Parker Pen Company

Parker Pen Company

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Type	Private (subsidiary of Newell Rubbermaid)
Industry	Writing instruments
Founded	1888
Founder	George Safford Parker
Headquarters	Newhaven, East Sussex, England
Area served	Worldwide
Key people	George Safford Parker, founder, Kenneth Parker
Products	Fountain pens, ballpoint pens
Parent	Newell Rubbermaid
Website	www.parkerpen.com

The Parker Pen Company is a manufacturer of luxury pens, founded in 1888 by George Safford Parker in Janesville, Wisconsin, United States. In 2011, the Parker factory at Newhaven, East Sussex, England (United Kingdom) was closed, and its production transferred to Saint-Herblain (France).

History

A gold Parker I.M. pen

George Safford Parker, the founder, had previously been a sales agent for the John Holland Gold Pen Company. He received his first fountain pen related patent in 1889. In 1894 Parker received a patent on his "Lucky Curve" feed, which was claimed to draw excess ink back into the pen body when the pen was not in use. The Lucky Curve feed was used in various forms until 1928.

File:Parker Frontier Ball-point Pen.jpg

a Parker Frontier Ball-point Pen

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. In 1941 the company developed the most widely used model of fountain pen in history (over $400 million worth of sales in its 30-year history), the Parker 51. Manufacturing facilities were set up over the years in Canada, United Kingdom, Denmark, France, Mexico, USA, Pakistan, India, Germany (Osmia-Parker), Brazil and Argentina.

Parker Duofold desk set, 1930

The company bought retailer and catalog company Norm Thompson in 1973, and then sold it off in 1981. In 1976 Parker acquired Manpower just as the temporary staffing market was surging. In time Manpower provided more revenue than the pen business. A 1982 spinoff, Sintered Specialties, Inc., became SSI Technologies, a manufacturer of automotive sensors.

A management buyout in 1987 moved the company headquarters to Newhaven, East Sussex, England, which was the original location of the Valentine Pen Company previously acquired by Parker. In 1993 Parker was acquired by the Gillette Company, which already owned the Paper Mate brand, one of the best-selling disposable ballpoints. Gillette sold the writing instruments division in 2000 to Newell Rubbermaid, whose own Sanford Stationery Division became the largest in the world—owning such brand names as Rotring, Sharpie, Reynolds as well as Parker, PaperMate, Waterman, and Liquid Paper.

In July 2009, the 180 workers at Parker Newhaven got notice that the factory would be shut down and the production moved to France. The following month, Newell Rubbermaid Inc. announced that the Janesville, Wisconsin plant was to close the remaining operations tied to Parker Pen (which eliminated 153 jobs). The company press release said:

"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 stated it would offer transitional employment services as well as severance benefits.

More recently, Parker has abandoned traditional retail outlets in North America. While some Jotter pens may be found in retailers such as Office Depot, what little remains of the Parker line has been moved to upscale "luxury" retailers, effectively abandoning the entry level market. With the move to such retailers, Parker weakened its traditional product warranty on its high end pens, moving from a lifetime warranty to a two-year warranty.

Famous models

Sonnet, made from 1993

Key models in the company's history include:

• Jointless (1899),
• Jack Knife Safety (1909),
• Duofold (1921),
• Vacumatic (1932),
• "51" (1941),
• The Jotter (1954),
• 61 (1956),
• 45 (1964),
• 75 (1964),
• Classic (1967),
• 25 (1975),
• Arrow (1982),
• Vector (1986),
• Duofold International (1987),
• 95 (1988),
• Sonnet (1993), and
• Parker 100 (2004)

File:Parker-Vector-Plastic.jpg

Parker Vector plastic type

File:Parker-Vector-Steel.jpg

Parker Vector steel rollerball tip type

Vector steel fountain pen type

Parker Vector

The precursor to the Parker Vector was introduced in 1981. It was a simple cylindrical plastic cap and barrel roller-ball pen called the "Parker RB1". In 1984, Parker added the FP1 ("Fountain Pen 1"), with essentially the same design. The RB1 and FP1 models were produced until 1986, at which time Parker revised the pen by lengthening the cap and shortening the barrel and renaming the new pen the "Vector Standard". Presently, there are four models available (in plastic and steel): the fountain pen, capped rollerball, pushbutton ballpoint, and pushbutton pencil.

Products

The following is a list with products offered by the Parker Pen Company as of 2012:

Type	Model
5TH Technology	I.M., Ingenuity, Sonnet, Urban
Fountain pens	Duofold, Premier, Sonnet, Facet, Esprit, Urban, I.M., Vector, Jotter
Ballpoint pens	Facet, Executive, Esprit, Frontier, Urban, I.M., Vector, Jotter
Inks and refills	Quink, 5TH Mode

See also

• List of pen types, brands and companies

External links

• Official site
• Parker pens gallery on Penhero site