Parker VP

Introduced in 1962, the Parker VP (Very Personal) was an attempt to solve a number of problems associated with fountain pens. One was the difficulty that left-handed persons have writing with a fountain pen, as they try to keep their hand from dragging through the freshly-laid ink.

An attempt to solve this problem, a feature of this pen was that its section had a triangular cross-section, “forcing” the writer’s fingers into a pre-determined grip on the pen. However, this required that the nib be rotatable, to account for the different angles at which different writers hold the pen.

If you look carefully at the photo above, you can see an arrow and angle indicators around the collar of the section, showing the rotation of the nib and feeder. This is seen more easily in the photo below.

A second problem with fountain pens at the time was the issue of how to fill the pen without the mess of ink on the nib. This was solved by making the “cartridge” removable, as shown below.

To fill the pen, the cartridge is removed and dipped into ink, and then filled like a typical aerometric filler, by squeezing the metal bar. The cartridge is then re-inserted into the pen. At least, that was the theory.

Although it’s not easy to see in the photo above, the tip of the “cartridge” is actually hexagonal (which makes the feeder easier to unscrew using the appropriate screwdriver). That, combined with the brittleness of the plastic it’s made of, meant that the cartridge tip is fragile and easily broken…

Another feature of this pen was the variety of nibs available for it – 15 in total, rannging from a needle point to an extra broad. The “65” visible on the bottom of the feeder in the photo above indicates that this particular nib is a “fine”.

Although this pen was made in the USA, it was imported to Denmark by the Christian Olsen company, as can be seen in the “C O” and anchor logo imprinted in the barrel, and shown in the photo above.

Due to its problems, the VP line was discontinued in 1964 – only 2 years after it was released. However, some of its design features were used in the Parker 75, which was released in that same year.

Total weight: 19.6  g
Body weight  11.7 g
Total length (not posted): 127.7 mm
Total length(with cap): 139.2 mm
Barrel max diameter: 11.9 mm
Cap max diameter: 12.5 mm

V2019021

For more info on the Parker VP, see this page and this page.