Parker Pen Company
Parent Newell Brands | | |
Website | parkerpen.com |
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The Parker Pen Company is an American manufacturer of luxury writing pens, founded in 1888
History
From the 1920s to the 1960s, before the development of the ballpoint pen, Parker was either number one or number two in worldwide writing instrument sales. In 1931, Parker created Quink (quick drying ink), which eliminated the need for blotting.[6] In 1941, the company developed the most widely used fountain pen model in history, the Parker 51, which led to over $400 million in sales during its 30-year history.[7][8] Manufacturing facilities were set up over the years in Canada, United Kingdom, Denmark, France, Mexico, USA, Pakistan, India, Germany (Osmia-Parker), Brazil and Argentina.[citation needed]
In 1954, Parker released the
The company bought retailer and catalog company
A management buyout in 1986 moved the company's headquarters to
After Parker's unique design patent for its Jotter classic metal ink refill cartridge expired, low cost generic copies produced in China led to increased commercial competition. Parker's sales began to see drastic adverse effects as a result. In July 2009 Newell Rubbermaid Inc. in response announced that it had decided to close down the Parker production factory at Newhaven in England, with the dismissal of 180 employees from the facility, and relocate production to France.[12] The following month, Newell Rubbermaid Inc. announced that the factory in Janesville, Wisconsin, was also to close the remaining operation there producing Parker Pens (which eliminated a further 153 manufacturing jobs). The company press release stated: "This decision is a response to structural issues accelerated by market trends and is in no way a reflection on the highly valued work performed by our Janesville employees over the years." Newell Rubbermaid offered 'transitional employment services' along with severance pay in compensation to the dismissed workforce.[13][14]
Subsequently, Parker has abandoned its traditional retail outlets in North America. While some of its former staple Jotter pens may be found in retailers such as Office Depot, the Parker line has been moved to upscale "luxury" retailers in an abandonment of its former business model of quality manufacture combined with mass market appeal and pricing.[citation needed] With this commercial strategic move Parker also altered its traditional product warranty on its high end pens, changing the former lifetime guarantee to a two-year warranty limitation.[15]
Parker Pen Co. was an aviation pioneer. The interest of Parker Pen Co. in aircraft came from Kenneth Parker, son of the founder; he enlisted in the fledgling air service and, after flight training at Miami Air Base, he was assigned to officer training in tactical maneuvers at Pensacola Naval Air Station, Florida. From their first company business plane, the Parker Duofold Fairchild, they used it as an innovative advertising weapon inviting[clarification needed] his dealers.[16] Between the 1920s and 1960s, Parker maintained a considerable air fleet.
Famous models
Key models in the company's history include:
Parker 25
The Parker 25 was a pen introduced by the Parker Pen Company in 1975. Created by the renowned designer
Parker 25s were issued in several variants: initially, fountain pen, ballpoint, fibre point and mechanical pencil.[21] A rollerball model was introduced in 1981, and fibre tips were phased out a couple of years later. While the great majority of Parker 25s were 'flighters', with a brushed steel finish, matte black and later white versions were issued between 1978 and 1987. The pens had four different trim colours – blue (the most common), black, green, and most rarely of all, orange. Orange trim Parker 25s were discontinued in 1976 following a copyright dispute with Rotring, and surviving examples are very sought after. A striking feature of all Parker 25s is the square plastic tassie logo on the clip.
The earliest Mark I Parker 25 fountain pens dating from the first year of production feature a distinctive breather hole in the nib. While the original models had a flat plastic circle on top of the cap, Mark III and IV pens have a round ridge on this inner cap. Pens manufactured from 1980 feature letter date codes which were changed every quarter. Those manufactured from 1990 are stamped 'Made in UK'; earlier pens were inscribed 'Made in England'. Pens without any manufacture stamps, or inscribed 'Made in Aust', are very rare. Parker 25s were all assembled in Britain by hand[22] – unlike Jotters, Vectors and other mass market pens – and were very minimalist, comprising between 9 and 11 components.
The 25 was an extremely successful pen for Parker commercially, especially during its first decade or so of production.[23] A number of promotional versions were made up to order, featuring company logos on the barrel (the matte black and white versions were often branded in this way), clip or cap.
