Pen Glossary: P

Glossary: Fountain Pen Bits, Pieces, and Other Stuff

Like any other specialized item, the fountain pen has amassed a lexicon of terms that are unique. And like other jargon languages, fountain pen jargon can be cryptic or confusing. This glossary presents brief definitions for many of the most common pen terms. It is not complete (an impossible goal); but it is a work in progress, and I welcome suggestions for terms to add. (Revised March 28, 2008)

The glossary is organized alphabetically. For numbers, look under the spelled-out form; e.g., for 14K, look under fourteen.

A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

P
packing	(also packing unit) The seal around the plunger shaft in plunger-filling pens (such as Sheaffer’s Vacuum-Fil) or the retracting shaft in retractable safety pens (such as Moore’s Non-Leakable). Usually made of cork or felt.
palladium	A strongly tarnish-resistant silver-white metal of the platinum group, used in pens as plating on nibs and, because of its relative hardness, as a component in some tipping alloys. See also palladium silver, tipping material.
palm shellac	Term for a mixture of rosin and castor oil, used as a sealant and adhesive for certain joints in fountain pens, most notably by Sheaffer to install Triumph nibs into pens. Palm shellac does not soften as easily as true shellac. See also shellac.
palladium silver	( abbreviated PdAg) A class of silver-colored binary alloys of palladium and silver, used to manufacture nibs from the 1940s to the 1970s as a less costly alternative to gold. As with gold, a higher silver content (up to about 40%) yields a softer alloy. See also palladium, silver.
Parco	A bottom-line model produced by Parker for a short time beginning in 1933. The Parco appeared in a button-filling version similar to the Challenger, which appeared in 1934, and a lever filler similar to the Parkette, which premièred in about 1935. The Parco was inexpensively made; but the button-filling version was fitted, even at its low price, with gold-filled furniture.
Parker	A pen manufacturing company located in Janesville, Wisconsin. Founded in 1888 by George S. Parker, a teacher of telegraphy. Parker sold John Holland pens to his students and then, when the pens failed, learned to repair them. He founded his company with the goal of producing a better pen. A string of patents, of which the Lucky Curve feed, the washer clip, and the Parker “51” are a few of the major highlights, has kept Parker at the forefront of the industry since its founding. Headquartered today in France, the company still produces excellent pens, perhaps the best known of which is the resurrected Duofold (shown below). See also Duofold, “51”, first tier, Lucky Curve, washer clip.

Parkette	The model name that Parker applied to its bottom-of-the-line lever-filling pens. In the middle and late 1930s, the company produced a Parkette (shown below, upper) and a Parkette Deluxe (illustrated at fluted); the Parkette name reappeared in 1950 on a hooded-nib model (below, lower) intended to compete with Scripto, Webster, Eclipse, and other third-tier hooded-nib models. See also Zephyr.

Pastel	(also Petite) A small Parker pen model introduced in 1926. Offered in two sizes, the Pastel came either with a clip or as a ringtop, and its delicate solid colors befitted its name. In 1927, Parker added a series of moiré colors to the Pastel range; shown below is a smaller-size Pastel in Coral Moiré. See also moiré.

Patrician	A pen model introduced in 1929 by L. E. Waterman. The Patrician was the top of Waterman’s line, but it never achieved the widespread popularity it probably deserved because in the same year Sheaffer introduced the Balance, whose torpedo shape made the Patrician's Art Deco styling appear old fashioned. See also Balance.
PdAg	See palladium silver.
pearl	Colloquial shortening of pearlescent: having a translucent, iridescent appearance like that of pearls or, more particularly, mother-of-pearl. Usually refers to whitish or off-white colors. See also mother-of-pearl, Pearltex.
Pearl and Black	(also Black and Pearl) 1 A color offered by Parker on Duofold pens (c. 1930) and by a few other makers such as Morrison, featuring black “rivers” flowing over a pale pearlescent celluloid as shown here (near right); catalogued by Parker as Moderne Black and Pearl. 2 (also Nacre) A color offered by Sheaffer on Flat-Top and Balance pens (c. 1924-1934) and by other makers such as Chilton, Wahl Eversharp, and Waterman, featuring somewhat blocky black and pearlescent areas (far right). Waterman referred to this color as Nacre.
Pearltex	The Carter Ink Company’s name for the lovely pearlescent colors it used on some of the pens it manufactured during the late 1920s. See also pearl.
peg	See nipple.
pen holder	See holder.
penman	1 A highly skilled user of pens, usually one who is expert at ornamented handwriting styles such as Spencerian or Zanerian. 2 When capitalized (Penman™), Parker’s trademarked name for its line of highly saturated premium inks made by Documentel in Germany and introduced in 1993. Penman inks were notorious for staining and clogging, and Parker withdrew the line in 2001.
Penselpen	Schnell’s name for its combination fountain pen/mechanical pencil, a concept pioneered by Schnell in 1929. The pen uses a Schnell (shift) filler. Shown here is an example with the famous “Airplane” clip (designed to commemorate Lindbergh’s 1927 transatlantic flight). See also combo, Schnell.

