Parker Writefine: A "Variant"

Over the winter, a fellow stumbled upon my Mechanical Pencil Museum online and sent me an email.  He claimed to have, among other things, a Parker Writefine which, instead of an exposed eraser, had an eraser under a cap.  The pictures he sent me weren't very clear, but we were finally able to agree on the price.

This example is identical to other ones I had in my collection, so the only reason I bought this one was for the different top treatment . . .

NOTE:  This article is now included in the print version of The Leadhead's Pencil Blog, available anywhere you buy books, or also from The Legendary Lead Company.

To order, here's the link:  Volume 1 at Legendary Lead Company

Parker Writefine: Later Examples

The second generation of Parker Writefines came in a nice variety of colors.

The trim rings found on earlier examples have been abandoned, and the top section on these is fixed, so there's no more unscrewing them and losing the clip.  Unfortunately, the top example in this picture is missing the knurled plastic piece, which is a shame (on ebay, it had a large rubber eraser over the top which hid this problem). 

Barrel imprints appear either at the top opposite the clip, or as two in this picture show, just above the lower barrel section.    Notice also the one second from bottom has a longer lower barrel and shorter upper barrel . . .

NOTE:  This article is now included in the print version of The Leadhead's Pencil Blog, available anywhere you buy books, or also from The Legendary Lead Company.

To order, here's the link:  Volume 1 at Legendary Lead Company

Parker Writefine: "Striped Duofold" Writefines

When Sheaffer introduced its "working togs" utility pencils in the late 1930s, they quickly became a very successful seller for the company.  The robust design and exposed eraser made them a perfect no-fuss writing instrument, and the company sold millions of them over the course of decades.  Sheaffer also came up with a thinner lead for use in these pencils, called "Fineline" lead, and eventually created the "Fineline Division" dedicated to producing lower-cost writing instruments, including the "pearlie" pencils, up into the 1970s.

Sheaffer's success did not go unnoticed by Parker, so Parker decided to try to get into the game.  Parker's response was the "Writefine," and the earliest examples strongly resemble the "wartime" or "striped" duofolds of the early 1940s . . .

NOTE:  This article is now included in the print version of The Leadhead's Pencil Blog, available anywhere you buy books, or also from The Legendary Lead Company.

To order, here's the link:  Volume 1 at Legendary Lead Company

Getting a Better Grip on Ronsons

Bruce Mindrup said that I had to have this every time I picked it up at his table in Chicago, and I must have picked it up a dozen times.  I knew he was right, and it was pointless to resist. 

This is a first generation Ronson Penciliter (see my post on March 13).  The only reason I tried to resist at first was that I had some reservations about that grip at the nose end, which is  shaped almost like a fountain pen section . . .

NOTE:  This article is now included in the print version of The Leadhead's Pencil Blog, available anywhere you buy books, or also from The Legendary Lead Company.

To order, here's the link:  Volume 1 at Legendary Lead Company

Also Seen at Chicago

Lee Anderson stopped by my table to ask me what I thought about this one. 

What I thought was "wow."   Lee's first concern was whether this truly was a Parker vest pocket pencil (see pages 112 to 113 in The Catalogue), because it didn't appear to have a barrel imprint.  On closer inspection, if you know where the imprint should be, you can just make it out traces of it as you rotate the pencil in strong light.   I don't know whether the imprint was badly worn or whether it wasn't struck that well to begin with, since the trim on the pencil is in really nice shape.

I've never seen this brown marbled color in a Parker Vest Pocket pencil before. . .

NOTE:  This article is now included in the print version of The Leadhead's Pencil Blog, available anywhere you buy books, or also from The Legendary Lead Company.

To order, here's the link:  Volume 1 at Legendary Lead Company

Seen at Chicago

When I passed by Cliff Harrington's table in Chicago, I noticed this one. 

From what I could see, this one didn't appear to be marked at all, and if it weren't "brazilian green" (green and bronze), I've got to admit I might not have considered that it could be an Eversharp.   But according to Cliff it is, and I certainly believe him, because he had the whole set . . .

NOTE:  This article is now included in the print version of The Leadhead's Pencil Blog, available anywhere you buy books, or also from The Legendary Lead Company.

To order, here's the link:  Volume 1 at Legendary Lead Company

Nothing New Under the Sun

Today I'm taking a break from talking about the things I found in Chicago, because the neat story behind this one keeps nagging at me, saying "Ooooh!  Pick me! Write about me!" and I just need to get it over with!

This Eagle "Turquoise Twenty" arrived in my mailbox some time ago from ebay . . .

NOTE:  This article is now included in the print version of The Leadhead's Pencil Blog, available anywhere you buy books, or also from The Legendary Lead Company.

To order, here's the link:  Volume 1 at Legendary Lead Company