Yes, it's National Ballpoint Day today, so I thought we'd celebrate it by posting photos of some ballpoints pens -- both modern and vintage -- belonging to our members!
Brand-new Vancouver Pen Club member Linda D. kicks off the celebration with her lovely group of colourful modern ballpoint pens:
Linda says the pens are (R-L): "...a Retro 51, two Recife pens, a cute 'stubby' from Target in the US and a sweet small pen from the Remarkable Dog in West Van that sadly no longer exists." I asked Linda about the Remarkable Dog as I hadn't heard of it before, and she said it was a coffee shop (where dogs were welcome :) that also sold some lovely gift items.
From moderns to vintage we go now, courtesy of longtime VPC member Stuart....
Stuart: "The four blingy clipless Parker Jotters are two models of the Princess series from the late 50’s, a late 60’s Tiara, based on the Jotter mini, and a Debutante."
Stuart: "The gold and black enamel Debutante reminds me very strongly of the Lady Sheaffer Paisley, with a similar pattern in the same colouring and material. The pink and blue Princesses make me think of Indian clothing and styles."
Stuart: "The little Tiara is cute and sooo retro! It takes the standard Jotter refill. I’m happy to report that the Princess models have gone up in price since I bought these a few years ago! Tiara’s don’t seem to go as high."
Stuart: "The last shot is of four of my regular Jotters: An unusual and lovely shade of blue, not sure of the date; a vibrant yellow with a bit of orange in it; a funky tomato red; and my first Jotter, bought new some time in the 90’s, with a dark green barrel."
Trevor isn't the only Sheaffer 'Sentinel' fan---I love them, too:
The Sheaffer 'Sentinel' (not to be confused with the vintage Sheaffer fountain pen model of the same name) is a really nice ballpoint that's just a tiny bit longer than the Parker 'Jotter' but noticeably thicker. I got the three brightly-coloured ones at Walmart for less than $20 each a while back, but I haven't seen them there lately; you can still find them at places like Amazon, though. The brushed stainless steel one was actually a recent purchase via LondonDrugs.com ; I ordered the pen online and picked it up at my local LD a couple of hours later (I just checked their website, and it's on sale for $21.74 now!)
(above) Photo of some of his Parker 'Jotters' sent to me by my pen friend Rick M. from the London Pen Club when I mentioned that National Ballpoint Day was coming up. Rick said: "I may have an issue with Parker Jotters. This is what I found in my home
office not too long ago. There's more in the car, at the pen desk, in
drawers. For me the perfect ballpoint." I asked Rick if I could include his photo because it's a great collection and it includes a very early 'Jotter---the red one on the far left. The earliest Jotters had a trough-shaped clip and were made of grooved nylon, not the smooth plastic material that is now used in their production (Update: Prompted by Rick's comment, I did some research and found out that there is some debate as to when this changeover from ribbed nylon to smooth plastic took place--1955 or 1956---so I changed the text above from "first year Jotter" to "very early Jotter". The very first Jotter arrived on the market in 1954--that much we do know).
And on that note, I'll end this blog post by sending our thanks to Linda, Stuart, Trevor and Rick for sharing their ballpoints with us on National Ballpoint Day -- your photos were all very much appreciated :)
Use your ballpoints in good health, everyone!
Cheers,
~Maja
1 comment:
Hi VPC, thanks for showing my pic of my Jotter obsession. Purchased my first Jotter because I wouldn't be able to chew the end like was doing to my BIC sticks. Glad to say the Jotter cured me of the habit. I'm not sure if the pen on the left is a 1954 First Year Jotter, but it is an early one before Parker added the metal tip and updated the clip to the familiar Arrow design.
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