Pens on this page are part of my personal collection and are not for sale. If there is a magnifying-glass symbol () next to a pen, click the magnifying glass to view a zoomed version for more detail.

As popular and successful as Esterbrook’s Model J was, the Camden, New Jersey, company learned — as had Henry Ford 30 years earlier — that you can’t offer the same thing forever to a public eager for the new and different. One of Esterbrook’s responses to the need to modernize its products was this pneumatic model called the Safari, which operates exactly like Sheaffer’s Imperial I of the 1960s. There was no reason to abandon the reliable Renew-Point system, and Esterbrook didn’t; this pen accepts the same nibs that had been the company’s reliable pen-personalization centerpiece since the ’30s. This black pen is 5⁷/16" capped and 6³/16" posted.

With the Great Depression in full swing, Parker needed to simplify and economize its pens to appeal to a public who were struggling just to get by. To capitalize on the value and quality of its streamlined Duofolds, the company produced a series of similarly styled but plainer pens in sizes corresponding to the Junior and Ladies’ Duofold models.

The black Depression pen here, called the Raven, is fitted with a broad flex stub nib, and it is 4³¹/32" capped and 5⁷/8" posted.

The Depression wasn’t entirely black for Parker’s pens, however. One of the prettiest pens of the era is the Three Fifty, named for its $3.50 price, which wore a color Parker called Modernistic Blue. (Collectors today often refer to this pen by Parker’s True Blue nickname for it.) My older Three Fifty, a clip model 5¼" capped and 6¹¹/32" posted, is a somewhat unusual specimen; its long barrel is not common. It also has a very pretty semiflexible nib.

At 4¹⁷/32" capped and 5⁵/6" posted, my newer clip-style Three Fifty Streamline is among my smaller pens. The truly unfortunate aspect of these lovely pens is that Modernistic Blue was among the most prone of Parker’s celluloids to discolor upon exposure to the vulcanized rubber of a sac. The two pens here are considered to have only very slight discoloration, mostly in their barrels.

Pens in the Pocket — or Purse

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In 1940, Sheaffer introduced a new, compact model called the Tuckaway (affectionately referred to by collectors as the “Tucky”). Intended primarily for a lady’s purse, the earliest Tuckaway models lacked clips.

The first version, made in ’40 and ’41 and illustrated here by my 14K gold-filled ’41 Vacuum-Fil pen, had an open nib. This pen is 4¹/8" capped and 5³/16" posted (with the cap screwed in place on the back of the barrel).

In 1942, Sheaffer applied its innovative Triumph nib to most models, including the Tuckaway, and my next pen represents this model, the “TRIUMPH”. Made in 1942 or 1943 and sporting Sheaffer’s typical wartime broad cap band, this is a Silver Pearl Striated Vacuum-Fil Lifetime pen, 4³/32" capped and 5³/16" posted.

In 1945 the Tucky acquired a tiny clip that was crowded up near the end of the cap. With this clip, the pen (4½" capped and 5¹/8" posted, with a firm and very smooth extra-fine nib) proved ideal for clipping into men’s vest pockets. The pen shown here is probably a postwar model, however.

Next is a Tuckaway Sovereign II from just after World War II; this pen shows the “wire” cap band that Sheaffer used on its mid-line models until about 1949.

While Sheaffer promoted its excellent Triumph nib, the company wasn’t stupid enough to think everyone wanted one. So open-nib models continued to appear, even in the Tuckaway line. This pen, 4¹⁷/32" capped and 5⁷/32" posted, is a Tuckaway Statesman from about 1947.

This Tucky is a Vacuum-Fil Sentinel from about 1947. This pen is 4½" capped and 5¹/8" posted, and it has a very smooth, wet, slightly springy fine Triumph nib.

1948 saw one almost unnoticeable change in the Tucky: Sheaffer finally figured out how to put a White Dot on a metal cap, and my Burnt Umber Brown ’48 Crest illustrates this advance. This pen is 4¹⁷/32" capped and 5⁵/16" posted, and it has a very smooth, wet, firm medium nib.

The Tuckaway remained in production until 1949; but it had grown some. The 1949 version, like other Sheaffer’s models, sported the exciting new Touchdown filler. My Persian Blue ’49 Sentinel Tucky is 4²¹/32" capped and 5⁷/16" posted.

The ninth pen here is an Evergreen Green 1949 Statesman Tuckaway. This pen is 4¹¹/16" capped and 5³/8" posted.

Wahl Eversharp’s offerings for 1931 included a new 12-sided pen model that drew on Classical design elements, blending them with the modern Art Deco look. This elegant pen, the Doric, remained in production for only about seven or eight years, but it produced some of the most beautiful pens of the Golden Age. During the Doric’s model life, the company introduced changes to make the pen more reliable and durable.

My first Doric, in a marbled green called Kashmir, shows the second-version clip, streamlined and without a roller, and the first-version band, which does not wrap over the cap lip to prevent posting damage. This pen features an adjustable fine nib, and it is 5³/8" capped, 6⁷/32" posted.

My next Doric is a first-generation vest-pocket Gold Seal model with a “Soldier” clip and the early cap band that does not extend to the lip. This pen’s color is Cathay, which is possibly the most problematical of the Doric colors. The pen’s cap and barrel ends are badly fragmented, and I’m doing what I can to keep them together by fusing the cracks as they appear. This pen has an adjustable extra-fine nib, and it is 4¹¹/16" capped, 5¹⁹/32" posted.

© 2008 Richard F. Binder

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