Trained Well

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When this one showed up in (yet another) online auction – damn, I miss telling you something interesting about how these things have been coming my way – I knew to bid on it.

At least how I knew to bid on it is something interesting.  Dan Zazove, Parker aficionado and expert, as well as co-author of landmark books on the Parker Duofold and Parker Vacumatic, cornered me at the Ohio Show several years ago with a pencil that he said was special, and he said I needed to buy it.  I did, although with a bit of a blind spot for Parker (I’ve admitted I can appreciate them, not that I’m an expert with them), I did so on faith:

That stubbier cap on the clip model Dan sold me is that quasi-“streamline” model of 1929 – see Volume 4, page 329.  I call it quasi-streamline because, as documented in that previous article, the top end treatment was changed when Parker introduced the slightly rounded (but still flat on the top) “streamline” Duofolds during that year.  

Here’s what’s interesting: these black rubber barrels have groups of lines on them, which to my knowledge streamlined Duofold pens never had:

Dan’s pencil has a label which reads simply “Duofold Junior Pencil $3.50":

The ringtop is denominated model 91, with a $3.00 price tag:

Unfortunately, the PCA’s library is sparse on Parker catalogs from the 1920s.  The 1923 catalog shows only Parker’s new metal “Lucky Lock” pencils, while a 1929 pamphlet illustrates the introduction of streamlined pencils, so production of pencils like these fall somewhere in between.  The only other catalog there is dated 1927, and the page showing black and red pencils illustrates smooth barrels only.  The ringtop is black is model 82, not model 91:

Note that these pencils are “to match the pens,” referring to Parker Duofold pens on the preceding page.  

On a later page, fountain pens are illustrated with black lined barrels matching my pencils – but unlike all the other colors of writing instruments Parker offered that year, no matching pencils are listed:

In addition, the pens shown on this page do not have Duofold imprints, and they are not referred to as such – they were just Parker Black and Gold Pens.

I circled back around to Dan as I was writing this article, to make sure exactly what was so rare about these – the black lined barrels, the lined barrels in combination with the “Duofold” imprint on them, or the price tags . . . or a combination of all three.  Dan confirmed that it was the name “Duofold” on the black lined barrels that is unusual.

But the price tags don’t hurt!