Vintage Parker Pens - 51 and 75 |
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Parker 51The Parker 51 is one of the most successful pens ever produced and is instantly recognizable, making it a design icon. It was named the Parker 51 to commemorate the 51 year anniversary of the Parker Pen company, and in a poll by the Illinois Institute of Technology it was voted the fourth best industrial design of the twentieth century. Many famous people have used the Parker 51 including General MacCarthur who signed the Japanese surrender in 1945 with this pen. The Parker 51 had a revolutionary design, being advertised as ‘ten years ahead of its time’. The 51 featured a gold tubular nib inside a hood to trap any ink overflow. This meant it didn’t leak but kept the nib surrounded by ink so it didn’t dry out. The pen’s resemblance to the P-51 Mustang was a coincidence, but Parker used the opportunity to mention this in their advertising. Parker’s advertising called it ‘the most wanted pen’, but this was as a result of the 2nd world war when the USA war production board limited the production of pens. This lack of supply and Parker’s strong advertising led to huge levels of demand. |
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The Parker 51 was developed for use with Quink, Parker’s quick drying ink. Its acidic content was very corrosive to the bodies of most pens but the 51 was made from a new plastic called Lucite (used in aeroplane canopies), a stable and durable plastic. The 51 stayed in production until 1972. The biggest change was in 1948 when Parker introduced a much improved filling system. The 51 is highly valued by pen collectors. In 2002 Parker issued a similar looking model called the 51 special edition and in 2004 released the chunkier Parker 100.
Parker 75
The Parker 51 was designed to be a top of the range writing instrument which would help re-establish Parker as a leading luxury brand and recapture the gift marker. The 75 was designed by Kenneth Parker, son of the company’s founder George Parker, and chief designer Don Doman. In previous years Parker had tried to take the cheaper pen market with the 21, 41 and 45. Kenneth Parker was not happy as his vision for Parker was a manufacturer of top class pens. Thus Kenneth Parker introduced a new top of the range fountain pen.
The Parker 75 was to be innovative, expensive, beautiful and a brilliant writer. It had an adjustable nib (borrowed from the Parker VP), a cartridge or converter filling system (borrowed from the Parker 45) and a silver hatch finish taken from a cigarette case made by a London silversmith. The pen was made from silver which had lines etched into it making a criss cross patter. A stain was then added to the cracks to enhance the pattern. This pattern was called Cisele, and is available today in the Parker Sonnet range.
The Silver Cisele 75 was released in 1964 and a few months later a gold version came onto the market. In 1965 designer Don Doman came up with the ides to make a Parker 75 out of the silver retrieved from sunken Spanish Treasure ships in the early 1960’s. The Spanish Treasure fleet 75 is an extremely coveted pen by collectors.
