Newest Acquisitions (Virtual "Show & Tell") ~ part 570

Here's Christopher's write up about a very special recent find! 😀

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

"The 51 was actually the idea and concept of George Parker’s son, Kenneth, who became president of the company in 1933. A young corporate figure who not only had done his time at an advertising agency, but was both inventive and a pilot. Being extremely progressive, he understood that it was important to be one step ahead of the competition, thus a new and advanced line of pens was called for. What was developed and came out of his idea was the so called ‘Pen From Another Planet’. And better still, Kenneth having his wings, saw to it that to offset leaking from a difference in air pressure, that the new aerodynamic 51 had a responsible breather tube and a collector as part of its feed, to keep a wee bit of ink up front so that the pen would come to life and write at any given time. But most important to the marketing end of the equation was to equip the Parker sales force with 51 demonstration models which, in turn, they could take out to the general public to demonstrate the 51’s working strengths. As one can imagine, these demonstrator 51 models, as time went by, became extremely rare.

For years --in fact, as soon as I realized that there actually were Parker 51 Demonstrators-- it was something I just had to have. But for all of sixteen years, it was just wishful thinking. Then, totally out of the blue, one came my way. What I really liked about this item was twofold. First -- the condition, but secondly, it was never made for sale. And this latter fact was inscribed with the model branding right on the barrel. Produced 100% for the Parker sales department. So let me outline the makeup of this rare fountain pen...

Well, first of all, the barrel is black and, as mentioned, had the model, ‘Demonstrator’ along with ‘Not For Sale’ inscribed accordingly. The filling mechanism is Vacumatic with a plastic button covered with a rounded screw-on blind cap. At the business end of the barrel is a clear transparent grip section which allows viewing of the nib, feed and collector. In this case, the feed/collector is black. The 14K Gold nib is a medium writer and that whole front part of the pen is covered with a smart Parker 51 Gold filled ‘Custom’ cap. The clip is the short feathered arrow held in place with a gray plastic jewel. This specific Parker 51 demonstrator hails from the late 1940s and will definitely deserve a place of honor in the Parker ranks of my vintage pen collection."

Christopher--congratulations on this great vintage find, and thanks for the informative write up and accompanying photos!