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Making a better pen was what the Parker Pen Company's founder, George Safford
Parker, set out to do when he couldn't find one that wrote well and didn't leak.
Parker believed that if he "made a better pen, people would buy it." And so he
did.
 George
Safford Parker did not start out a maker of pens. Instead, he began his career
as a teacher of telegraphy. To supplement his teaching income, Parker started
selling pens for the John Holland Pens Company. In fact, his telegraphy students
were his main customers.
When the pens he sold malfunctioned, Parker felt obligated to fix them. Soon
overwhelmed with repair work, he decided to invent his own version of the
fountain pen. Thus, Parker's famous idea of "making a better pen" came to life.
With that, the Parker Pen Company was born. It was 1888 in Janesville,
Wisconsin, USA.
The following year, Parker patented his first fountain pen and two years
later found an investor, insurance broker W. F. Palmer, for his fledgling
company. With an initial investment of $1,000 U.S., Palmer bought half of
Parker's shares in both the patents and the business. Thus, the Parker Pen
Company was officially opened for business.
 The
first major technological breakthrough for the company came in 1894 with the
Lucky Curve ink feed system. The feed system was designed to drain the ink back
into the reservoir by capillary action when the pen was upright in the pocket of
its owner. Parker employed this special technique in most of its top-selling
pens until 1928 (The only alteration to this system occurred in 1898 when the
under-feed system design replaced the Lucky Curve). With the advent of the Lucky
Curve, Parker was now a major player in the fountain pen industry.
In 1898, the slip-on outer pen cap was patented. The following year, Parker
introduced the biggest success of the pen age, the first jointless pen. The
product was thought of as perfection because the vital parts of this fountain
pen were encased inside the barrel ensuring no leakage at any time.
In 1900, The Gold Filigree Lucky Curve Pens were introduced. In the same
year, Parker patented the taper on the inside of the outer cap, a design
improvement to make it fit more securely.
In addition to his scientific talents and success as an inventor, Parker
understood the importance of market development. In 1903, he embarked on a world
tour, hoping to establish overseas distributorships. His first success was the
Scandinavian region.
In the years leading up to World War I, Parker announced several
technological innovations, including the Black Giant, Parker's response to
consumer demand for large en vogue fountain pens. The Black Giant, precursor to
the Duofold, was released in 1905. Featuring a slip-on cap and a smooth
shoulderless section, it was filled with an eyedropper and had a conventional
threaded section barrel joint. The Black Giant sold successfully until its
discontinuation in 1921.
 Other
famous milestones in the company's history during the early 1900's were, the
development of the "Spear-Head" ink feed in 1905, the Emblem Pen (1906),
forerunner to the business to business products of today, incorporating the mark
of some secret society directly on the pen. The sterling silver and gold Snake
Pen followed the year after. In 1911, an improved Lucky Curve feed was patented
and in 1912, a new form of the safety cap was introduced.
Unlike most companies, the onset of the First World War did little to slow
business for the Parker pen company, partially due to the serendipitous
invention of the Trench Pen. This pen held black pellets in its barrel, which,
when added to water, would transform into ink. Their unique design allowed
soldiers to refill their pens while remaining in the trenches. The US War
Department awarded Parker a contract for the Trench Pen, ensuring the company's
financial success throughout the First World War.
Once again proving his dedication to all aspects of the business, in 1914,
Parker employed his son, Russell, to concentrate on production and certain areas
of administration. Five years later, Kenneth, the second of Parker's sons,
joined his father and brother to improve the company's marketing efforts.
In 1916, Parker debuted yet another precursor to the Duofold-the Jack Knife
safety pen. Two years later, annual sales surpassed the $1 million mark. The
following year, the company erected a new building, housing manufacturing and
administration, in Janesville. The building served as corporate headquarters
until 1986.
 The
Parker Pen Company continued to flourish throughout the 1920s, beginning with
the invention of the mechanical pencil. Parker busied himself with attracting
new distributorships throughout Europe, Australia, India and the Orient.
In 1921, the company's biggest and most important launch to date-that of the
Duofold fountain pen-earned Parker its reputation as the pen company that
produces the most dependable as well as the most fashionable writing instruments
on the market. The Duofold, nicknamed "Big Red," embodied the feel of the
Roaring Twenties-big, bold and very jazzy. At $7.00, Duofold was the most
expensive pen on the market.
