Newest Acquisitions (Virtual "Show & Tell") ~ part 563

Today's pen review is courtesy of Christopher, whose write ups about his vintage finds have been a staple since we started doing these type of blog posts at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. I hope you are enjoying these write ups, and if you are a member of our pen club, please feel free to submit them for posting. Without further ado, here is Christopher's latest vintage treasure!

He writes:  

"The Parker 'Striped' Duofold has always been a favourite in its Vacumatic form. It was my dear old mother's pen of choice and one that I kept ship shape for her for a good many years. Unlike the regular Parker Vacumatic line with the horizontal striped finish, what the Parker company called, 'Laidtone' had the stripes running vertically. Couple this with vibrant exterior colours and pearl and, my goodness, you have a spectacular finish. The striped Duofold did come with a button filler, but with the Vacumatic filler it gave the user the option as with the regular Vacumatic of viewing just how much ink was in the barrel at any given time. Strangely enough, the blind cap cover was the same long length for both the button and Vacumatic fillers on the striped Duofold. Plus, the striped Duofold came with more or less the same sized range of models as the regular Parker Vacumatic. There was even the option of a double jewel with some of the sizes at one point in time.

(photo courtesy of Christopher ~ please click on image to enlarge)

But let us take a look at a striped Duofold which most recently came my way. The finish on my newly acquired pen is an exquisite 'Dusty Red' and Pearl. This is smartly offset with 14K Gold filled fittings. Being a Junior model, the cap is appointed with an attractive double thin banding, while the conically shaped jet-black clip screw-in jewel secures a Parker split feather arrow clip. This is a Canadian pen well marked with Parker date coding on both the 14K Gold nib and barrel. The former is held in place by a short but adequate grip section, while the jet-black feed is marked 'W' for a wide ink channel, which allows a goodly measure of ink to get to the paper. The matching blind cap at the end of the barrel is both lengthy and conical ended, much like the cap jewel. This blind cap covers a Vacumatic plastic amber button filler with a black button end. The pen itself is in remarkable condition with a crystal-clear barrel transparency. It, in turn, posts at just under 6 full inches, but caps back to a pocketable 5 inches to stow. I simply love this pen and it will not only be in my suitcase for our annual holiday in Hawaii, but end up in my vintage pen collection as a proud trooper."

Our thanks to Christopher for another nice write up! (and bon voyage, too! 🌞🌴)

February meeting at the Vancouver Pen Shop!

Vancouver Pen Club February 2026 meeting

When: Saturday February 21, 2026 from 6:30pm to ???

Where: The Vancouver Pen Shop, 555 Howe Street, Vancouver, BC.

Theme: "Your Worst Fountain Pen Purchase"

Please note: this is just a social event (not a regular meeting), but if you have any regrettable fountain pen purchases that fit the theme and wish to show them to your fellow attendees and/or the store staff (they love seeing the pens we bring in!), please bring them with you. Thanks to Van Pen Shop staffer Dom for the theme idea!

As with previous VPC get-togethers held at the store, members can buy stuff from the Pen Shop during the event. Many thanks to the Vancouver Pen Shop for inviting us back so soon! 😁  

➡️Any questions? Please email us at vancouverpenclub@gmail.com 

Photos from our January 2026 meeting

Our first pen club meeting of 2026 was held on Thursday January 15th at the Renfrew branch of the Vancouver Public Library with 40 members in attendance, including six newcomers (Cindy, Elle, Enkay, James Y, Joe, and Samuel)!

The format of this month's meeting was a casual "show & tell", and the topic was "Newest Pen-Related Acquisitions". I think the two-minutes-per-person show & tell time limit moved things along nicely and gave us extra time to chat amongst ourselves after show & tell was over. Many thanks to Amy, Mark, Paul and Sheila for the door prizes they generously donated (3D-printed ink vial holder, wooden pen display case, Crocodile fountain pen set, hardbound books, Platinum Carbon Black ink), which were won by James Y, Shona, Mindy, Kerwin, and Samuel respectively! 👏

It was a busy meeting, however, I did remember to take some photos for our blog, so here they are...

