Parker Duofold

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Sampling of Parker Duofolds
Sampling of Parker Duofolds

Contents

Name Origin

There are a lot of contesting theories as to where Parker came up with the name "Duofold." To date, none has been completely substantiated, though several are plausible.

  • Richard Binder has stated that the name was to "...imply that the pen was of such superlative quality that the purchaser was getting duofold (double) value for his money." [1] Possibly an extension of ideas based on the high quality nib, and easy eyedropper conversion.
  • Another idea is that it comes from the Litvanian language for the word meaning spiritual path. This is unlikely, however, given other explanations.
  • There has been a correlation between the pen and the name of an airplane, however George Parker, who would have had the plane, did not name the pen. That credit goes to the Parker salesman Lewis Tebbel. He would have had little reason to name the pen after a plane George Parker might have owned.
  • The knowledgeable Frank Dubiel has been known to believe that the pen's name came from the fact that it could double as an eyedropper filler. This was a popular habit for soldiers who would carry the pen, but have the button filler break in the field. They could easily convert the pen over, giving it added reliability. This was a rather small market segment, though.

However, the most compelling argument probably comes from The Lion & Pen (see link below). As Tim Barker has reasoned it, the name comes from the two distinctive features of the pen. The first is the "Duo" (or dual) color scheme that the pen used with a red body and black end caps. The second was the "folded" (or manifold) nib that was used to make a very stiff nib for writing on carbon paper. Comments from George Parker, as well as advertising of the time seem to back up this sentiment.

Models

Duofold (Senior/Oversize) (1921-c1938)

The Parker Duofold first started production in 1921. The first Duofolds were bandless and were made of smooth red hard rubber; they had threaded caps and button filling-systems. These were called, due to their colour (bright red) and size (5.5 inches, capped) 'Big Reds', as were all other Duofolds of the same colour and size, produced in later years. George Parker probably didn't know it then, but his company's latest creation would live on to become one of the most famous fountain pens in the world.

A few months after bandless Duofolds were introduced, Parker realised the necessity for cap-bands. Bands strengthened the cap and prevented and arrested cracking if the cap was screwed onto the barrel too tightly. Newer Duofolds were therefore given a single 14kt gold cap-band which encircled the cap a few millimeters away from the cap-lip. These Duofolds became known as 'raised band' Duofolds, due to the size of the band.

In 1926, The Parker Pen Company stopped manufacturing Duofolds out of red and black hard rubber, and instead moved onto celluloid plastic, the 'thing of the future'. This new plastic was of such strength that Parker called it 'unbreakable permanite'. Parker exploited their new plastic's quality by carrying out publicity stunts that would prove that 'unbreakable permanite' really was 'unbreakable'. To do this, they threw the pens out of planes, out of office-buildings and even drove over them with cars in the streets, much like how Maglite flashlights are advertised today.

Making Duofolds out of plastic instead of hard rubber offered new design-opportunities for Parker that were not previously possible. Hard rubber pens could be produced in two colours and two colours only - black or red, with red being more unstable and more prone to breakage than black pens. Celluloid plastic could be produced in almost any colour of the rainbow and Parker was quick to take advantage of this. By 1928, they'd produced Duofolds which ranged from the traditional red, to black, yellow, blue and even marbled green.

1928 also marked the time when Parker produced Duofolds with more than one cap-band. The original 'raised band' was split up into smaller bands of a millimeter in width with pens now available with two, or even three cap-bands, to provide consumers with even more choice and variety.

In 1929, the Parker Duofold underwent yet another change - 'streamlining'. The 1930s marked the end of the 'flattop' era of fountain pens and by the late 1920s, many pen-companies were already phasing out this, by now, very dated design. The 'new and improved' Duofold, produced from 1929 onwards, was manufactured with smoother and more-rounded blind-caps and cap-ends, unlike the previous flattop variety which was very angular.

Duofold De Luxe

Junior Duofold

Duofold Junior De Luxe

Lady Duofold

Lady Duofold De Luxe

Duofold Juniorette (1926-1929)

Duofold Juniorette De Luxe (1929)

Vest-Parker Duofold (1930)

Geometric "Toothbrush" (1939)

Striped Duofold (1940-1948)

Duofold Centennial (1988)

Duofold International

Greenwich Special Edition (1999)

Common Problems

External Links

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