Parker Vacumatic Standard (1938) / Last of the Lockdowns
This week I worked on a bit of an odd pen. It is a Vacumatic Standard Size (5 1/16 ” capped) with a date code of 1938. It is unusual because of the fact it has a lockdown filler and was produced in 1938. By that time, most of the Vacumatics were produced with metal speedline fillers (1937) and single cap bands. It is possible that the cap is a replacement, but the imprint and lockdown filler with its short blind cap are not replacements. So, I am guessing (this opens me up to debate for sure) that this is a very late first generation Vacumatic Standard, produced to use up existing stock.
Whatever the history, these are my favorite of all Vacumatics as they are a thicker pen than the later Majors and have a matching, large section for easy handling when writing. They just seem more substantial in the hand than later medium sized models.
You can see from the first picture below that the barrel had no transparency to it, but all the parts were present. Often times, when one finds an earlier Vacumatic, something is missing. The usual suspects are the clip or jewels. This was a complete specimen, though quite dirty.
As usual, the old diaphragm took a long time to completely remove from the barrel. Once done, I scrubbed the inside of the barrel with a qtip (to prevent scoring of the barrel). This eventually revealed a nice transparecy. I polisehd the clip, nib, and silver clip and endcap jewel holders. The section, feed, and breather tube were cleaned in the ultrasonic cleaner.
I buffed the barrel and cap with scratch remover, polish and carnuba wax which gives pens a new looking shine. Quite a difference from when I found this one.
The lockdown filler unit takes a standard size diaphragm as do all Standard First Generation Vacs. This is due to the wider barrel which I really like in these pens.
After reassembly, here is the completed pen. I tested it with water and the barrel filled up nicely. It measures just over 5 inches long capped.
The nib is a two tone arrow nib, which was the upgraded nib for the first generation Vacumatics. The date code is for the 4th Quarter if 1936. After 1936 the USA/PARKER words were switched so that Parker appeared above USA.
This photo shows the barrel and date code. The 18 signifies production in Janesville, Wisconsin in the first quarter of 1938. Interestingly, this was the last quarter that this coding system was used. During the second quarter of 1938, Parker phased in the dot system of date coding. This pen was seems to have been at the end of several runs ~ The First Generation Production / The USA over PARKER Nib / and The “dotless” numbered Date Codes.
These first generation Vacumatics may not be as plentiful in the wild as later models, but are worth the wait.
1 Comment »
Leave a comment
-
Archives
- December 2015 (1)
- November 2015 (1)
- July 2015 (1)
- June 2015 (1)
- May 2015 (1)
- April 2015 (1)
- March 2015 (1)
- February 2015 (1)
- January 2015 (1)
- December 2014 (1)
- March 2014 (2)
- February 2014 (2)
-
Categories
- Arnold Pen Company
- Artcraft Fountain Pens
- ASKA Fountain Pens
- Atlas Appliance Fountain Pen
- Bankers
- Bankers Pen Company
- Belmont Pens
- Brown & Bigelow
- Buettell Brothers Dubuque Iowa
- Burrows Welcome
- C. E. Barrett
- Cali
- Carters
- Christmas
- Christmas Pen
- Conway Stewart
- Craig Fountain Pens
- Dennis Bowden
- Desk Pens
- Diamond Medal Fountain Pens
- Diamond Point Fountain Pens
- Dixie Fountain Pens
- Drew Pen Company
- Duo Fast Stapler Pen
- Duocraft Fountain Pens
- Duofold
- Eagle Pen Company
- Eaton Pens
- Eclipse Pen Company
- Escritor Pens
- Esterbrook
- Esterbrook Fountain Pens
- Esterbrook Safari
- Evans Pen Company