Now synonymous with vintage fountain pens, the Parker name took on new
meaning-innovation, style and reliability. Parker, pleased with the sales and
durability of their latest creation, decided to guarantee the Duofold for 25
years. The Duofold pencil followed in 1923.
Also in 1923, the first Parker manufacturing subsidiary opened in Canada. The
following year, a wholly-owned distribution company opened in London to handle
most of Canada's production. This site distributed Parker pens throughout
Europe.
Parker's Duofold family expanded in 1926 and 1927 to include Jade Green,
Mandarin Yellow, Lapis Blue and Pearl and Black-all available in a
first-of-its-kind durable plastic called Permanite. The new material replaced
the traditional vulcanised rubber, which tended to be brittle. Parker employed
publicity stunts, such as throwing these new pens over the Grand Canyon and out
of an aeroplane at 3,000 feet, to prove their durability.
 The
1930s proved to be another breakthrough decade for the Parker pen company. Quink
ink came on the scene in 1931. Then in 1933, another miracle of Parker's pen
engineering produced the Vacumatic featuring a sacless filling mechanism which
held over twice as much ink as the Duofold. This cutting-edge creation
catapulted the Vacumatic ahead of the Duofold in popularity. It was considered
to be Parker's masterpiece and the crowning achievement of his long career as
the world's leading pen maker. Artist Joseph Platt designed Parker's now-famous
arrow clip that same year. Since then, it's become synonymous with writing
instrument excellence.
Russell
Parker died in 1933, pushing his father into a depression that would last until
his own death four years later. George Safford Parker, king of the modern
writing instrument, died in Chicago at age 74. Fortunately, the Parker Pen
Company carried on and continued to flourish.
 In 1941, the Parker 51, with its cigar-shaped design and hooded nib, earned
the company prestigious design awards. Its landmark design contributed to its
popularity and soon demand exceeded production. The Parker 21, a less expensive
version of the 51, was introduced in 1948.
Parker continued to explore the potential of overseas markets and in 1949
opened a subsidiary in South Africa followed by manufacturing facilities in
France and Mexico two years later. Then in 1954, another landmark innovation,
the Parker Jotter, made its way onto the scene. The first quality ball pen with
an unusually large cartridge design, the Jotter wrote more than five times as
long as standard ball pens. The pen also featured a unique rotating point to
prevent wear. In its first year, more than 3.5 million Jotters were sold.
After years of intensive research, Parker launched the first self-filling
fountain pen, the Parker 61, in 1956. Engineered to "self-draw" ink from the
bottle, the Parker 61 could hold enough ink to last for six hours of steady
writing. The following year Parker developed what would become yet another
industry standard, the tungsten carbide textured ball or T-Ball. Using a
superior stainless steel sphere, the pen gripped the surface of the writing
paper, permitting skip-free, blob-free writing. The T-Ball became part of the
Jotter's design. It was now the T-Ball Jotter.
New subsidiaries opened in 1958 and 1959 in Australia and Argentina,
respectively. In 1960, subsidiaries opened in Brazil and West Germany. Also in
1960, Parker introduced its first ink cartridge pen, the Parker 45, named after
the Colt 45 pistol. The same year, Kenneth Parker, president and chairperson and
the only remaining active board member of the Parker family, retired from the
company.
The Royal British Household awarded Parker the Royal Warrant as its sole
supplier of pens and inks in 1962. Also in that year, subsidiaries opened in
Peru and Columbia. In 1964, on its 75th birthday, Parker introduced the Parker
75, a special edition luxury solid sterling silver fountain pen with a 14K gold
nib.
Parker's first foray into roller balls occurred in 1966 with the Touche. The
following year, Parker announced the Classic line of slim-contour writing
instruments. In 1968, the Automatic Mechanical Pencil or Cartridge Pencil, with
the capacity to write up to 50,000 words, came on the market. The same year,
Martha Parker, wife of George Safford Parker, died.
In 1970, Parker launched the Big Red, a low-line product designed to echo the
Parker Duofold styling. Big Red sported an interchangeable ball pen and soft-tip
writing modes. Five years later, Parker launched its first roller ball, the
Systemark. This new writing mode featured a fountain pen ink system and a
textured tungsten carbide ball.
During the next three years, the Parker Pen Company launched five new pens:
the Parker 180 (a dual-line nib fountain pen), the Parker 25, the Parker 50, Ms.
