One Man's Trash Gloat?

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sefali

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Jan 23, 2009
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361
Location
Philly
I took my Mom out in the burbs Saturday, to check out leftovers from neighborhood yard sales. We came across a house that appeared to have been sold and cleaned out. There was all kinds of stuff on the sidewalk. My eye immediately went to a spilled basket of pencils and crayons. Closer inspection showed quite a few old fountain pens as well. I figure most of it is junk, but I really know nothing about them. Here are a few that stood out to me. Wearever. Parker, Scheafer (sp). The quill looking one has a 14k nib.


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I'd appreciate any help identifying any of them. I am also wondering if any might look worth restoring.
Thanks,
Sef
 
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Wow, Congrats. I know little to nothing about FP's (yet). I'm still learning the basics.

Congrats anyway. That's a nice find.
 
The second is a Parker Duofold , from the picture it could be a Jade green Jr from the 30s and the third is a Parker Vacumatic from the 40s . I would need to see better pictures to give any more info though .
They all look a little rough but the nibs seem to be intact so I would say they are rebuildable but not worth very much on the market right now . The parkers are worth anywhere from $15 to $50 depending on the condition of the nibs .

Ken , The Parker Vacumatic is a single jewel which dates it from "38" to end of production .
 
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Can't tell from the pictures, but any name fountain the isn't broken and has all the parts is worth restoring. It is a personal matter whether it is worth the cost.

I would skip on an Easterbrook or a Scripto because they were cheap then and not worth the effort now. Other than that, most of them are worth the cost.
 
Hello Sef,

That is a great find.

The 4th picture - the lever on this pen acts as a pump/siphon to refill the ink. Open the pen to see if there is a bladder pump inside. If the bladder is in good condition, it could still hold the ink. Otherwise, don't wear a white shirt. :biggrin:

I have not seen one of these fountain pens for a long time.

Check out this link --> http://www.vintagepens.com/filling_instructions_lever-fillers.shtml
 
You guys are great. Butch was right on about those 2 Parkers. I'll try to clean the ggod ones up and post some better pics. After going to a couple of the links you guys gave me, I was able to open up a few, only to find that some are full of dried ink. A lot have bulging bodies as well, apparently from trying to pump that dried ink. There are a couple good bulbs, and still some that I just can't disassemble yet.
I have never had a fountain pen, other than what I've made myself over the last year or so. Before that, I'd only used dip pens in calligraphy class back in elementary school. None of these will be getting sold. They will either get restored, or saved for parts for when I jump to kitless. I gotta say that I'm really smitten with the Vacumatic.
 
The vac is a great pen . If the diaphragm is good you will love it . If it needs a new diaphragm it will cost about $30 to get it rebuilt , the tools to do it yourself will cost about that or even a little more .
Is the filler an aluminum or plastic ? , if it's aluminum it is between a 1938 to 1942 if it is plastic then it's a 1942 to 1947 . There should be a date code on the barrel at the end of the imprint , little number and some dots
I own a Black 3rd 1/4 1937 and a Silver 3rd 1/4 1942 They both needed diaphragms when I got them so I bought the tools to fix them and have rebuilt the 1937 , it's a wonderful writer .
I would also fix the Duofold if the nib is good , they use a regular sac and a pressure bar , both parts are cheap and easy to replace . If you fix it , it will write as good as or better then the Vac .
As you might of guessed by now I'm a Parker collector (read that as NUT) and have a number of them . If you need any help or info PM me .
 
LOL. I can think of worse thing to be nuts over, Butch. I likely won't be getting much more done with them until thursday, but expect a pm after that. Thanks for the help.
 
sefali,
If you're still there, the top pen is a 1930ish Esterbrook 'Dollar pen'. The bottom pen looks like a Wearever pen that was called a 'Bullet'. Clean both of them up, put new sacks in them and have fun writing. The Dollar pen should retail for somewhere around $40 if it's in good shape and its restored. Don't know about the Bullet, dollar wise. I'm fairly certain you won't find many Bullets. I have one. There are people that collect Wearevers and I saw an asking price of $140 for a Wearever Supreme just a couple days ago.
I'm not convinced any pen is complete junk. Some are collectible and some are for everyday use.
Parker and Sheaffer nibs, by themselves, are worth what you paid for them (even if you had to pay for them, LOL).
Esterbrooks are the unloved old pens, but they are actually pretty well made. They can usually be bought fairly cheap at flea markets because they are assumed to be bad pens. Brian Anderson http://www.esterbrook.net is a collector of Esterbrooks. Look at his prices.
GaryR
 
I'm still here Gary. I'm just now getting some cleaned up pics in the computer.
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The bladders in the Parkers were in pieces. The Waterman's got a spread nib. The Esterbrook had a crumbled sack, and has a broken nib. It also feels cheap. I really like it, none the less.
 
GaryR said:
sefali,
If you're still there, the top pen is a 1930ish Esterbrook 'Dollar pen'. The bottom pen looks like a Wearever pen that was called a 'Bullet'. Clean both of them up, put new sacks in them and have fun writing. The Dollar pen should retail for somewhere around $40 if it's in good shape and its restored. Don't know about the Bullet, dollar wise. I'm fairly certain you won't find many Bullets. I have one. There are people that collect Wearevers and I saw an asking price of $140 for a Wearever Supreme just a couple days ago.
I'm not convinced any pen is complete junk. Some are collectible and some are for everyday use.
Parker and Sheaffer nibs, by themselves, are worth what you paid for them (even if you had to pay for them, LOL).
Esterbrooks are the unloved old pens, but they are actually pretty well made. They can usually be bought fairly cheap at flea markets because they are assumed to be bad pens. Brian Anderson http://www.esterbrook.net is a collector of Esterbrooks. Look at his prices.
GaryR
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Thanks for the info, Gary. I'll be cleaning up even the pens I thought were junk. As I get the time, and the money, I'll be trying to resurrect what I can. Whatever is too far gone, I'll keep for parts when I make the jump to kitless, and they'll get a new lease on life then. I gotta say, I feel more and more lucky every time I think about these pens. :smile:
 
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