PARKER PEN EXECUTIVES GREETED THE NEW Year 1929 with great expectations.
The about-to-become public Company's $10.00 black and pearl Senior Duofold
Deluxe was a number one bestseller. Sales for 1928 were at an all time
high, in excess of $5 million. But once again a competitor forced Parker
to play catch up, and redesign its best-selling models and alter its
marketing plan. Early in 1929 Sheaffer unveiled its bullet shaped Balance
pen and pencil line. Acutely tapered at both ends, this contemporary
design immediately captured the public's fancy. Wahl Eversharp jumped
on the bandwagon with the introduction of its Equipoise and Conklin
followed with the Symetrik. Typically, Parker Pen criticized these new
models as "pointy end pens of freak design with limited ink capacity"
(see April 1929 Parkergram), while secretly working on a tapered Duofold.
Kenneth Parker, whose keen marketing instincts sensed the public's
demand for something new, insisted that Parker Pen employ James Cady
Ewell, the sculptor/artist who designed the $100 desk set, to work out
the details for the new streamline models. The changes were more than
cosmetic. The streamline Duofold pen features a shortened, tapered barrel
with a slip fit section. The initial version had a metal ring inside
the barrel about inch from the end, so that the pressure bar would push
against the ring and not displace the section when the pen was filled.
Subsequent models feature the three-piece pressure bar which dispensed
with the necessity of the inner barrel ring. The redesigned cap was
also tapered. The washer clip was retained, but the clip ring is considerably
thinner than the predecessor model to conform to the taper. The split
cap bands from the 1928 models were carried over, as was third cap band
on the Deluxe and the Lady Duofold models. Because the tapered Duofold
pens retained their black inner cap and blind cap, they had flat ends
and the streamlining effect was not nearly as dramatic as the competitors'
models which have an internal inner cap.
Whether it was for this reason or due to the deteriorating American
economy, Parker Pen did not realize the anticipated sales boost by introduction
of the streamline Duofold pens. The streamline Duofold pencil, introduced
soon after the streamline pen, was entirely redesigned. The Golden Crown
was replaced by a smaller version of the clip and inner cap to match
the streamline pen. The pencil opened in the middle so that a black
taper could be fitted to make a desk pencil. New desk holders were created
with elliptical spring clutches to grasp the streamlined pens and pencils.
Without knowledge of the impending stock market crash, Parker delayed
the announcement of the streamline Duofolds for fear that they would
be required to credit dealers for the return of old style stock. Unlike
the transition from red rubber to red plastic, the streamline model
is immediately visually different. So it was decided to make the streamline
models in the identical colors as the 1928 models and to ease first
the pens and then the pencils into circulation at the end of 1929. All
monthly Parkergrams through November, picture the old style non-streamlined
Duofold on the cover.
 Buried on page
11 of the August Parkergram is the first announcement of "A New
member of the Duofold Family," the streamline Senior pen and pencil.
The inside back cover of the September Parkergram illustrates six desk
sets with the new streamline holders, but no pen caps are shown and
no mention is made of the new style pens. The inside back cover of the
October 1929 issue depicts a number of the streamlined pens withhold
style pencils, but likewise makes no mention of the new models.
In what is perhaps the oddest piece of advertising of the Duofold era,
the September 7, 1929 edition of the Saturday Evening Post contains
a double page, 4-color, advertisement depicting a streamlined Senior
pencil adjacent to five old style pens and one old style pencil and
two boxed pen and pencil sets with old style pens, but one set has a
streamlined pencil. Concurrent with the first shipment of these models,
the front cover of the November Parkergram features the streamlined
pens and pencils. Then came the December Parkergram with its Norman
Rockwell illustration of Santa Claus writing in his book of good girls
and boys with his streamline Deluxe black and pearl Duofold Senior.
Parker's advertising brain trust came up with two rather ingenious
methods for dealing with the old style Duofold stock.
- The first involved the sale of desk sets. Parker
dealers were told to remove the cap from the old style Duofold, replace
the blind cap with a desk taper and sell the pen with a desk base.
The customer was then "given" the old style cap and clip
for free. (At that price, one could hardly complain that the cap was
not streamlined.)
Alternatively, the entire pen could be returned to the factory, which
turned down the back end of the barrel, fitted it with a streamline
blind cap and a new streamline cap and returned it to the dealer at
a cost of 5%. The barrels on these refits are inch longer than the
production models and most have the old style screw-in section and
the Lucky Curve banner barrel imprint.
Some refit Duofold Seniors have been found with a single, old style,
gold-filled cap band. Oldstyle pencils were refitted with a short crown
and sold for 25 less than the streamline models.
The initial year of the depression did not impact Parker Pen particularly
hard. Total sales for 1929 were $5,686,918, up over $400,000 from the
prior year; although the sale of Duofolds fell by more than 67,000 units.
Sales would not reach this level again until 1941. The Company reported
earnings of $1,183,542, or $5.92 per share.
In December 1929, Waterman finally entered the modern age with the
introduction of its plastic Patrician line of pens and pencils. Although
it was straight sided, the Patrician's unique color schemes, trim designs,
and oversize nibs allowed Waterman to reclaim the number two sales position
behind Shaeffer in 1930 and 1931. Waterman did not introduce a streamlined
pen for another nine years. As the year closed, a number of pen companies
started the first round of employee layoffs. Many ex-Parker salesmen,
lured away by competitors, reapplied for their old jobs. Even Julius
Schnell, inventor of the Pencilpen, applied for a position at Parker
but was turned away as George Parker saw no future in a pen/pencil combination.
