Post 004 Conklin Crescent Model 20

Introduction

After reading Ed Jelley’s excellent review of the new Conklin Mark Twain Crescent Filler pen, I thought it would be interesting to do a review of the original Conklin Crescent pen. It is obvious that the current Conklin Pen Company wanted to pay tribute to the iconic crescent filler made during the early part of the Twentieth Century[1].

The new Conklin Mark Twain Crescent Filler—from Ed Jelley’s review

Conklin Crescent Filler c.1920

As usual, Richard Binder’s website has an excellent summary of the history of crescent fillers from the original Conklin to several modern crescent fillers.

Conklin Pen Company History

The Conklin Pen Company was founded in 1898 by Roy Conklin in Toledo Ohio. Their best know pen was the crescent filler, which was so popular that, for a brief time in the 1920s, the company was one of the Big Four[2].

The early Conklin pens had a slip cap. The screw on cap was introduced in 1910. Crescent filler pens were made of hard rubber, sometimes with gold or silver filagree overlays like the Peter Pan pen discussed in the previous post. Other models had solid gold or silver coverings with elaborate embellishments. The last crescent fillers were made in 1928.

By the middle 1920s it became clear to most pen manufacturers that plastic pens would supplant hard rubber. Conklin introduced its Endura[3] model in 1926. These lever filling plastic pens were made until 1932. They came in several colors and patterns similar to the Parker Duofolds of that era.

One of the most beautiful pens Conklin ever made was the Nozac[4], which was made from 1932–1938. The pens were either round or 10 sided in the early years, but later models had 12 or 14 sides. A nice innovation was the word gauge. A measuring scale was engraved on a transparent section of the barrel. The scale was calibrated in thousands of words remaining so that you could tell how much longer the pen would write before running out of ink. I have a few of these later model Nozacs in my collection. One of these will be the subject of a future post.

The depression of the 1930s took a severe toll on the Conklin Pen Company and they were virtually bankrupt by 1939. The company was sold to a syndicate in Chicago that made cheap pens and wanted to capitalize on the prestigious Conklin name. However the Conklin pens made in Chicago were so bad that most vintage pen collectors avoid them. The Conklin Pen Company limped along until it went out of business in 1948.

Description

Conklin Crescent Filler and a Parker Duofold Centennial

As in previous posts, I’ve used a modern Parker Duofold Centennial for comparison. The pictures shows that the two pens are about the same length when posted. The Duofold is noticeably wider and the massive 18K nib outshines the smaller Conklin 14k nib. However, the Conklin nib is a very flexible nib, which is just about perfect for writing with significant line width variation.

The weight and size of the pen are given in the table below along with the corresponding measurements for the new Conklin Mark Twain and the Parker Duofold Centennial. For the Mark Twain, I used the measurements provided by Ed Jelley in his review[5]. Note that Ed Jelley’s measurement of the Mark Twain’s weight was made with the pen filled whereas my measurements are made when the pens are empty. I would guess that the ink in the Mark Twain weighted about two grams, which would make the weight of the Mark Twain and the Duofold about the same. The Conklin Crescent is a little smaller than the Mark Twain when capped, but a little bigger when posted.

1920s Conklin Crescent compared to a Conklin Mark Twain, and Duofold Centennial

Measurement	Units	Conklin Crescent	Conklin Mark Twain	Duofold Centennial
Weight	g	15	31	29
Length capped	mm	138	142	138
Length uncapped	mm	124	…	127
Length posted	mm	172	165	172

Details

The nib is extremely flexible; it takes very little pressure to spread the tines.

Conklin nib

The clip on the Conklin Crescent is gold-filled and shines brightly. Because the process of gold-plating used today creates a very thin coating of gold over base metal, it is not as durable as the older gold-filling process used on the 1920s Conklin Crescent. The clip may be polished repeatedly without fear of exposing the base metal beneath. The clip is attached to the cap by a stiff metal rod that provides the spring action when you press on the back.

Conklin Crescent clip shines!

Conklin Crescent clip attachment

Since the crescent is the defining part of this pen here is a picture of each side of the crescent. Notice the important slip ring that grips the barrel and slides between the crescent and the barrel. In the position shown, the slip ring keeps the crescent from squirting ink inadvertently because the crescent can’t be depressed. However, if you turn the slip ring so that its slit is directly under the crescent, then the crescent can be depressed to fill the pen with ink.

Conklin name on the crescent

Conklin Trade Mark on the crescent

The engraved crescent encompassing the word CRESCENT helps to date the pen. These markings were used on the crescent from 1918–1928. There was no design change during these years so it is impossible to refine the manufacture date any closer than this interval. Another constant was the engraving on the barrel.

Conklin engraving in the barrel

Conklin engraving of the model number “20”

Summary

The vintage Conklin Crescent Pen was a great pen in its day and remains a pen that is worth using today. The super flex nib would be fun to use. If you find an old Conklin Crescent with a dried out ink sac, it is generally fairly easy to replace the sac. Replacement sacs are available online and at most large pen shows. It takes a bit of skill to disassemble any pen that uses an ink sac, so practice on a junker before attempting to open a valuable pen like the Conklin Crescent, or find someone who is experienced to do the repairs.

It seems as if the crescent would get in your way when writing, but if the nib and crescent are aligned there usually isn’t a problem. One advantage the crescent fillers have over the more common lever fillers is that they won’t roll off a table!

