SteveR Loc: Michigan

In the process of moving from one house to another, we did get rid of a lot of "stuff!!." However, I'm still going through boxes and coming across what I would call "sentimental junk" which I have to decided whether to keep or chuck. The one particular item in question is my Parker india ink pen from the fifties. I may have been ten or eleven when I received it as a gift. I remember writing letters with it to my cousin. But, it has been in a drawer for years and will never be used again. So....keep or chuck?

What similar pieces of sentimental junk do you have?

Longshadow Loc: Audubon, PA, United States

I still have my Parker 61, and a bottle of ink. I use it rarely because I have to clean it each time as it sits so long between uses.

For the rest I'd have to check (see what I have). Probably a bit of stuff.

SteveR Loc: Michigan

Mine does not come apart like yours does to clean. The tube that holds the ink is permanent. It has a piece of metal that goes around it lengthwise that you squeeze to cause suction to not only load it with ink but also clean it. I believe mine preceded yours.

fourlocks Loc: Londonderry, NH

My first spinning reel. A Garcia Mitchel 304 my father gave me when I was about 13 in the early '60's. It just barely works having been repaired so many times (note nut holding handle replacement on) and I now have far better reels but as they say, "If it could tell tales..." I've seen the same reel in antique shops.

(Download)

Longshadow Loc: Audubon, PA, United States

Mine has a sponge in the barrel to hold the ink. To clean it I just remove the barrel sleeve and soak the pen in water for a few hours, shake out the "old" and let it dry a bit. Then stick the sponge barrel in the ink bottle. I don't actually take the pen apart.

Shellback Loc: North of Cheyenne Bottoms Wetlands - Kansas

None - don’t keep it unless you plan to hand it down to your successors - We moved a lot in the service and had a moving weight limit - all stuff not used for over a year generally went to the Salvation Army, Goodwill, yard sale or garbage.

BebuLamar

I was 15 when my father gave me a set of Parker 45 with a fountain pen, a ball point pen and a pencil. I lost them and if I still have them I would never get rid of them. So no I won't chuck it.

JBRIII

Things like that key in memories for me, it also seems so for you, it is small so keep it.
Many things like boxes of old papers, etc. also can bring back school days, etc., but unless one, at least us, builds a barn to store them, it just gets to be too much to keep.

Be careful of old papers, amazing where you'll find your SS#, old college tests for example.
At the University, two of us registered a friend using data posted on the wall for radiation exposure badges, around 1972-3?.

SteveR Loc: Michigan

I like your thinking!! We've got books galore (novels) that I've tried to get my wife to toss. She thinks she might read them again. My thought? If you're not going to read it in the next year, get rid of it. If you do want to read it again, check it out from the library.

My Dad spent 7 1/2 years active before and after the war and finished his 20 in the reserves, so he (Mom, too) knew how to be neat. However, both were also children of the Depression, so they would keep anything that might have a future use. My parents' house was nothing of not neat and spotless. However, when it came time, after my Dad's passing, to clean it out, I made some interesting discoveries. He was a football coach, but never tossed broken shoelaces from football shoes. He'd tie them together and hang them on a hook in the garage for future use. For a long time he also re-strung tennis racqets. He didn't just cut out the old, broken string. He would meticulously un-string it from the racquet, roll it up in a nice circule (about 3") and put it in a box for future use. He did use this string once to keep saplings straight. FexEx boxes that he'd opened? Nicely flattened and hidden behind his office door. While this may have been junk, he also kept meticulous records. When going through his files, he had all the scores of the youth baseball program that he supervised during summers for years. It was a veritable history of the baseball program.

pendennis

I still write with my Parker 75 that I used in college. I keep it clean, and only use the best inks (ps - Quink isn't very good). I also have my dad's Parker 51 and matching pencil. It writes great, although the pencil lead is a bit broad for my taste.

I do have a lot of other "junk" and one of these days...

Longshadow Loc: Audubon, PA, United States

Maybe put things not used regularly in a box for each of the kids?
Might make it easier at a later time.

FL Streetrodder

There's a fellow in Hemmings Motor News classifieds (last pages) that always wants to buy old fountain pens. Apparently, there's collectors looking for most anything.

BebuLamar

I have no kids but I went to estate sales often and I found that the kids care more about a couple of bucks they could get out of the stuff than any sentimental value. So I feel that I deserve the stuff I got from estate sales a lot more than their kids. Yeah they got my couple of bucks. So really when I am gone I like to have my stuff go to people who value them.

Longshadow Loc: Audubon, PA, United States

TriX Loc: Raleigh, NC

Old pens can be both collectable and expensive - just check the price on a Parker Duofold ($400-$1200). You do need to be careful carrying fountain pens with bladders in your pocket on aircraft as the cabin is not typically pressurized to sea level - easy way to ruin a nice suit. I always carried a Mount Blanc Grande pen and pencil when I was working, but now they stay in a leather case on my desk. They have a nice series of special editions, each for a well known author. My wife has a couple, and I wish we had bought more when they were affordable.