A
fountain pen made by
Parker from
1956 to
1982. It looks very similar to the
Parker 51, in that it has a hooded
nib, a
metal cap, and a
plastic body. However, it is thinner, and has an
arrow embossed over the
nib.
Though later examples have a cartridge/converter filling system, the original 61 was self-filling. A Teflon-coated “tube” extended from the section. This was placed in the bottle of ink. A few minutes later, the pen would be filled. This magic was accomplished through capillary action. Though this worked quite well, it required a bit of diligence when caring for the pen. With ball point pens becoming more common and needing less care, many 61s had to be repaired due to dry ink.
Personally, I think it is one of the cooler pens in my collection.