1930
Despite all the bravado, pen sales for the last three months of 1929
were far below projection. As 1930 unfolded, Parker Pen was girding
for the worst. Capital expenditures were authorized only to make plant
operations more efficient. All long-term debt was fully repaid and reserves
booked for the estimated loss due to the liquidation of the failing
German subsidiary, Parker Osmia. Inventories were sharply reduced and
the ratio of current assets to current liabilities maintained at a high
level of 6.5 to 1. For the year, the Company reported a net profit of
$537,027, less than half of 1929, but still quite respectable. However,
it was the drop in inventory turnover from 100% to 76% (and which would
subsequently drop to 32% in 1932) which kept the Board up at night.
Not surprisingly, the conservative Parker family management did not
authorize many new projects during 1930. Of the two that were attempted,
only one was successful.
- In May of that year, the Moderne green and
pearl Duofold Deluxe was first offered. Although it was heavily advertised,
it was not well accepted by the public and did little to bolster shrinking
Duofold sales.
- The other project, the Duofold vest pocket pens
and pencils which sold at $5.00 and $2.50, fared much better. The
Parker catalog published in March of 1933 illustrates the pens with
a single, narrow, gold-filled cap band. The May issue of Parkergram
depicts the vest pocket pen with the three evenly spaced narrow bands.
The May Parkergram also features pictures of the miniature vest pocket
double holder base and the highly collectible bridge set with red
and black vest pocket pencils.
Trade stimulaters such as the Parker electric clock with its Duofold
sweep second hand were offered this year as an...[sic]
1931
As the Depression deepened, Parker Pen faced severe competition from
price cutters offering distressed merchandise at large discounts. The
Company staunchly resisted the mounting requests from dealers to discount
the Duofold line and instead introduced alternative low-priced models
and a rebate program which returned "dividends" to dealers
at year end based upon total sales. In April the burgundy and pearl
and black Duofold models were introduced with some success due in part
to the fact that they were not sold as Deluxe models and, therefore,
the Senior was offered at $7.50 rather than $10.00. From July 15 to
August 15, an old style pencil was given free with each Duofold sold.
From October lst to November 16th, a free desk taper was given with
the purchase of any Duofold pen in order to boost flagging sales of
desk bases.
Despite these efforts, for the entire year only 585,000 Duofold units
were sold; half of the 1929 total. In 1931 the Company recorded a net
loss of $193,000, and in December all stock dividends were suspended.
Sheaffer sales were also down and that Company's labor force went to
a three-day workweek with a period of complete closure.
1932
Firmly mired in the depths of depression, Parker Pen launched the final
Duofold model at the beginning of this year, the Moderne pearl green
and black, commonly called sea green pearl. This Deluxe $10.00 model
featured a new cap band configuration in which the middle band was enlarged.
Later in the year, this new band configuration was put on all vest pocket
and ladies pens and on other Deluxe model Duofolds. Deluxe nibs were
number stamped to highlight quality. Sheaffer again beat the competition
with the introduction of its new Feather Touch Lifetime Point, a handsome
two-tone platinum plated flexible nib, which was advertised to write
smoothly two ways. In June of 1932, Parker offered its own platinum
plated points by special order.. Few of these points were ordered as
they cost an additional 25 cents so they are rarely found today. In
1932 Parker Pen offered a new item in an attempt to bolster flagging
Duofold sales, the Pen-Parker, a circular chrome-plated desk holder
with a spring hook to hold the cap instead of a ball socket. Designed
by Kenneth Parker, the Pen-Parker was offered in combination with a
Duofold pen, a desk taper and a small bottle of Quink. Its introduction
had little effect on sales. Still refusing to discount its Duofold line,
the Company instead offered trade-in allowances of $1.25 to $2.50 toward
the purchase of new Duofolds. For the year 1932, Parker Pen Co. reported
a net loss of $543,000. Duofold sales were down to 267,000 units. The
August 10, 1932 issue of Proxy foreshadows the end of the Duofold Era.
"The other day there was a gentlemen in my office and he said that
two or three of our competitors were telling the story that we are going
to discontinue the manufacture of the Duofold and take up a new type
of pen. There may be something to the new type of pen but we certainly
have no intention of discontinuing the manufacture of the Duofold. We
have millions of dollars invested in good will in advertising the Duofold
and it is today the best sac pen on the market. The writer does not
mind telling you, however, that there is something in the offing but
it will not compete with the Duofold at five or seven dollars. Neither
can I tell you when the new offering may be to the trade but it will
not be immediately." Parker Pen continued to sell the Duofolds
until 1935. Unit sales during the last three years were 126,000, 73,000
and 33,000 respectively.
Epilogue
Between 1921 and 1935, almost 10 million Duofolds were sold, a remarkable
achievement for something an obscure district sales manager literally
begged the Company to produce. Of greater significance, the Duofold's
introduction changed the direction of the entire American pen industry
which had previously focused on making black pens at cheaper prices.
The Duofold firmly established Parker Pen as one of the big four American
pen mak- ers. The Duofold's success was largely due to two men, Kenneth
Parker and Lucius Crowell. The former recognized the latent pub- lic
demand for color and the latter understood the power of advertising
and knew how to stimulate demand through innovative advertising.
OUR NEXT ISSUE WILL FEATURE A COMPLETE LIST OF ALL PRODUCTION
MODELS OF THE DUOFOLD PENS AND PENCILS.
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