pen wiper	A small piece of fabric (often felt), frequently home made and decorated with hand work, made for cleaning dip and fountain pen nibs. One account recalls schoolboys using 1936 “Alf Landon for President” sunflower-motif campaign buttons, which were made of felt, as pen wipers.
Permanite	The name Parker gave to the DuPont celluloid used in Parker’s pens beginning with the Duofold in 1926. See also celluloid.
Personal Point	Wahl-Eversharp’s name for its interchangeable nib system, introduced in the late 1920s and produced into the 1930s. The illustration here shows a Doric’s section and screw-out nib unit (with an adjustable nib). See also Fineline, Renew-Point.
Peter Pan	1 Salz Brothers’ name for its series of very small eyedropper- or lever-filling pens (approximately 3" capped). Introduced in the 1920s as a hard rubber pen, the Peter Pan continued in production, making the transition to celluloid, through the 1930s. Shown below are an early BHR eyedropper-filling pen and a lever-filling pen from about 1939. See also Bantam. 2 A common misnomer for tiny pens in general.

Petite	See Pastel.
petrify	See ossify.
PF	Usually, piston filler. When referring to vintage U.S.-made pens, often means plunger filler. View descriptions and filling instructions here.
PFM	(“Pen For Men”) A pen model made by Sheaffer beginning in 1959; it introduced Sheaffer’s unique Inlaid Nib™ and is considered by some collectors to be the last of the classic pens preceding the era of the ballpoint’s dominance. Shown here is a PFM V. Read a profile of the PFM here. See also Inlaid Nib™.

phenol	Any of a class of weakly acidic organic compounds containing one or more hydroxyl groups. Phenol is an effective fungicide, acting as s protoplasmic poison, and was used for this purpose in ink until prohibited by law. (It is also toxic to forms of life other than fungi and is regulated as a Class B poison.) Phenol has a sweet, tar-like odor that is readily detected in inks containing it. See also fungicide.
phone dialer	See telephone dialer.
pink gold	See rose gold.
piston	A type of filling system. View a description and filling instructions here.
Pitman	A phonetic shorthand writing system for stenographers, devised by Sir Isaac Pitman and first published in 1837. Pitman shorthand is written with an extra-fine flexible nib; it uses thick or thin strokes to signify different sounds. Several major manufacturers advertised their extra-fine flexible nibs as being suitable for Pitman shorthand. Esterbrook produced both tipped and untipped Pitman nibs in its Renew-Point system, numbering them n128. Illustrated below is the first sentence of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights: “All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights,” in the Pitman New Era system. (Idealized example provided by Pierre Savoie.) See also Gregg.

pitting	The development of craters, or pits, in metal due to corrosion. In pens, pitting most often occurs in steel nibs; stainless steel is not actually proof against corrosion, and highly acidic inks can attack it. The steel nib shown below illustrates pitting in several places, most seriously in the slit and at the spot indicated by the arrow, where the metal is so thin that the tine bends as if it were made of aluminum foil. See also corrosion, stainless steel.

plain	(also Plain) Undecorated. Used by Waterman and others to describe pens, usually all metal or with overlays, that were not decorated with “filigree” (cutwork), engraving, or other artistic enhancements. The Waterman’s ideal Nº 552½ shown here illustrates a plain solid 14K gold overlay.

plastic	An all-purpose label applied indiscriminately to acrylics, cellulosics, styrenes, and other synthetic resins. See also ABS, acrylic, celluloid, polystyrene, resin.
plated	Finished by the application of a very thin metal coating, usually by electrodeposition. The clips, bands, and other metal trim parts of most modern pens are electroplated with such metals as chromium, rhodium, or 23K gold. See also gold filled, vermeil.
Plathenium	An alloy of platinum and ruthenium, usually with trace amounts of one or more other platinum-group metals; probably the first of the modern highly refined nib tipping materials (used initially by Parker in 1943). See also platinum, ruthenium, tipping material.
platinum	A strongly corrosion-resistant gray-white metal, used in pens as plating on two-tone nibs and as an alloying component in some tipping alloys. See also tipping material.
Plexiglas^®	A registered trademark of Rohm & Haas for its acrylic plastic products. See also acrylic.
Pli-Glass	Parker’s name for the material of which the ribbed semitransparent sac used in the company’s Aero-metric filling system is made. See also Aero-metric.
plunger	1 A term commonly applied to Sheaffer’s Vacuum-Fil filling system (WWII-era Balance Vigilant illustrated below). 2 The actuator in a Parker Vacumatic-filling pen (1940s plastic version illustrated at right). View descriptions and filling instructions here.

