This year the world commemorate 75 years of the end of the World War II. After the surrender of the German on June, Japan decided to surrender on August, due to the continuous defeat at the Pacific theatre, the dropping of two atomic bombs in Hiroshima and Nagasaki, but especially by the declaration of war and attacks from Russia. Like Germany, Japan chose to surrender to the US rather than being occupied by Russia. Hey, those mad Russians had even murdered their own Tsar on World War I and almost all of their own heroes just before the World War II..
Now, please forget those clumsy Russias with their bad fountain pens (at that time), and focus to the US. Dwight D. Eisenhower and Douglas MacArthur were US Generals with quite different personalities, but — being American patriots — they both used the same brand of pen for the surrender documents 75 years ago. Eisenhower had chosen Parker 51, but MacArthur preferred to use Parker Duofold. Eisenhower’s Parker 51 was used to sign the German Instrument of Surrender in Reims (07 May 1945). MacArthur used a Parker Duofold to sign the Japanese Instrument of Surrender on the deck of the USS Missouri (02 September 1945). Both were two of the most popular pens of their time. But the Duofold was a design that was 20 years older than the 51.
Parker started producing Duofold in 1921. It was a large pen compared with other pens at the time. Almost all other pens at the time were black, but Duofold was available in a bright red/orange color. Even at the USS Missouri, there were multiple pens used to sign the multiple copies of the Japanese Instrument of Surrender — all were standard black pens, except that one Duofold.
The Duofold design is based on the era of Jazz and Art Deco and reflects the abundance and style of the time. It is actually a collection of writing instruments with exceptional character and outstanding design. The Duofold pen is available in 3 sizes, the large Centennial, classical International, or the smaller Demi. The one displayed here is a Parker Duofold Centennial, launched to celebrate 100 years of Parker pens, i.e. in 1988. Crafted from solid acrylic with highly distinguished, contrasting contrasting platinum details. The pen has an 18 kt gold nib in F sizes.
Some dimensions info:
Weight 28 gram
Length closed 135mm
Length barrel 127mm
Length posted 172mm
Diameter 13mm
Now I need to know — besides the usual arrow design of Parker pens — the story behind the ace of spade symbols on both the nib and the cap of this great pen.
1 Pingback