I have two pens from my dad, a Parker Vacumatic and a Sheaffer Pen for Men. I had both of them serviced (new rubber parts) and they’re in my pocket. They’ll be my daily writers for a while.

The older pen is a Parker Vacumatic Major in emerald pearl. The date code says it was made in Q1 1946, so I’m assuming it was a present when he graduated from Princeton High School (Indiana) in May 1946. It has a 14K gold nib in a fine point. The Vacumatic holds a lot of ink, so this would be a great pen for taking notes and writing papers.

I have it loaded with J. Herbin Pearle Noire ink, a dark black that is safe and well-behaved in pens. I think it is a nice choice for a fine point note-taking pen.

The other pen is a Shaeffer Pen for Men I. The PFM was the larger version of the Shaeffer Snorkel. The PFM I has no gold decoration and I think it is a cleaner, more elegant design than the other models (II through V). The PFM I has a silver palladium inlaid nib, this one is a medium. The grey body and silver nib gives the pen a very modern, Jet Age look. This model was made from 1959 through 1963 and cost $10 at introduction, the equivalent of about $100 today.

The snorkel filling mechanism is a technological marvel. You twist the cap on the end of the pen body and a long thin tube extends from the feed, below the nib. Pull out on the cap, dip the tube into the ink, push the plunger down, and wait for a few seconds. Then twist the cap the other way to retract the tube.

The snorkel is also famously good for shooting ink at other people. There are reports that they were banned from schools for that reason. The mechanism description linked above includes this tip:

To test a Snorkel, fill it with water. Aim the filled pen in some harmless direction. Extend the Touchdown tube and then depress it quickly. If all the seals are working right, the pen will shoot a stream of water that can travel about six feet (2 m).

I have Waterman Blue Black in this pen, a nice balance between a bit of color and business writing. I like to think it would have been a good choice for a minister with a stylish pen.