{"id":133,"date":"2015-09-17T17:06:49","date_gmt":"2015-09-17T17:06:49","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/parker51.com\/?page_id=133"},"modified":"2015-09-17T17:06:49","modified_gmt":"2015-09-17T17:06:49","slug":"the-parker-51-demonstrators","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/parker51.com\/index.php\/education\/articles\/the-parker-51-demonstrators\/","title":{"rendered":"The Parker \u201c51\u201d Demonstrators"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n\n
<\/p>\n
\n\n\n\n
\n
\n
\n

\u00a0By Ernesto M. Soler<\/span><\/b><\/p>\n

All rights reserved by author<\/span><\/b><\/p>\n

\u00a0When the Parker “51” was first introduced to the general public in January 1941, it was a radical departure in design from all other pens in existence at the time.\u00a0 <\/span>The main selling point was its enclosed nib and advanced collector and feed, which would stay wet even if uncapped for a period of time.\u00a0 <\/span>Of course, this made the nib almost invisible except for its very tip.\u00a0 <\/span>At the time, all major manufacturers used 14k gold for its nibs.\u00a0 <\/span>Parker advertised that the “51” had more gold in its nib than most pens, including some of its own Vacumatic pens.\u00a0 <\/span>Parker needed a way to show the buying public what was under the solid color hood.<\/span><\/p>\n

So, along with the new pens, in 1941 Parker introduced a demonstrator for salesmen.\u00a0 <\/span>There are two versions of these \u201cfirst year\u201d demonstrators.\u00a0 <\/span>The earliest demonstrator had a clear hood and a clear jeweled blind cap. The barrel was of solid color, completely unmarked.\u00a0 <\/span>The blindcap has the first year imprint and aluminum jewel as most of the production in 1941 did.\u00a0 <\/span>Sometime later in 1941, the demonstrators were changed to only have a clear hood.\u00a0 <\/span>At this time, the collector was changed to be a bright translucent red plastic, making it easier to show.\u00a0 <\/span>The blind cap was now a solid color matching the barrel, and the barrel itself was hot stamped \u201cDemonstrator\u201d.\u00a0 <\/span>All the examples of this later version seem to be black.\u00a0 <\/span>Both versions of the \u201cFirst Year\u201d demonstrators are always double jeweled versions, with a metal speedline filler, aluminum jewels, imprint on the blindcap, and will typically have the \u201cwedding band\u201d cap, although any cap combination is possible.<\/span><\/p>\n

\n

In 1942, the demonstrators were slightly changed to incorporate the changes in production that took place at the time.\u00a0 <\/span>This was mainly the rounded blindcap, plastic filler and different cap designs.\u00a0 <\/span>Everything else was exactly the same, down to the clear hood, red collector, and hot stamped barrel with \u201cDemonstrator\u201d.\u00a0 <\/span>The examples that the author has examined have the early, one line first quarter 1942 imprint under the clutch ring.\u00a0 <\/span>After this, there seems to be a gap in production of demonstrators, possibly due to the war material constraints or the fact that production was curtailed so much, that there was not much to show.<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\n
\"amber.jpg\"<\/div>\n

 <\/p>\n

photo by David Isaacson<\/span><\/p>\n

In a 1944 internal Parker memorandum, demonstrators are offered to dealers, with a “clear collector”, at $2.50.\u00a0 <\/span>Here we assume that the “clear collector” refers to what we now call the transparent hood.\u00a0 <\/span>It would appear that the all-clear demonstrator was not introduced until later in the “51” lifecycle.\u00a0 <\/span>The earliest all clear demonstrator that the author has found is dated last quarter of 1946.\u00a0 <\/span>After that we see plenty of 1947 and 1948 dated all-clear vacumatic “51” demonstrators, with the majority dated 1948.\u00a0 <\/span>A missing piece to this puzzle seems to have been found in a Parker ex-employee find last year in the San Francisco area.\u00a0 <\/span>The discovery included two amber colored demonstrators with a Parker work order stating “Remake white clear”, hand dated 1946 (the card inventory date is 8-45).\u00a0 <\/span>Knowing that in 1944 the demonstrator only had a clear hood, and this piece of evidence, we can now conclude that the all-clear demonstrator was probably introduced sometime in 1946.<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n<\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\n
\"reddemo.jpg\"<\/div>\n