(all photos by Maja ~ please click on images to enlarge) The meeting was very well-attended (more people arrived after this photo was taken!) and we saw a multitude of new acquisitions brought in by our members, such as ...

(Above, left to right) Liz R's TWSBI Eco 'Cosmos' fountain pen, Vladan's two Stabilo 'Grow' fountain pens (Beech (Blueberry Blue) and Oak (Moss Green)), Liz's TWSBI '580 ALR' Caribbean w/ Onyx (a special edition which came out in November 2024), Stuart's new-style MUJI aluminum fountain pen, two vintage Waterman C/F fountain pens,  his Sheaffer Imperial Triumph, and Jinhao X450 in matte black. 

Some cool facts about the Stabilo 'Grow' model (taken from its Amazon listing): 
The Stabilo 'Grow' is a climate neutral product (saving approximately 70 percent CO2 emissions in raw material compared to a filler made of conventional plastic; the remaining CO2 emissions are compensated by a certified climate project) with a shaft (barrel) made from 100% FSC-certified wood from Germany, an ergonomic grip made from almost 100% renewable raw materials, and a cap made of conventional plastic partially replaced with natural fibres (sunflower seed shells). The renewable raw materials used are waste products from the food and paper industry and therefore ethically harmless. 

(Above, top to bottom) Fred's black Pilot 'Custom 74' fountain pen (with a BB nib Architect grind done by CY of Tokyo Station Pens), Asifa's new red Jinhao '20' fountain pen and Jerred's light green Online 'Icone' model resting on Aumbrine's ink swatches (and lovely calligraphy) ...

A close-up of the Online 'Icone' fountain pen (which includes a stylus tip).... 

(Above, left to right) Stuart's Otto Hutt 02 sterling silver fountain pen, Vladan's Stabilo 'Grow' Plum Red (Cherry) fountain pen, an elegant vintage Lady Sheaffer "White Tulle" set belonging to Jerred, Yang's dazzling Benu 'Euphoria' "Vibrant Summer" fountain pen (a Cult Pens exclusive), and a beautiful Montegrappa rollerball owned by Aumbrine. Kai's new Akkerman "Zuiderpark Blauw-Groen" (Blue-Green) ink is in the upper left corner of the photo. 

(Above, top to bottom) Aumbrine's maroon Sailor fountain pen, and then a mystery pen I'm trying to identify (lol), Aumbrine's Visconti 'Rembrandt' "Khaki Green Ops" fountain pen, and Asifa's Jinhao '20' glittery clear demonstrator with rose gold trim (a limited edition). Several of our members (Asifa, Amy, Allan, Mindy, and myself) brought their new Jinhao 20s for the topic; due to its low price, it's quickly become a very popular fountain pen (and it's available in a large variety of colours!).

(Above) James D's handsome Springfield Pens fountain pen (with a modified Architect nib done by fellow VPCer Jerred) resting on Liz R's colourful ink swatches...

(Above, top to bottom) A wonderful four-pen cloth case handmade for me by fellow VPC member Amy (thank you again, Amy! 😊 ), my new Asvine C80 in "Galaxy" (which comes with a #8 size steel nib), a Springfield Pens fountain pen (in an unnamed poly-resin material) that I recently acquired from its pen maker (Anson), my Champagne Pink Pilot 'Decimo' and my new limited edition "Ice Blue" Jinhao 20 with rose gold trim (the Pilot Decimo isn't new, but I brought it in to show its similarity to its clone, the Jinhao 20 :)

(Above) Sheila's brand-new (she did a quick unboxing during her "show & tell"😂 ) Pelikan 'M300' fountain pen in Pelikan's classic striped green. The M300 is the smallest model in the Pelikan Souverän lineup, but it's as beautiful as its larger counterparts...