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1. The original Conklin Crescent filler was made of hard rubber and was decorated with a pattern of wavy lines etched into the surface. This is called chasing. I assume the modern Mark Twain Crescent is made from plastic.  ↩

2. The Big Four pen companies during the early 1920s included Waterman, Sheaffer, Parker, and Conklin. Sometime in the late 1920s Wahl displaced Conklin from the number four spot.  ↩

3. Plastic was believed to be more durable than hard rubber. Undoubtedly the name Endura was chosen to indicate that these pens would endure for a long time.  ↩

4. The Nozac was designed by Louis Vavrik. Once again Conklin chose a name that described the pen. Nozac appears to be a play on the words no sac. The pen used a twist filler mechanism.  ↩

5. Ed’s review of the Mark Twain gives the weight in metric units and the length in English units (inches). To make the comparisons in the table, I converted the English units to millimeters.  ↩

002 Parker Big Red Duofold 1928-29

Introduction

The Parker Pen Company was founded in 1888 by George S. Parker. Parker has made pens continuously since then and is still in business today[1]. Parker was one of the Big Four pen companies that dominated the fountain pen industry during its Golden Age. For more information, see the companion article Parker Models found at the tab above.

This picture, like all the illustrations in this post, shows my 1928–9 Big Red Duofold Senior.

Duofold History

The Duofold was launched in 1921 with the Big Red model, which has since become the most recognizable Duofold color. Originally the pen was made from hard rubber, but in 1926 Parker plastic models. Plastic pens quickly dominated the market and were the mainstay of pen manufacturers ever since[2]. Duofolds sold for $7, which was considered outrageously expensive at the time. Nevertheless the public fell in love with the pen and were willing to pay this extravagant sum to own one[3].

Description

Big Red Senior from 1928–9

I own several Big Red Duofold Seniors. The specific one shown in this post was made in 1928 or 1929[4]. It has two thin gold bands on the cap, that distinguish it from earlier models that had either no band, or a single large band. Later models, know as Slimline, although also having two thin bands, had caps that tapered somewhat so that the top of the cap had a smaller diameter than the bottom where the threads were located.

The weight and size of the pen are given in the table below. The Duofold Senior weighs in at surprisingly light 21g compare to a modern Duofold Centennial that weighs 29g. The extra weight of the Centennial is due to the brass casing for the filling mechanism. The size of the Senior and Centennial are virtually identical, which shows how carefully the designers of the modern pen were to be faithful to the 1920s design.

The 1928–29 Duofold Senior compared to the Duofold Centennial

Measurement	Units	Duofold Senior	Duofold Centennial
Weight	g	21	29
Length, capped	mm	138	138
Length, uncapped	mm	130	127
Length, posted	mm	171	172

Details

The nib of the 1928–9 Duofold Senior is appropriately sized for a pen of these dimensions, that is, it’s quite big. It is, of course, made from 14K gold, which was the standard for that day.

The nib is inscribed “Parker Duofold Made in USA” [5].

The 1920s Duofold pens carried over the button filler mechanism that was used in the Jackknife Safety pen and other predecessors of the Duofold.

Pushing in the button would cause a thin metal strip to bow towards the center of the barrel causing the ink sac to compress. Releasing the button while the nib was immersed in ink caused the ink sac to fill.

The imprint on the barrel is somewhat worn, but it is clearly legible.

The imprint reads George S. Parker—Parker Duofold—Made in USA[6].

The clip was large and gold-filled.

The engraving on the clip reads “Pat. SE 5–16” at the top and “Parker ” written vertically.

Summary

The 1928–29 Parker Duofold Senior was one of the most prestigious and expensive pens of its time. It was meant to reflect the importance of the user and to make a statement. The large size and the amount of gold in the nib was meant to impress people. This was the kind of pen that was used to sign a bill into law, or, for lesser mortals, sign a mortgage contract.

This particular unit has some flaws. There is a series of gauges in the barrel where a tool of some sort seems to have slipped. The imprint is worn, but easily readable. Also, it looks like the lip of the cap had a chip knocked out and later glued into place. These noticeable flaws made the pen less valuable and I purchased it for somewhat less money than a pristine unit. Perhaps some day, if the mood strikes me, I might fill this pen with ink and write with it. A little extra wear probably won’t hurt the value of this pen as it would one in better condition.

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1. Parker did stumble in the 1980s and was bought out by its management, who quickly sold the company to a conglomerate. The conglomerate moved the headquarters to England and subsequently to France.  ↩

2. Plastic pens could be made in a large number of colors and patterns, whereas hard rubber pens came in only red and black. Early plastic Duofold colors include red, black, jade, mandarin yellow, lapis blue, and pearl.  ↩

3. Parker, aware that large Duofold Seniors were too expensive for many people, introduced a smaller and less expensive model named the Duofold Junior, which sold for $5. Also sold at $5 was the Lady Duofold, which was similar to the Junior model except that the clip was replaced with a gold color ring on the top of the cap. The ring was used to attach the pen to a neckless since women’s clothing styles didn’t include pockets. My mother, who was a young girl during the 1920s, told me how much she disliked this style of ladies pens because, inevitably, the pen would work its way loose, unscrew from the cap, and she would look down and find just an empty cap dangling from the neckless.  ↩

4. How is the date of a pen determined? The most common method of dating a pen is by comparing it to contemporary magazine advertisements. Looking at a series of ads in dated magazines for Parker Duofolds during the 1920s shows all the major and minor modifications made during the years it was produced. In particular, Glen Bowen’s book, Collectable Fountain Pens is filled with ads arranged chronologically for each manufacturer.  ↩

5. Beneath the inscription are the additional characters “.47.”, however I don’t know the significance of this.  ↩

6. The Parker Vacumatic pen, which followed the Duofold, had the year of manufacture as part of its imprint. Thus a “9” in the imprint would mean the pen was made in 1939.  ↩