- Fifth Avenue Pens
- Filene's Fountain Pen
- Fount O Ink
- Fountain Pen Radio
- Fountain Pen Stores
- Fountain Pen Tools
- Fountain Pens and Pencils
- Franklin Fountain Pen
- FreFlo
- George M. Kraker
- Gold Bond Pens
- Good Service Pen Company
- Greishaber Pens
- Hallmark Pen Company
- Hard Rubber Pen
- Hartington NE
- Henry Dreyfuss
- Hintz Fountain Pen
- Holy Water Sprinkler
- Houston Pen Company
- Houston TX
- Hull's Fountain Pens
- Hutcheon Brothers Pens
- Indian Fountain Pens
- Indian Pen Company
- Ink
- Ink Tablets
- Inkograph Pen Company
- Jackwin Fountain Pens
- Jacob Ullrich
- Jamestown Exposition
- Jefferson Fountain Pens
- Jewelers Band
- Jiffy Fountain Pens
- JUCO Pens
- Just For Fun
- Keene Fountain Pens
- Kimberly Ballpoint Pen
- Kraker
- L. E. Waterman Pen Company
- Lady Fair Pens
- Lady Sheaffer Skripserts
- Lakeside Pens
- Lamy Fountain Pens
- Liberty Fountain Pen
- Lincoln Fountain Pens
- Lipic Fountain Pens
- Long Short Pens
- Lucas Fountain Pens
- Lucky Curve
- Macy's Fountain Pen
- Marathon Fountain Pens
- Marxton Pens
- Merkle Broom Company
- Mickey Mouse Fountain Pens
- Minneapolis Pen
- Minnesota Pens
- Minuskin Nibs
- Monogram Fountain Pens
- Montgomery Ward
- Moore Fingertip
- Moore Pen
- Moore Specialist
- Moore Tuscan Fountain Pen
- Morrison Fountain Pens
- Morrison Patriot
- Music Nib
- National Geographic
- National Pen Products
- New York Telehone Company
- Omaha NE
- Onward
- P. W. Akkerman Pens
- Paper Mate Pens
- Paris Pen Company
- Parker 45
- Parker 51
- Parker 51 Writefine Pencil
- Parker 61
- Parker Duette
- Parker Holy Water Sprinkler
- Parker Moderne
- Parker Pen – Canada
- Parker Pen Company
- Parker Signet/Insignia
- Parker Star Clip
- Parker Trench Pen
- Parker Vacumatic
- Parker Vacuum Fill
- Parker VP
- Pelikan
- Pencil Jewelry
- Pencraft Pens
- Pepsi Fountain Pen
- Philip Hull
- Popeye Fountain Pen
- Postalett
- Radium Point Pen
- Rentz Fountain Pens
- Rexall
- Ritepoint Mechanical Pencils
- Roxy Fountain Pens
- Safford Pen Company
- Sager Pens
- Schnell Pens
- Sea – Gull Fountain Pens
- Sears
- Servo Fountain Pen
- Shadow Wave Vacumatic
- Sheaffer
- Sheaffer 3-25
- Sheaffer Dolphin
- Sheaffer Holiday Originals
- Sheaffer Hunting Dog
- Sheaffer Skyboy
- Sheaffer Tuckaway
- Sheaffer Valiant
- Sheaffer Valiant Touchdown
- Shirley Temple Fountain Pen
- Sioux City
- Skyline
- Snapfil
- Southern Pen Company
- Spors
- Spors Desk Sets
- Spors Fountain Pens
- Stafford
- Striped Duofold
- Stylograpic Pens
- Taylor Thermometer Pen
- Ted Williams
- The Tandem Pen/Pencil
- Townsend Fountain Pens
- Tracy MN
- Ty.phoo
- Uncategorized
- Universal Fountain Pens
- Vintage Mechanical Pencils
- Wahl Eversharp
- Wahl Oxford Pens
- Waltham Pens
- Waterloo
- Waterman 100 Year Pen
- Waterman 52
- Waterman Autograph Book
- Waterman C/F
- Waterman Citation
- Waterman Crusader
- Waterman Fountain Pen Ink
- Waterman Nurses Pens
- Waterman Pen Company
- Waterman Skywriter
- Waterman Taperite
- Wearever Pens
- Webster Pen
- Webster Skyrocket
- Welty Pen Company
- Wilson Pen Company
- Winter – Robbins
- Wirt Fountain Pens
- Woolworth
- Yankee Pen
-
RSS
Entries RSS
Comments RSS
Nice work on this one. I’ve got one just like it sitting in front of me this morning, inked up with S.T. DuPont Blue. Great writer, and it feels terrific in the hand (I agree with you about the wider barrel and the better-designed section).
One thing that’s different about mine, though is that it’s got a dotted date code of 37. stamped on it. I swear, it’s nearly impossible to find just a regular ol’ standard production Vac. They’ve all got these weird little differences to them. One of the reasons we love ’em, right? 🙂
Comment by rroossinck | June 11, 2009 |