(Above) Last but not least, that's Phil's brand-new Springfield Pens fountain pen in Inlace Acrylester material. The pen is a 'Robin' model that was handmade by Anson and finished the day of our meeting!

Thank you to everyone who came to our January meeting, whether you brought anything to show or not; you brought yourselves -- that's the main thing! 😀 I had fun at the meeting, and I hope you did, too. Information about our February meeting will be posted very soon!

(~ blog post by Maja ~)

Newest Acquisitions (Virtual "Show & Tell") ~ part 562

Many thanks to all who attended our meeting on Thursday at the VPL's Renfrew branch!!Next week, I'll post some photos from the meeting, as well as information about our February meet up. In the meantime, here's another review by Christopher, who sent me this write up about a vintage fountain pen with a very interesting filling mechanism - a pen made for a large U.S. department store chain...

Christopher writes:
"I remember back in the mid 1950s, when I was living in New Jersey, going in on the train with my grandfather to New York and having the city vista take my breath away. And at Christmas, when we went shopping, just being so impressed with the Sears Roebuck department store. They literally had everything... but let's wind the hands of the clock back to the mid 1930s and visit the Sears pen counter. At this grand station of the store, one could buy any number of different fountain pens, including the store's house brand, 'Good Service'. If you were lucky enough to acquire one of these definitely fine pens, you would immediately be impressed with its writing ability, not to mention its good looks, but what I am going to illustrate in this article is a Good Service pen that to my mind is outstanding."

(photo courtesy of Christopher ~ please click on image to enlarge)

He continues:
"Let us start with the finish. The cap, barrel and long blind cap are presented in the most stunning striated Emerald, jet and pearl with black vertical lines breaking up these colours. The barrel has transparency and, although red ambered, I would have to give it a C8 in clarity. Protruding out of the back end of the barrel, is a well-made polished aluminum threaded collar, which marries with the long blind cap when the pen is not being inked. From this collar, an equally long plunger syringe aluminum tube also sticks out, and from its end is a spring loaded (also aluminum) metal button. To fill the pen, one simply pushes this plunger and button unit into the barrel. Then the spring-loaded button action, pops the button out and by grabbing hold of this button, the syringe filler can be pulled smoothly back out of the barrel to draw ink into the pen by capillary action. It is, to my mind, a sheer genius mechanism. 

Moving to the business end of the pen, the barrel sports a most adequate jet-black section that, in turn, secures a most impressive 14K Gold flexible nib that, in turn, writes both consistently and smoothly. The cap is well-designed and mirrors the blind cap in its shape and design. It also has a very attractive triple banding near the open end. Held securely on this cap, is a 14K Gold filled art Deco design clip. This clip has a crest at its peak, running down with chased vertical lines to a ball end. I should mention that to finish this overall make up, both the cap and blind cap have black conical end disks. The one thing that really rings true about this pen is its super quality and precision crafting. It is my understanding that it was, in fact, made by the National Pen Company of Chicago. Needless to say, it has stolen my heart and, in doing so, will be a wonderful addition to my pen collection."

Our thanks to Christopher for sending in this pen review for our club's blog!

January 2026 meeting information!

Where: The Branch Meeting Room of the Vancouver Public Library's RENFREW branch at 2969 East 22nd Avenue, in Vancouver, BC. The library is located on East 22nd Avenue, between Renfrew and Nootka. Link to branch's web page: https://www.vpl.ca/location/renfrew-branch

Date: THURSDAY JANUARY 15, 2026

Time: 5:15pm to 7:30pm (please note slightly later start time) We will be starting the "show & tell" at about 5:30pm.
  

Topic: NEWEST PEN-RELATED ACQUISITIONS!

⚠️IMPORTANT INFO RE: SHOW & TELL⚠️
We haven't done a  "show & tell" meeting since June of last year, and I know y'all probably have some new stuff you want to share with everyone :) Our club, however, has grown considerably in the last 2-3 years so we're going to have a time limit for this month's "show & tell" of two minutes per person ⏱️.

