This strange object is
the residue of the Eversharp pen colossus after it was bought out by
Parker-- it says Eversharp on the front of the cap, but Parker around
the back. There's not a lot of information floating around about
it-- just getting the name sorted out was a great effort for the
collected boffins of the Fountain Pen Network. It comes from the
late 1950s, probably about 1958, as this is when the buy-out occurred,
and it's sort of a pre-cursor to the Parker
45-- a relatively simple cartridge loading pen. The name
might be a play on the old "a picture is worth..." saying, but a
slightly more sensible speculation (which I crib from the entry on
different but equally oddball pen of that time over at parkerpens.net)
is that it is suggestive of how much writing one might do out of a
single cartridge.
It is about as good a pen as it looks-- a reasonable steel point, a
little easier to grip than a 45 thanks to a wider grip and the Baleen
Whale texture of the section. That texture is visible when the
pen is capped, giving one some pause as far as the seal the cap might
provide. I also wonder whether that little Samurai court cap at
the top of the cap isn't meant to lead an observer into thinking it's a
ball-point rather than a fountain pen, which for me is a very sad
statement about the nature of the pen business at the close of the
'50s. The weirdness of the design is hard to photograph well, in
that the point looks like it's in upside down in what was meant to be a
semi-hooded section.
Specifications: Medium steel
point. Cartridge filler. 12.9 cm long capped, 13.0 cm
posted.
Condition: I suspect this pen didn't see a lot of use in its
heyday-- there's not a mark on it, and it came with one of the original
Eversharp/Parker cartridges in it.
Repairs: Loads of flushing-- most of that empty cartridge's
contents seemed to be in the feed.
For sale?: No.
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