said:

Not familiar with the VS model at all.

 

"Vacumatic Successor," I think is what the acronym stands for. Only made for a couple of years post WW2. Button filler, with a clear feed, and a clip that looks like the second of the two Challenger clip styles. I don't have the impression that they're super popular, but I like the design. Haven't used it yet!

[VacNut]

I have found some good buys at the Lisbon Weekend Street Markets. €35-40 for 51’s and 61’s. It helps that the country has a strong literary tradition without the high prices.

[Targa]

On 2/19/2026 at 1:07 PM, inkstainedruth said:

Yeah.  The stuff I see at estate sales is just astounding sometimes.  And even if it's not something I would want, at least they're making an attempt to find homes for those things, and making at least a little money for the heirs (I'm staggered at the deals I've gotten on pens at estate sales around here -- not of course that I'm gonna argue, but still...).

When my dad died, I asked the estate attorney about having a sale and got told (my dad lived in a retirement community in NJ) to just take what I wanted -- "everything else was going to Goodwill" (or possibly just getting tossed in the trash) -- because I was told by the guy that there was "nothing of value"  (we ended up with a lot of my parents' books, and some of the furniture; not sure what my brother ended up with).  I did salvage his ham radio equipment and gave it to a friend of ours (she was absolutely ecstatic!).  Not sure what happened to my dad's camera stuff and telescopes.  Hopefully that stuff found good homes.

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

I have been nearing that final edge for some time, then somehow recovering, and on and on, but yes, this is a sort-of worry.  My wife and I tell ourselves that once we are dead we won't give rodent's posterior end about it, so just enjoy it while we still can.  That said, we have walked our executor through the most liquidatable bits, and I keep a photo catalog of pens.  I ought to do the same for my wife's jewelry.  It's a big job to do it well.  

We also worry about who will take care of the cat.  That matters more, somehow.

[inkstainedruth]

I understand your concerns about the cat.  

When my dad retired and my parents moved to New Jersey, my mom was really worried about the cat which had adopted them (he actually belonged to the people who lived diagonally behind us -- but his owners would let him out early in the morning, so that he could be wasting time sitting by the door to the dining room, pretty much every day....

And my mom used to worry that the new owner would think that the cat had been abandoned by my parents.

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

[Carguy]

There were a couple of Parker 51’s in an estate sale ad last weekend. I didn’t make it on the first day, so when I arrived at open time the next day, they were gone. Only thing left was a beat up Sheaffer Snorkel that I cannot repair myself, so I passed on it.

[inkstainedruth]

Any more, I look at listings ahead of time for estate sales.  Because if I'm going to have to get up at 0 dark 30 to drive an hour to go stand in line for another hour, to get in line before the dealers and pickers do?  It had better be worth my while, and the cost of gas to get there, and I often then treat myself to breakfast someplace afterwards (so another expense).

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

[VacNut]

The moniker says it all…A golden web, a Slender Maxima, and an Emerald OS is on the way to me. 
Good thing I decided to cut back on Parker Pens…

[inkstainedruth]

"Cutting back"?   You sound like me....

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

 

[PinehillJoe]

Purchased from a collector on FaceBook.  A 1950's pen.  Its my first Parker P51, and amazed at how smoothly it writes.

[VacNut]

36 minutes ago, inkstainedruth said:

"Cutting back"?   You sound like me....

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

 

Maybe a better choice of words is “ more selective”.🫣🫣🫣