Give Them Now...

... And you'll receive thanks for (many, many, many) years to come.

A very prophetic ad for Parker Duofolds.  There are still loads of these pens around today and all they need is a new sac to be in working order again.  I've heard stories of people inheriting these pens from grandparents, great grandparents, a great aunt or uncle (unfortunately I'm not that lucky) and they are usually glad to have them and sometimes want to know more about them if they are new to the world of fountain pens.

1920s Duofold ad probably from National Geographic

I've had this ad for a few years now, I found it while digging through a bunch of other random ads at a local antique shop and the classic Parker logo jumped out at me.  I know there are some people out there who disapprove of tearing apart old magazines for ads and photos but I'm certain this is from National Geographic- you know most thrift stores have boxes of them for free when you come in because people hoarded so many of them they have little or no value.  The ad copy is all very true, no false advertising to be found here, well the non-breakable barrels part is a bit of a stretch, dropping most any nice pen on a hard surface will damage it and the Mandarin Yellow Duofolds crack if you look at them funny.  A very pricey pen at the time, but the Duofold was Parker's top of the line pen and still is today in some respects, although the prices now exceed what the listed were when inflation is taken into account.  It's really something how much care and thought used to go into print advertising, today you just get some generic photograph of the product, a few words and maybe a photo some generic-looking girl who has undergone a silicone beef up that society at large has deemed appealing (I think everyone can picture the type I'm taking about).

I also wanted to just stop in and show everyone I'm not dead.  In fact I've been really busy and haven't had much of any interest to blog about.  But I am pleased to write I'm now hired full time at a local branch of a nation wide printing company (thankfully not the one that is associated with a mailing company and has store fronts in strip malls, this is the real deal only interested in skilled labor and paying good wages), I work forty-eight hours a week Monday through Thursday so that doesn't leave me much free time during the week.  Despite this I'm going to try to make an effort to post more often.  Anyway what good is a blog if it just sits there with the same old posts for weeks on end?