c.1926 Parker Lady Duofold Fountain Pen

Vintage: c. 1926

Make: Parker

Model: Lady Duofold

Color/Pattern: Red

Materials: Permanite (celluloid), black hard rubber

Filling System: Button filler (resacced and guaranteed to fill and write as designed). To fill simply unscrew the blind cap to reveal the brass button, submerse the nib, and depress the button once. 

Length: This short model measures 4 5/8” capped and 5 5/8” posted. 

Nib: 14k Parker Duofold nib lays down a smooth and consistent XF/F line. It’s not a full-fledged stub but has a stubby grind that gives it character with down-strokes slightly wider than cross-strokes. 

Condition: This one resembles a relic recovered from a time capsule. Gold-filled cap band and gold-plated ring top have no brassing or other notable flaws. Celluloid has a smooth, lustrous surface with no deep scratches or other noteworthy blemishes – scarcely even any microscratches. Hard rubber parts are factory black and knurling is sharp and deep. Manufacturer imprint, which has been filled in with white at some point, is deep and fully legible. 

Details: Parker introduced the Lady Duofold in 1922. It was originally available in different lengths and widths with either a clip, ring top, or plain cap. By 1926, the Permanite (DuPont’s proprietary celluloid) had replaced hard rubber for the Duofold and the Lady had been standardized as a Junior-length slender pen with a ring top and either 3 thin cap bands or one wide, 12k gold-filled band like the Duofold Deluxe. Despite its commonalities with the Deluxe, Parker never used the name “Lady Duofold Deluxe” but these wide-band variants were listed in catalogues at a higher price. This is a Lady Duofold in Red Permanite with wide gold-filled cap band and knurled BHR clip-lock and blind cap. ‘X-mas’ tree Lucky Curve feed. Ring top was designed for attachment to a chatelaine or pocket chain.