Some pen fans are rather disparaging about the Parker 25, which lacks the status of the legendary Parker Duofold[24] or the storied Parker 51.[25] But in recent years they have been enjoying a revival, their space age look evoking nostalgia for the final quarter of the twentieth century. The Parker 25 was even given the accolade of an exhibition stand at the Victoria and Albert Museum.[26]
Parker Vector
The precursor to the Parker Vector was introduced in 1981. It was a simple cylindrical plastic cap and barrel
US Presidential Parkers
Parker Jotters were a favorite choice of President
Products
Products offered by the Parker Pen Company as of 2012[update]:[31]
Type | Model |
---|---|
5th Technology | I.M., Ingenuity, Sonnet, Urban |
Fountain pens | Jotter
|
Ballpoint pens | Reflex, Facet, Executive, Esprit, Frontier, Urban, I.M., Vector, Jotter, Classic |
Inks and refills | Quink, 5TH Mode |
Gallery
See also
References
- ^ "The Parker Pen history". www.parkerpen.com. Archived from the original on 25 July 2010. Retrieved 26 April 2018.
- ^ "Pen factory closure plan revealed". 16 July 2009. Archived from the original on 9 August 2019. Retrieved 26 April 2018 – via news.bbc.co.uk.
- ^ "George safford parker". google.com. Archived from the original on 26 April 2018. Retrieved 26 April 2018.
- ^ US patent n.512319 .
- ^ "Parker/en – FountainPen". www.fountainpen.it. Archived from the original on 26 April 2018. Retrieved 26 April 2018.
- ^ "Sorry". www.parkerpen.com. Archived from the original on 27 May 2013. Retrieved 26 April 2018.
- ^ "Parker Penography: PARKER 51". parkerpens.net. Archived from the original on 22 October 2017. Retrieved 26 April 2018.
- ^ "Books About Pens". www.booksaboutpens.com. Archived from the original on 8 July 2011. Retrieved 26 April 2018.
- ^ "Parker Jotter". Unsharpen.com. Archived from the original on 14 February 2021. Retrieved 31 January 2021.
- ^ "Vintage Pen Blog". GoPens.com. Archived from the original on 6 September 2017.
- ^ Hambug, Ken (20 November 1989). "Portland's Norm Thompson is 40 and still growing". The Oregonian. p. C9.
- ^ Sussex Edition Archived 26 July 2009 at the Wayback Machine; BBC News.
- ^ Parker Pen Newhaven closure plan revealed Archived 10 June 2015 at the Wayback Machine, The Argus, 16 July 2009
- ^ Sanford leaving Janesville Archived 23 August 2012 at the Wayback Machine, Madison.com, 19 August 2009
- ^ Parker Official Website Archived 9 March 2014 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ "Parker An Invitation to Fly". www.parkersheaffer.com. 23 May 2020. Archived from the original on 29 July 2020. Retrieved 30 May 2020.
- ^ See Malcolm Toak, Pen to Paper, The Story of Newhaven's Pen Factory, New Anzac Publications, 2005
- ^ "Parker Pens Penography: PARKER 25". parkerpens.net. Archived from the original on 24 February 2020. Retrieved 22 November 2022.
- ^ "Kenneth Grange: A very British modernist". the Guardian. 19 July 2011. Archived from the original on 22 November 2022. Retrieved 22 November 2022.
- ^ "publications-and-prices". My Site 15444. Archived from the original on 22 November 2022. Retrieved 22 November 2022.
- ^ "Moreengineering".
- ^ "Introduction – moreengineering". Archived from the original on 28 December 2019. Retrieved 8 April 2020.
- ^ "Parker Pens Penography: PARKER 25". Archived from the original on 24 February 2020. Retrieved 8 April 2020.
- ^ See David Shepherd and Dan Zazove, Parker Duofold, Surrenden Pens Ltd, 2006.
- ^ See David Shepherd and Mark Shepherd, Parker "51", Surrenden Pens Ltd, 2004.
- ^ Kenneth Grange at the Boilerhouse, Parker 25, Design Council Slide Collection, Victoria and Albert Museum, https://vads.ac.uk/large.php?uid=53760&sos=0
- ^ Note: The RB1 name stands for "Rollerball 1".
- from the original on 12 August 2017. Retrieved 22 November 2022.
- ^ "John F. Kennedy Parker Jotter Pen". John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum. JFK Library and museum. Archived from the original on 5 September 2015. Retrieved 3 February 2017.
President Kennedy's Favorite Pen
- ^ Loring, John. "The Presidential Pen – the first fifty years". John Loring. Archived from the original on 27 December 2016. Retrieved 3 February 2017.
- ^ "Welcome to Parker". www.parkerpen.com. Archived from the original on 15 March 2018. Retrieved 26 April 2018.