 <\/p>\n

photo by David Isaacson<\/span><\/p>\n

Rarest amongst the “51” demonstrators is the Red Band.\u00a0 <\/span>The Red Band filler was produced in 1946 for a very short time in an attempt to solve the problem of the flooding collectors.\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>The front section of the Red Band is the same as the vacumatic “51”, with the same style hood and collector.\u00a0 <\/span>The main difference is the filler mechanism and barrel.\u00a0 <\/span>The filler is a spade-type filler, pushed by a button housed in red threads.\u00a0 <\/span>The barrel is slightly longer and has a short blindcap with a breather hole.\u00a0 <\/span>In the demonstrator you can observe the unique finish of the inside of the barrel, where it is slightly concave to accommodate the filler.\u00a0 <\/span>It should be noted that around the same time, Parker developed the “V.S.” and there are demonstrators of these.\u00a0 <\/span>Although also a button filler, the barrels are not interchangeable due to the difference in fillers.\u00a0 <\/span>The author has only seen one of the Red Band demonstrators outside of the Parker archives.<\/span><\/p>\n

\n

Vacumatic “51” demonstrators were made in other countries as well.\u00a0 <\/span>The author owns a Canadian demonstrator with its distinctive high-placement blue diamond clip unique to Canadian production.\u00a0 <\/span>This demonstrator has a black barrel and clear hood, with Canadian imprints and nib dated 1948.\u00a0 <\/span>The barrel is hotstamped “Demonstrator.\u00a0 <\/span>Not for Sale.”\u00a0 <\/span>There are also all clear Canadian demonstrators.\u00a0 <\/span>In addition there are English-made all-clear vacumatic demonstrators, with English imprints.\u00a0 <\/span>The one owned by the author is dated 1949, following English production of vacumatic “51”s which continued a few years later after it ceased in the U.S.<\/span><\/p>\n

\n

In 1948, with the introduction of the aerometric models, new demonstrator versions were also introduced.\u00a0 <\/span>Parker introduced the all-clear aerometric demonstrator for its sales people.\u00a0 <\/span>These had a clear hood, barrel and connector ring.\u00a0 <\/span>In addition, Parker introduced a companion continuous feed pencil demonstrator with a clear barrel.\u00a0 <\/span>These are very unusual and hard to find.\u00a0 <\/span>These demonstrators are rarely marked with any imprints.\u00a0 <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\n

A twist in the aerometric series, is the large number of pens found with only a clear hood.\u00a0 <\/span>According to recent literature found, these so called half-demonstrators, with just the clear hood, were production versions sold to the public.\u00a0 <\/span>The purpose was simply a marketing ploy.\u00a0 <\/span>Parker was hoping to have its customers demonstrate the new pen to their friends, and thus increase sales.\u00a0 <\/span>These half demonstrators were available in both full and demi sizes.<\/span><\/p>\n

\n

In closing, it should be noted that a lot of fake demonstrators have been made and continue to be made in South America. \u00a0<\/span>Some are sold as such, and come in a wild range of colors.\u00a0 <\/span>Others are made to deceive, and are sold as original.\u00a0 <\/span>Sometimes it is very easy to tell the fakes, as their internal finish tends to be rough and are rather cloudy.\u00a0 <\/span>Others are very good and can deceive the experienced and inexperienced collectors.\u00a0 <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n<\/div>\n

<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

\n\n\n\n
<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

 <\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u00a0By Ernesto M. Soler All rights reserved by author \u00a0When the Parker “51” was first introduced to the general public in January 1941, it was a radical departure in design from all other pens in existence at the time.\u00a0 The main selling point was its enclosed nib and advanced collector and feed, which would stay […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":116,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"class_list":{"0":"post-133","1":"page","2":"type-page","3":"status-publish","5":"entry"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/parker51.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/133","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/parker51.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/parker51.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/parker51.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/parker51.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=133"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/parker51.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/133\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":134,"href":"https:\/\/parker51.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/133\/revisions\/134"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/parker51.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/116"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/parker51.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=133"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}