The Duofold was the flagship of Parker's fleet through the 1920s and
into the '30s. The line began in red hard rubber, taking over
from the black "Jack Knife Safety Pen" and as technology improved
through the decade, eventually graduated to an assortment of
eye-catching coloured plastic models. They also came in a variety
of sizes, this Senior model being one of the biggest.
There is an odd item of pen technology hidden inside this brute-- the
"Lucky Curve" feed. There's even a little scroll with those words
molded into the side of the pen. Unlike most feeds of that
vintage, which were flat-ended and either recessed or flush with the
inner end of the section (I've got a couple of pictures in the resacking instructions),
this thing sticks up inside the sac, with the eponymous curve designed
to keep the back of the feed in contact with the sidewall of the sac.
The idea was to make capillary action work for the pen in
draining an overloaded feed when it was turned point-up, and reduce the
dribbling with haunted early fountain
pens. There were also a series of saw-tooth features on the
visible part of the feed, earning it the nickname "Christmas tree",
which were meant to provide extra surface area to distribute extra ink.
I suppose that these features were successful in a limited way,
as they lasted through a decade of production, but in absolute terms
they weren't altogether successful; you don't see them on modern pens.
This pen is of Canadian origin, and as I've said elsewhere, this
slightly confounds identification-- most sources are focused on US
production. Given the colour of the body and the single cap band,
if one assumes the US indicators hold firm, this is a pen from 1927.
Any earlier, and that colour wasn't made, and any later would see
the cap-band broken into a double.
Specifications:
Fine unhallmarked point, which can be safely assumed to be gold.
Button filler. 13.9cm long capped, 17.2cm posted (lost a
couple of millimeters on the bent point.)
Condition:
Slight ambering of the body, possibly also of the cap-- I've seen
examples in which the flecks in the blue are very light indeed.
Brassing on face of clip and lower edge of band. There's a
small gouge in the section, as if someone tried only once to use pliers
to remove it (they unscrew, by the way-- don't yank on your vintage
Duofold), and a small scrape on the blind-cap as well, but otherwise
the body is unblemished. The imprint is crisp and deep. The
point has a couple of defects: see from above, the very end of it is
deformed slightly to the right, and from the side there's an s-bend
which brings the tip below the back of the point-- neither of these
seem to affect function. There is a tiny chip off the front of
the feed.
Repairs: Cleared
corrosion from pressure bar, scraped dead sac from inside body, and
replaced sac with a silicon version to put an end to the ambering.
The point troubles I will happily admit are beyond my skills, and
I will send it to a talented fixer when I've got the free cash. Update:
I've been molesting lesser pens in an effort to fill in this hole
in my abilities, and have since gotten just about all of the bend out
of this pen.
Location: My collection.
For sale?: No. This was a gift from a friend whose garage sale kung fu
is strong, and the fact of it being a gift far outweighs the profit
potential inherent in a free valuable item (and they are valuable--
putting that point right properly would put its value well above $250).
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