{"id":24,"date":"2015-09-09T17:10:43","date_gmt":"2015-09-09T17:10:43","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/parker51.com\/?page_id=24"},"modified":"2015-10-12T16:13:32","modified_gmt":"2015-10-12T16:13:32","slug":"51-history","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/parker51.com\/index.php\/education\/51-history\/","title":{"rendered":"“51” History"},"content":{"rendered":"
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“Like a pen from another planet”……..”So unique and so beautiful there is nothing to compare to it–so good it cannot be improved by any known method!”<\/span><\/em><\/strong> <\/span><\/p>\n

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The Parker “51” is one of the\u00a0most successful pens ever produced, and is truly\u00a0recognizable throughout the world.\u00a0In a poll by the Illinois Institute of Technology, it was voted the fourth best industrial design of the twentieth century. The Parker “51” was a revolutionary design when it debuted, advertised as\u00a0“Ten Years Ahead” of its time.\u00a0\u00a0It had a gold nib that was\u00a0fitted inside\u00a0a hood to “trap any overflow and traps it inside-makes this a Pen that won’t flood, leak or sweat-yet keeps the point surrounded by ink, thus makes it a split second starter!”. Made of 14kt gold, the nib required more gold than the average fountain pen nib. The body was sleek and the material used was Lucite, a very stable and durable\u00a0material needed to withstand the high acidity of the special Parker “51” ink uniquely developed for this pen. <\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/span><\/a>\"\"<\/span><\/span><\/span>Development of the Parker “51” was completed in 1939, the 51st anniversary of the Parker Pen Company, thus its name.\u00a0 Pre-production models were test-marketed in Venezuela, Colombia\u00a0and other Caribbean countries in early 1940, before the pen’s general introduction into the U.S. The places where the pen was test-marketed included Caracas and Maracaibo, Venezuela; Barranquilla, Columbia (as spelled by Parker in their ads); Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago; and Curacao, Netherland Antilles.\u00a0 These locations were picked because of the tropical climate and high humidity, extreme conditions usually not found in the U.S.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>These\u00a0test-market pens looked essentially\u00a0as the “51s” later introduced in the U.S. with a few differences.\u00a0 Mainly the clip was without the Blue Diamond guarantee, similar to the Vacumatic clips of the era,\u00a0but uniquely sized to fit the “51” caps.\u00a0 Most of the test market pens were\u00a0fitted with a Lustraloy “wedding band” cap.\u00a0 In addition, the test market pens had a steel nib, unlike the 14k gold nib used in later production pens.\u00a0 Curiously, some of the colors used in the test markets did not carry into production, such as the “raspberry” red pens.\u00a0\u00a0Parker lore has it that when Mrs. Parker saw the pen she rejected it because it looked too much like blood, although later Parker used essentially the same color in its Parker 61 line.\u00a0 The below illustrated pen is unique in that in addition to its red color, it has an original factory single gold filled barrel band, similar to that illustrated in the early patent artwork.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Later in 1940, from August to November, three store tests were conducted stateside in Chicago, Philadelphia and Champaign, Illinois with great fanfare and success.\u00a0 This was followed by further introduction in San Francisco, Salt Lake City, Denver and the state of Wisconsin. The world premier took place in January 1941. <\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

List prices for 1941 were as follows :<\/u> <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n