What Parkers Have Joined Your Collection Lately?

[VacNut]

21 minutes ago, PinehillJoe said:

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

Congratulations. That looks like a medium nib.

[inkstainedruth]

@PinehillJoe -- Nice!  What's the nib on it?  And I can't tell from the photos if it's an Aerometric or one of the earlier 51 Vacumatics (while I tend to prefer the Aeros, I have one of the 51 Vacs with a nicely tuned EF nib -- and when I need to do something like taking copious amounts of notes, that pen gets inked up...).

51s are, IMO, the best designed and engineered pens that were ever made.  But I should warn you -- you're likely to NOT just stop at one.... 

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

[I am not a number]

18 hours ago, PinehillJoe said:

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

 

Nice start, a classic black with a Lustraloy cap (which looks to be in excellent condition).

[PinehillJoe]

15 hours ago, inkstainedruth said:

@PinehillJoe -- Nice!  What's the nib on it?  And I can't tell from the photos if it's an Aerometric or one of the earlier 51 Vacumatics (while I tend to prefer the Aeros, I have one of the 51 Vacs with a nicely tuned EF nib -- and when I need to do something like taking copious amounts of notes, that pen gets inked up...).

51s are, IMO, the best designed and engineered pens that were ever made.  But I should warn you -- you're likely to NOT just stop at one.... 

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

Aerometric, with medium nib.  After using it a couple days, I don't want to pick up another pen.  I have filled it once, took 4 pages of notes, and still writing.  I know Your Mileage May Vary, but this is longer than I expected. 

 

And yes, one more is on the way from Peyton Pen in Santa Cruz.  

[inkstainedruth]

Oh I'm not at all surprised by the ink capacity in 51s!  I LOVE all of mine!

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

[FarmBoy]

5 hours ago, inkstainedruth said:

Oh I'm not at all surprised by the ink capacity in 51s!  I LOVE all of mine!

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

Parker said 1.4 ml.

[Amberjack]

Just found this week, a ‘post blue diamond’ vacumatic P51 in Cordovan Brown.  GF cap, F nib.

Marked ‘T7’ with 2 dots, for manufacture in Q2 of 1947 in the Townsend Tractor annex of the Janesville plant.

This is my first ‘tractor’ pen.  Details of this uncommon marking can be found at David Nishimura’s excellent site here.

 

https://vintagepens.com/FAQhistory/Parker_date_codes.shtml

 

 

 

 

[inkstainedruth]

Neat find!  I don't think I've ever come across any of the "Townsend" pens in the wild.  

Did the ink bottle/box come with the pen?  I'm not familiar with "Tunis Blue" and don't think I've ever seen any Parker ink labeled *specifically* for use with 51s....

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

[Amberjack]

1 hour ago, inkstainedruth said:

Neat find!  I don't think I've ever come across any of the "Townsend" pens in the wild.  

Did the ink bottle/box come with the pen?  I'm not familiar with "Tunis Blue" and don't think I've ever seen any Parker ink labeled *specifically* for use with 51s....

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

 

'51' ink has a notorious reputation as a pen eater (literally).  A well meaning attempt to provide a quick drying ink, it was so damaging to celluloid, metals, etc it was discontinued in '48.  the P51 was built to use it, but there are many documented examples of degraded and destroyed P51s as well.  It came in Tunis Blue, China Red, India Black and Pan American Green.

 

The ink is just a prop for the pen picture, already had it in my collection.  It's full, never used.

 

Here's a fun and well done review of this verboten substance...

 

[VacNut]

On 2/28/2026 at 8:30 AM, inkstainedruth said:

Oh I'm not at all surprised by the ink capacity in 51s!  I LOVE all of mine!

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

There are 51 Aerometrics with even longer fillers, and maybe with even greater ink capacity. You just have to search for them, as then tend to be stored deep in some people’s collections…

[PinehillJoe]

For camparison, I bought a new P-51.  The new version is a close second.  It writes nicely.  I find having to unscrew the cap the biggest foible.   I think the modern P51 will be my every day carry, if I scratch or loose it, I can replace easily. 

Edited March 1 by PinehillJoe

[Glenn-SC]

13 hours ago, PinehillJoe said:

For camparison, I bought a new P-51.  The new version is a close second.  It writes nicely.  I find having to unscrew the cap the biggest foible.   I think the modern P51 will be my every day carry, if I scratch or loose it, I can replace easily. 

I have two of the current generation 51s and both are very nice writers.  At first the need to “unscrew” a 51 cap was bothersome, but recently after using my other pens with screw caps, the press-on/pull-off vintage “51” cap, specially with tight gripping fingers, feels somehow strange.  

[PinehillJoe]

A new for me P 51 from Peyton Street, a Parker 51 Special Pen and Pencil Set in burgundy with fine nibb.  The Vintage P 51s are addictive.  As a young engineer I used to live with pencils, now I can't remember the last time I used one for other than carpentry. 

[PinehillJoe]

I purchased this on eBay.  Flushed and soaked for two days, then filled with Lamy Ink.  It a nice fine nibb. 

[Carguy]

Nice find!

[JasonR]

I got this one a couple of weeks ago and just opened it up today.  I don’t know anything about Parkers, but this thread is always so active that I was curious.   
 

Any help on identifying the specific model or other interesting info would be appreciated.  
 

 

[jchch1950]

The nib looks wide. After your first Parker 51, you may start looking for them after this one, as many of us did when we tried the first one. After years, the wallet keeps complaining about that moment

[thx1138]

1 hour ago, jchch1950 said:

The nib looks wide. After your first Parker 51, you may start looking for them after this one, as many of us did when we tried the first one. After years, the wallet keeps complaining about that moment

From the photo the nib looks like a fine/medium UK nib. If the pen is from Janesville it would be medium/broad.

[I am not a number]

Agree with thx1138, an India Black Aerometric MkII (or MkIII, depending on your level of 'pureism') with a lustraloy cap. Nib looks to be a UK medium and nicely aligned with the feed.

 

There's a little wear to the cap due to the clip rotating, that's fairly common and mainly shows on lustraloy caps.

 

That pen is probably 60 or so years old, possibly older, and it will last for decades longer if looked after. Overall, it's in pretty good condition, so I hope it brings you happiness for many years.

 

I should also add a warning: Parker 51s are addictive.

 

Like, seriously addictive.

[I am not a number]

13 hours ago, jchch1950 said:

... After your first Parker 51, you may start looking for them after this one, as many of us did when we tried the first one. After years, the wallet keeps complaining about that moment

 

Yup!

 

Just bought my (approx) 60th P51.

 

Added bonus, the seller described it as black, but to my absolute delight, it's Forest Green, minty (soz) condition, not a mark on it, and the second in my collection (and a 'steal' at £45).