Parker and the Swinger, which later became known as the Slinger, a leisure pen
that hung around the neck. In 1979, George Parker's son, Kenneth, died.
In the 1980s, Parker continued to flourish. The Arrow collection of writing
instruments, with their highly-stylised pocket clip, appeared in 1981. And, in
1982, the Parker Vector roller ball became an instant success. The Vector
fountain pen, ball pen and pencil soon followed. In 1983, Parker created its
Premier collection of luxury writing instruments. These handcrafted pens,
encased in precious metals, can take up to six weeks to produce.
The UK management team succeeded in a buyout of the Writing Instruments
Division in February 1986. Corporate headquarters moved to Newhaven, England.
Despite a world recession, Parker increased its turnover by almost 50% in the
five years following the management buyout.
In 1988, in recognition of its 100th birthday, the world witnessed the
re-launch of the most famous Parker pen, the Duofold, now the Duofold
Centennial. Like its predecessors, the Centennial met with huge success. Parker
launched the Parker 88 the same year. Inspired by the French fashion centre, the
Parker 88 incorporated International styling in precious metals, lacquer and
epoxy finishes.
Parker established the Platinum Club in 1989 in the US and Australia for
Duofold owners, offering elite privileges and complementary services. The
following year, Parker enhanced the Duofold collection with the addition of the
Parker International fountain pen, a slimmer, shorter version of the Centennial,
and the Duofold roller ball. The ball pen and pencil use the brass tassie
design. Utilising solid blocks of hand-cast acrylic trimmed in 23K gold plate,
the Centennial proves impervious to wear due to its diamond-polished lustre.
Parker gave birth to the precision-engineered Insignia collection in 1991.
This technically-advanced collection suited the needs of the professional user.
In 1992, Pearl and Black joined the Duofold collection. That same year, Parker
modified the 88 collection with a new range of colours and a special black trim.
 The
technologically-advanced Sonnet range of pens and the Penman range of
accessories appeared on the market in 1993. The Gillette Company acquired Parker
that same year. In 1994, Parker re-launched the 88 range as Rialto, maintaining
all of the popular features of the previous range and including subtle styling
and functional changes for increased performance. Parker announced a new Vector
range with metallic, translucent and dichroic finishes in 1995. And in 1996,
Parker introduced the Frontier range. Duofold underwent styling changes and
three new finishes, inspired by gemstones, to replace the marble finishes.
Rialto gained three new finishes and Insignia, four.
 In
1999 Parker prepared for a major re-launch in 2000-new logo, new products
(Reflex, Inflection, Ellipse fountain pen and ball pen), new refills, new
packaging, new image. And in 2000, Sanford, based in Chicago, IL, USA, acquired
the Parker Pen Company through its acquisition of the Gillette Company's
stationery products group.
In 2001, Parker introduced the Inflection line and expanded the Ellipse range
to include the roller ball and the pencil. In addition, the Duofold Mosaic
Special Edition was introduced as a limited offer product. And, the stainless
steel Reflex was launched as well as two new refills: Gel and Needlepoint.
Today, Parker continues to build on the success of its famous Duofold with
regular reincarnations that capture the spirit of this range. The Duofold Mosaic
Special Edition will be launched in 2002-this time in red.
Another of Parker's famous pens-the 51-is making a comeback this year. It
will be launched as a Special Edition in the autumn of 2002, sixty-one years
after it was first introduced in 1941!
The cap on the new Parker "51" is designed to resemble the facade of New York
City's Empire State Building. It will be available in two special finishes: a
black barrel with a two-tone silver and gold cap, and a vista blue barrel with
an all-silver cap. Interest in the Parker "51" Special Edition is already
gaining momentum amongst collectors.
 Also
in 2002, to honour Queen Elizabeth II's Golden Jubilee, Parker has created a
stunning 23K gold-plated Duofold engraved with an extract from the Proclamation
of Accession. Only 2,500 of these special pens have been made for the
occasion-the Queen will be presented with number 001.
 Another
Parker favourite, the Sonnet, was also specially designed to commemorate the
Queen's 50th anniversary. This pen is finished in a royal purple with a 23K
gold-plated cap that is also engraved with a commemorative text.
As one of the leading authorities on pens, the Parker brand has a rich
palette of choices and over the past century has developed many of the world's
most famous writing instruments. The 21st Century promises to be no exception as
the Parker brand continues to re-generate and grow with infusions of creative
ideas
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Parker Pens spell Success