To help keep track of time, we'll pass a 2-minute sand timer (lol) around the tables so everyone knows how much time they have. One more thing - please hold off asking questions about the stuff being shown until the show & tell is over so we don't run out of time.

I don't know if we'll stick to the time limit for future show & tells, but it's one solution I've been pondering for quite a while now and thought the New Year would be a good time to try it out. Thanks in advance for your cooperation! 

Hope you can make it to the meeting! 😊
Any questions? Please email us at: vancouverpenclub@gmail.com 

Happy New Year 2026!

(above: Radius 1934 'Settimo' "Marmo" Limited Edition fountain pen, made exclusively for our pen club)

If you have any questions about joining our club, please contact us at vancouverpenclub@gmail.com
Best wishes to you & yours for a happy 2026! 😀
~Maja

Newest Acquisitions (Virtual "Show & Tell") ~ part 561

We'll close out 2025's blog posts with Christopher's review of another wonderful vintage Parker model, beloved by many...

Christopher writes:
"If we were to find a second generation Parker pen in the wild and it broke a few rules in its general make up but, at the same time, those broken rules added up to one amazing and very personally satisfying writing instrument, I for one could and would be very forgiving. So exactly what do we have here?"

(all photos courtesy of Christopher ~ please click on images to enlarge)

"First off, it is a very late 1930s emerald Streamlined Parker Vacumatic Canadian long Major measuring 139mm. The emerald pearl finish is not only on the cap and the barrel, but also on both cap and blind cap jewels and, for that matter, on the grip section. Yes, a Canadian Parker Vacumatic first rule broken."

"The fittings are all 14K gold filled and in just lovely condition with no sign of brassing. In fact, I would have to say that the entire pen is in near mint condition. The emerald pearl finish has a brilliant luster and extremely good overall colour.. But the Parker Vacumatic arrow clip is not a 'Blue Diamond' warranty second generation type, which was applied to all Parker Vacumatics in 1939 priced at $8.75 and over -- second make up rule broken."

 "This pen, in fact, has the standard wide feathered Parker arrow clip. It also has a long blind cap with the Parker Speedline filler, which, to my mind, was a great improvement over the Parker Lockdown filler, since it could be operated single-handedly. Back at the business end of the pen, in that matching finish grip section, is a securely held 14K Gold Parker arrow nib, supported underneath with a 'W' marked wide channel feed. This all adds up to a great writer with a responsible consistent ink flow. The barrel transparency is red ambered, but about a C8 in its clarity. In closing, I have to ask myself, what is there not go like about this pen? So with no more ado, I will ink it for the week ahead and after it will become part of my vintage pen collection."

Thanks again, Christopher, for all the informative vintage pen reviews you've sent in for our club's blog! 🙂

Wishing everyone a very happy New Year 2026 🍾🎉!
~Maja 

Newest Acquisitions (Virtual "Show & Tell") ~ part 560

Back to vintage Parker fountain pens we go, with Christopher's review of an all-time classic!

(all photos courtesy of Christopher ~ please click on images to enlarge)

He writes:
"A must for any vintage pen collector has to be the Parker Chinese red Senior Duofold, especially as it was first presented in hard red rubber. But the story of just how the Parker Duofold came about is, in fact, an interesting one. George Parker, the president and founder of the Parker company, had a very strong sales force, but for one western-based salesman, Lewis Tebbell. Mainly based in Spokane, Washington, Tebbell had the lowest sales in his department and was on George Parker's radar for termination. At the same time, George took a sales and marketing development trip to Europe and the Far East, but was determined to deal with Tebbell when he returned. But Tebbell had come up with an extremely good idea involving the development of a new Parker pen and, in contacting the main Parker plant, persuaded one of the Parker machinists to make a prototype of his pen idea. 

