Help with identifying old Parker pen

Hey all,

I've been into FP's for a few years now, but haven't been able to really find any info on this Lucky Curve that I have. I believe it's just a run of the mill #25 (since the blind cap has a 25 printed on it). My issue is that I cannot for the life of me find an image of the 25 that looks like mine or has the same markings.



The clip on the cap says:

PAT SE 5-16 Parker

The barrel says:

GEO S PARKER FOUNTAIN PEN
JANESVILLE WIS USA
LUCKY CURVE
PAT. JAN.3-05.APR.11-05
APR.2.5-12.JUN 4-12

I'm really not sure what I have. Is this a frankenpen of sorts or is it all original? I'm pretty sure the nib has been replaced, but that's not a big issue to me. The biggest issue I face is figuring out exactly what I have.

Any help is greatly appreciated.

Thanks,
John

I'm no pen expert, but after doing a little research, your Parker looks consistent to a Parker Lucky Curve 25. A few online vendors have ones that look identical to yours, but are labeled as a Parker Duofold Jr. From my understanding, the Luck Curve pens are pre-Duofold, but I'm gathering that from 5-10 minutes worth of research, so I could be entirely wrong.

Claudel Xerxes said:

I'm no pen expert, but after doing a little research, your Parker looks consistent to a Parker Lucky Curve 25. A few online vendors have ones that look identical to yours, but are labeled as a Parker Duofold Jr. From my understanding, the Luck Curve pens are pre-Duofold, but I'm gathering that from 5-10 minutes worth of research, so I could be entirely wrong.

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I'm pretty sure this is pre-Duofold, as the Duofold is usually stamped with something like Duofold - Lucky Curve (in a nice banner), but this one does not have the words Duofold on it, and the patent dates point to an earlier model. I've seen some that look like it listed as either Duofold Jr or Duofold Sr, but the other markings don't match. The 25 seems to be it, but the top cap on the images of the 25 I've seen don't match. I'm thinking it may be a frankenpen, but I just don't know enough about pens to say for sure.

Thanks for the info, as I've spent quite a bit of time googling this and coming up empty. I figured that since I've been on B&B for a while now, I'd take advantage of The Nib and see if anyone else has some ideas.

Looks like a Jack knife safety

http://parkercollector.com/luckycurve.html #24 or so

on second thought it is a Jack knife with the 25 stamped on the blind cap, thats a giveaway...

NICE FIND

brianw said:

Looks like a Jack knife safety

http://parkercollector.com/luckycurve.html #24 or so

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I was thinking that as well...Could the blind cap have been replaced with a #25 by chance (not sure how they fit)? It looks like a dead ringer for it, but the blind cap had me wondering since it has a 25 stamped on it.

25 was the model.... and the price.... 20 1/2 was 2.50 and the smallest , 23 was 3.00. 24 was 4.00, and 25 was 5.00 and the largest. I have a 20 1/2 and a 24

Would it say Jack Knife on it anywhere, or was that just it's designation? Sorry, I know next to nothing about vintage pens. I just happened to stumble on it at a pen shop near me and it was, what I thought a good price for a vintage Parker, so I just bought it on a whim.

No it would not... The engraving is correct and the number on the blind cap is a dead give away

brianw said:

No it would not... The engraving is correct and the number on the blind cap is a dead give away

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Awesome, thank you so much! I'm happy to finally know what I have! Now that I know what it is, I may start writing with it again. I've been using my little Kaigelu 356 mostly, but since I can actually tell people what I have when asked, I'll probably go back to using the Parker.

Thanks again!

How does it write.... any flex in the nib ? Is there any number on the nib ? all in all not bad for a 100 year old pen !!!!

It writes rather wet and the nib is pushed in rather far to see a number, but I'll pull it out when I get a chance. As for flex, I'd say a medium, maybe.

First year Duofold Senior, circa 1922. Hard rubber button fill. Looks like a late Vac nib.

How long is the capped pen? Can you zoom in on the imprint, that will tell more.

All due respect Doug... the 25 on the blind cap is a give away as a pre doufold and therefore a Jack Knife

Please, correct me if I am wrong, but don't all Duofolds have Duofold or Duofold and Lucky Curve stamped on them? This one just has Lucky Curve stamped on it.

brianw said:

All due respect Doug... the 25 on the blind cap is a give away as a pre doufold and therefore a Jack Knife

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Well, honestly, I was going by the cap ring which I thought started in 1922. The DUOFOLD mark can easily be worn off, that's why I asked about a better pic of the engraving. I had a 1921 but it didn't have the ring. As far as the 25 on the blind cap, those can easily be swapped, many folks lost theirs and replaced them with whatever they could find at the time. These babies got used!

Just for kicks, here's a similar pen from my collection, original Duofold nib with Christmas tree feed, hard rubber pen with no barrel imprints (worn away I guess) that I place around 1924. I'll admit I don't know much about Parker safety pens and there was a transitional pen between the Jack Knife and Duofold but did that have the band?

Well, after seeing that, I'm thinking I may have a frankenpen of sorts. I do have the Christmas tree feed (I'll take more pictures when I get back to the office). No matter what it is, I do like it, so it's a keeper for now. I just couldn't figure out what I had, so I had to ask some more experienced people!

Hey all,

Sorry for the bad pictures. All I could do with the iPhone. I'll try to remember my SLR one day soon for better pictures, but here is the stamp on the barrel:





Again, sorry for the bad shots.