On Sale: Pens, Pencils, and Ephemera

Decorate your home or business with an authentic Parker Pen Display counter. We believe it is roughly 100 years old. It is normal counter height at maybe around 4 feet tall. We are helping a friend in the Chicago suburbs sell this case. As it is so large, you really need to be able to pick it up in person or arrange for a moving company to get it. It is heavy, made of wood and glass. Behind the cabinet is a drawer for ink and other accessories. None of the contents in or on the case are included with the sale price. If you are interested in the case, please contact so we can make arrangements. As for the dimensions, we weren't smart enough to get the complete measurements. It is about 4 feet tall and about 2.5 feet wide and maybe about 2.5 to 3 feet deep. It is in excellent condition for its age, but it likely isn't without a blemish or two after 100 years. The owner of this case would prefer $949.99, but he will entertain offers.

Perfection is difficult to achieve in vintage pens, but this 1940 Oversize Parker Vacumatic gets close. No cracks, only light wear and incredible barrel clarity with celluloid that is on the light orange-dark yellow spectrum. No brassing. A feint barrel imprint. Close to perfect two-tone plating for the 14k gold nib. (Click the headline for a close-up.) YET, as you can see on the main photo, the name "James A. Kunkel" is engraved on the barrel. We looked up the name, and there are too many James Kunkels to know who owned this specific pen. You'll write an extra-fine line that is a bit dry but can sometimes look fine. Restored and in great working order. Museum worthy rare burgundy...yet, still a good writer. 13.5cm capped.

In 1936, Fred & Ginger lit up the silver screen in the classic "Swingtime," King Edward VIII abdicated the British throne to marry an American divorcé, television broadcasts first began, Jesse Owens showed up the Nazis in Berlin, Joe DiMaggio was a rookie, FDR won a second term and this Parker Vacumatic standard set in burgundy was made. It was an elegant era, and this pen in many respects marks the pinnacle of art deco design. This particular set is in excellent condition. No cracks, maybe 1% brassing, no scratches, restored and working. Its two-tone 14k has some cosmetic issues. Click the headline to see close-ups. It writes an extra-fine line with a little flex but not much. The matching pencil works great in excellent condition and comes with spare 1.1mm leads. Pen measures 12.8cm capped.

Discover a universe of joy when you write with the limited edition Omas Galileo Galilei rollerball pen. Ours comes complete in its original boxes. This preowned luxury pen was gently used and shows small traces of wear from use. Its clam-shell box shows more wear with some dimples on the top of the grey material. A new refill is included with the pen. A very handsome paragon-size pen at 14cm capped.

Saving people money during the Great Depression, Parker set out to make a more affordable series of pens. This ringtop model is a rare example of an early plastic they used with a really attractive red pattern. The faint imprint says Parker Lucky Curve, however, on restoring the pen, it doesn't have a Lucky Curve feed. In fact, its feed is missing a couple collector fins. We installed a new ink sac and pressure bar. Click the headline to see the old plier mark damage on the section. Its 14k gold nib writes a very nice extra-fine to fine line...AND it has a little FLEX. Overall, the pen only shows light wear. Unfortunately, there is one more hitch. The new pressure bar forces the button to ride a little higher than it used to, and the streamlined blind cap doesn't seat all the way down properly. You can see it in the photo. 11.5cm capped.

Before the demonstrator craze even got started, an Italian luxury pen manufacturer knew it would be a brilliant idea to showcase its finest wares. Thus, we have the birth of the Visconti Voyager Demonstrator limited edition. Black and yellow lines add panache to the clear cap and barrel of pen number 728 of 888. Its original owner filled it with blue-black ink. We did our best to clear it out, it still is visible in some places. Its piston filler is in good working order. You'll write a nice medium line with its two-tone 18k gold nib, but it might need a little breaking in to get used to daily use once again. Your purchase includes the pen's original wooden presentation box and papers. No cracks and minimal traces of wear mar this pen's surface. 14.2cm capped.

"When Madame Pompadour was on the ballroom floor, said all the gentleman obviously, 'The lady has a well developed...personality.'" More than the bawdy lyrics sung by Dorothy Lamour in the Hope & Crosby "Road to Utopia," the real Marquise de Pompadour was the extremely clever mistress and confidant of France's King Louis XV. Her mastery of court intrigue and support of the arts remains unparalleled. In 2001 the world's top luxury brand paid homage to her with the Mont Blanc Patron of the Arts Marquise de Pompadour limited edition pens. Exquisitely designed, Mont Blanc paired with the porcelain artists at Meissen to create this pen. Click the headline for close-ups. Guaranteed authentic, our's comes complete with papers and boxes--there is a chip on the back of the wooden box. Amazingly, it was actually used. We have cleaned and flushed the pen, which works great, but there is light surface wear on the barrel with some lightly rubbed in wear spots on the piston blind cap.