Years earlier, Parker had using red rubber to come out with a huge fountain pen model branded the 'Red Giant', but the model had been prone to open end cap cracking and, in turn, was taken off the market. Tebbell's idea was to incorporate this red hard vulcanized rubber with the Parker 26 Jack Knife model, but keep both the clip screw and the blind cap in their original jet black. Tebbell tried to interest the Parker board, but being old and conservative men and with George Parker's absence, they turned Tebbell down flat. So Tebbell took a step up and, in turn, approached Kenneth Parker, who was fresh back from a year in the advertising business. Kenneth immediately saw the value in Tebbell's pen, which Tebbell had branded the 'Duofold', and let's say the rest is history. The Parker Duofold pen went on to be one of the Parker company's biggest sellers. And Mr. Lewis M. Tebbell won the respect of his boss."

"Still, the Duofold I am featuring in this article originally came out all of four years after the Duofold's inception. It is the largest pen in the line and branded (accordingly) a 'Senior'. The finish material is Chinese Red hard or vulcanized rubber and the inscription on the barrel, referred to as medium sized, indicates that this pen dates Circa 1924. The raised rolled 14K Gold cap banding, also qualifies that dating and both this fitting and the rolled 14K Gold ball ended ring clip, compliment the red and black rubber finish to perfection. One very nice additional feature to this Parker pen is that the barrel threading was designed with a three-point starter, so that the barrel logo could be lined up with the cap clip accordingly. This is a brass button filler, with very strong ink drawing power and, the overall size of the barrel being quite substantial, is capable of providing ample room for a very large ink sack. The jet-black section sports a very interesting Parker Duofold nib.

Late in the day, when Duofolds were returning to Parker for nib replacement, the company designed a very handsome 14K Gold arrow replacement nib. Often confused with the Vacumatic arrow nib, with a similar arrow engraved on the surface, the feather configuration of this Duofold replacement nib is indeed different; if you remove these replacement Duofold nibs from their sections, there is an 'R' engraved at the inside end to represent replacement. In my Duofold, this replacement nib is an extra fine model, but in writing with it, its performance is impressive.

Last, but far from least, is the pen part that this nib sits on. In a good number of Parker Lucky Curve feeds I have run across in disassembling these pens, the curved down back end of the feed has been cut off to provide ease of removal of the feed and nib. So, to have one hundred percent intact, and in the largest Parker Duofold Lucky Curve feed, is definitely a coup. And to put the so-called icing on the cake, this is what is referred to as a 'Christmas Tree' or Spearhead feed. Brought to bear in 1905 by George Parker, and called as such for its barb-shaped notches, which increase the capillary action to draw ink into the pen, this type of feed was just a blessing. Admittedly. I do have several Chinese red Senior Duofolds, but all from different periods of this Parker pen line. Subsequently, this pen will be a welcome addition to my vintage pen collection."

Newest Acquisitions (Virtual "Show & Tell") ~ part 559

Today we're shining a spotlight on another one of the "Big Four" vintage pen companies;  Waterman was featured on Sunday and Parker yesterday, so that just left Sheaffer and Wahl-Eversharp. Today's write up is by Christopher and it's about a vintage Sheaffer fountain pen. Christopher writes: "Currently, I have a number of Sheaffer Snorkel pens in my collection, but if I was asked to select only one to retain, I would have to say this one is it."

So...which one is it?
To find out, read on!

 (photo courtesy of Christopher ~ please click on image to enlarge)

Christopher writes:
"When it came to filling mechanisms back in the day, I would have to say that Sheaffer's 'Snorkel' definitely was a leader and a sheer bit of mechanical genius. Complex, yes, but with a neat and tidy way of putting ink into a pen. The beauty was that the nib never had to be immersed in or touch the ink. Instead, it was a thin narrow metal tube which, by turning a knob at the end of the barrel, could be extended out of the feed.  A Sheaffer 'Touch Down' mechanism was also incorporated and by pulling that knob up, a metal tube was extended out of the back of the barrel. A further 'push back' of this knob in turn pushed the tube just mentioned back into the barrel. creating a capillary vacuum, which drew the ink into the barrel. Of course, the thin filling tube was of need of a wipe free of ink and then it was simply a matter of screwing the knob back into its original place which, further in turn, brought the thin filling tube back into the feed. Although complex, the filling system worked extremely well

