Pencils

We lucked out on finding a small collection of Parker 21 pencils that are New Old Stock. This black-and-steel pencil still have its original price stick. It was the base model for the 21, which seems a little comical in hindsight, as 21s were the base version of the more expensive 51s. The vintage pencil is in good working order. Twist the tail advance the .9mm lead. You have to push the lead back in to retract it with a twist of the tail cap in the opposite direction. It has some light wear from wherever it was stored in the past 60 years. Under the steel cap is a hardened original eraser in unused condition. Under it are a few spare leads. 12.6cm.

In the strata of Sheaffer PFM pens and pencils, the Sheaffer PFM-IV was just one grade below the very top of the line. We love the polished chrome cap with gold-plated accents better than the entirely gold-plated caps of the Sheaffer PFM-Vs. This vintage pencil is in great working order. However, it has some light wear from use. No dents or deep scratches but lots of light, shallow scratches. You might also notice a slight gap between the gold cap band and cap. We tried to move it back into position, but it wouldn't budge. You advance and retract the .9mm lead with a twist of the tail cap. Spare leads and an unused but hardened blue eraser can be found under the blind cap. 12.9cm.

Burgundy makes for a handsome color on the Sheaffer PFM-I line. New Old Stock! Our vintage pencil has its original chalk marks, even if it has a little light wear from where it was stored over the years. The .9mm lead is a little over extended in the photo just to get the chalk mark to line-up for the photography. Our pencil is in perfect working order. Under the tail cap is a perfect but hardened blue eraser, and under it are spare leads. 12.8cm.

Parker first released its super famous Sonnet line in 1994. Among the first colors were two beautiful Chinese lacquers. This is one such first-run Parker Sonnet in the design pattern of "Chinese Laque Vision Foncé." It is an exquisite pen, much like a Japanese urushi design in black with amber-sparkle highlights. You can see a spot of wear on the wide, gold-plated cap band and lighter wear elsewhere on the pencil. Twist the tail cap to advance and retract .5mm leads. Under the cap, you will find a working but mostly worn down eraser and spare leads. 13.4cm

Today Faber Castell is known for its luxury pencils. Its "Perfect Pencil" retails for $260...and it is just a wood-and-graphite pencil with a platinum cap. Refills for the Perfect Pencil are $10 a pop. Yet, back in the early 1980s, Faber Castell wasn't too big for its britches. These were just regular pencils with NFL teams names on them. Please look closely as the these include the no-longer-with-us Houston Oilers and the no-longer-in Baltimore or San Diego Colts and Chargers! These pens were used to the extent that you see them. Present but rolled over are the Miami Dolphins and Dallas Cowboys and missing are the Chicago Bears and Philadelphia Eagles. What you see is what you get. Yet, a great historical keepsake for the pencil-loving NFL fan in your life.

Parker Liquid Lead Pencils continue to fascinate us. Here is a slender model with an almost Parker 21 like pocket clip from the 1950s. Sadly, the idea of a liquid lead pencil never really took off, but we still have some handsome examples of them around. This model shows more moderate to heavy wear from use but a rarer imprint than many of these pencils we've seen. You can also see a little rust no the tail cap. Unfortunately, this pencil's refill has run dry, and they don't make these refills any longer. 13.1cm.

Vintage pencils make math and crossword puzzles way more fun. Take this Sheaffer 400 pencil for example. It is an early devotee of the .9mm lead. You advance and retract it with a simple twist of the tail cap. It has some wear from use, but most of us do after 80 years. The worst of it is a few little scratches in the nose cone, which you can see in the photo. The carmine red pattern is one of the rarer color schemes from this era. The clip is on tightly. It no longer has its eraser, but it comes with a spare lead. 13.3cm.

We aren't sure what Conklin called this pinstriped pencil made of rolled gold, but it is a very handsome taste of the 1920s. It is marked "Patented July 6, 1920." We suspect is was made a couple years later. This pen is a little more slender than the 4B and 5V models, but it is the same length. New Old Stock, it is dent and damage free. Twist the nose cone to advance and retract the 1.1mm lead. Pull off the tail blind cap to reveal a hardened eraser. Unscrew the eraser to reveal some spare leads. 13.3cm capped.