pneumatic	A type of filling system. View a description and filling instructions here.
point	The tip of the nib. Sometimes used as a synonym for the nib as a whole.
point section	See gripping section.
polystyrene	A class of thermoplastic resins of which pens are made, polymers of the monomer styrene, (C₆H₅CH=CH), which is an oily liquid. Polystyrene plastics came into use as a pen material in the early 1940s; but the earliest formulations suffered problems such as a tendency to shrink or to crumble with age. Much better formulations appeared before the end of the 1940s. Some polystyrenes used in the 1950s and 1960s, notably those in the Parker 61 and Sheaffer’s PFM, are brittle and must be handled with care during repair of the pen. Polystyrene and its cousin ABS are today the most common materials for the manufacture of inexpensive and moderately priced pens. See also ABS, thermoplastic, thermosetting.
post	1 To place the cap onto the back end of the barrel while writing, as a convenient storage location or to make the pen more comfortable to use. Some users prefer to post their pens because they like the longer shape or because they prefer having the weight farther back. Also (of the pen itself), to have the cap so placed. Some pens do not post well if at all, and some pens that post reasonably well also expose their caps to the risk of cracks at the lip due to the stress of being pressed down onto a tapered barrel. The Parker “51” (illustrated here, upper), with its gently tapered barrel and metal cap with a clutch spring, posts very well. Sheaffer’s Balance (lower) is notorious for cap-lip cracks because of its steeper barrel taper and relatively thin celluloid cap lip. 2 (when capitalized, as Post) An early brand of fountain pen known for its use of a syringe-type filling system. Post fillers are seen most frequently on cheap pens of the 1930s, but the original Post design was quite sophisticated and allowed the user to tighten the plunger gasket to compensate for wear. View a description of a syringe filler and filling instructions here.

Postal	An early brand of fountain pen known for its use of a bulb filling system; hence the term “Postal filler.” Postal pens were sold only by mail order and are today relatively uncommon. See also filler.
posting	See ACCOUNT.
pounce	A claylike powder designed to be applied to unsized paper before the paper is written on. Rubbed gently into the paper, pounce helps to seal the porous surface; this makes the paper smoother and improves the appearance of the written text by retarding absorption of the ink. Pounce can also be sprinkled on written text to absorb excess ink, but a blotter is usually more convenient. Pounce had fallen out of general use by the early 19th century; today it is most commonly used by artists and technical illustrators.
Precious Resin	Montblanc’s name for the material of which it makes pen bodies, reputed variously to be either a relatively ordinary acrylic or a proprietary fiberglass-reinforced plastic (FRP); retains its bright polish exceptionally well but is notorious for its brittleness. See also resin.
Pregnant Parker	Collectors’ nickname for the now-rare Parker Nº 43 eyedropper-filling pen, whose alternating pearl barrel overlay has a bulbous shape as shown in the image below, taken from a 1911 Parker advertising cut. (Color and shadow added.) See also alternating pearl.

Presidential	Parker’s name for any of its pen models when fitted with a solid gold cap and barrel, first applied to an Aero-metric “51”.
pressure bar	A metal strip, sometimes with formed channels on its long edges, sometimes made of springy metal or attached to a spring, whose purpose is to squeeze the sac in a pen that uses a sac-based filling system. Some pressure bars are formed in the shape of the letter J and are called J-bars. Illustrated here are a button-filler pressure bar from a Parker Duofold Junior and a J-bar from a lever-filling Esterbrook J. See also filler.
propel	See mechanical pencil.
pump	A filling system that requires multiple strokes to fill the pen, such as Parker’s Vacumatic. View descriptions and filling instructions here.
Pyralin	The name Wahl gave to the celluloid used in the company’s pens beginning in 1929. See also celluloid.
pyroxylin	(also collodion) A solution of cellulose nitrate in diethyl ether or acetone, sometimes with the addition of various alcohols; used in wound dressing and as a photographic emulsion in the 19th-century wet-plate process. Pyroxylin is toxic and explosively flammable. As the solvent evaporates, the substance dries to a celluloid-like film. See also celluloid.