In taking a good look at this particular Sheaffer Snorkel pen, the finish on the gold-filled barrel and cap consists of groups of five vertical chased lines running horizontally from end to end, broken by a cartouche engraving band at the open end of the cap. The section is jet, sporting a silver threaded ring to accommodate and screw on the cap, and at the business end of this grip is a most substantial and quite impressive Sheaffer platinum-masked Triumph 14K Gold nib. This is a white dot warranted Sheaffer pen, which sits extremely well in the hand, posting at a full 6 ½ inches, but capping back responsibly to 5 ½ inches. The Sheaffer catalogue model is 1125ky and had a successful retail run from the mid-fifties up to 1959. If you have your sights set on a Sheaffer Snorkel, I think this is the one that ticks off all the boxes and will definitely find a place in my vintage pen collection."

Thank you, Christopher, for sharing this very cool vintage fountain pen with us! For a more detailed look (with illustrations) of Sheaffer's Snorkel-filling mechanism, check out Richard Binder's article here.

Newest Acquisitions (Virtual "Show & Tell") ~ part 558

If you're a regular reader of Christopher's pen reviews here, you'd know that he's a huge fan of vintage Parker Vacumatic fountain pens :) Here's a really nice write up (with some historical background) on his latest one:

(photo courtesy of Christopher ~ please click on image to enlarge)

Christopher writes:
"Can there be enough said in praise of a vintage Parker Vacumatic, the design of which was sheer genius? Following the world-breaking Duofold, which literally put the Parker pen corporation on the map, the Vacumatic was the commendable idea of Kenneth Parker, son of the company's founder. There were just so many pluses for those of us who had a Parker Vacumatic back in the day. For one, the design and finish was a step above most of the pens produced by Parker's competitors. Plus, the finish was so in advance of anything that had been considered back in the early 1930s. Parker had moved from the hard Vulcanized rubber to plastic for their Duofold line of pens. Still, when it came to the new Parker Vacumatic, Kenneth approached the DuPont company to develop and produce a strong plastic that would give the Parker new products a luster jewel-like finish. And although there was an initial step to ending up with the Vacumatic that hit the retailers in 1934, the Vacumatic has some really unique qualities. Think of a pen which used a rubber diaphragm to draw ink into a welcoming barrel. And without an ink sack to limit what was actually drawn into the pen. The barrel could, in fact, be filled with a generous amount of ink. Plus, the barrel's (in part) transparent finish allowed the user to gauge exactly how much ink was inside the barrel at any given time. The finish also involved coloured horizontal rings which, coupled with the Lucite luster, made the finish pop and sparkle.

Initially the filler for the Vacumatic was a mechanism that sat partly outside the barrel and had a spring-loaded tube which could be pumped and then locked back down into the back end of the pen. Again, allowing for a greater ink capacity. There was also a relatively long breather tube inside the barrel, which helped to compensate for the different air pressure and offset leaking problems. But that was just the tip of the so-called iceberg.

So, what of this pen I am featuring? Well, it has a golden pearl finish with amazing luster. It has the lock down filling system that I mentioned and is a Parker Vacumatic Standard model, identified by its triple cap banding. The cap sports a wide feather Parker arrow clip which, as with the other fixtures, is 14K Gold filled. But I think the true beauty of this Parker writing instrument is the matching striped finish on the barrel, cap, double jewels and grip section which, may I add, sports a two tone, 14K Gold Parker arrow nib. Plus, this pen holds its own as a pre-streamlined model and, in doing so, mirrors its big brother, the oversized Vacumatic. To my mind, this pen is big enough to sit well-balanced in the hand, posting at all of 6 inches but capping back to a pocketable 5 inches. As for a writer, I would have to say this is a medium flex general writing pen. Will this pen see its way into my vintage pen collection? Is there any doubt?"