Rare, Early Vintage ** Parker “Big Red” Senior Duofold Lucky Curve Fountain Pen Complete with Original Box and Papers, USA 1920s **
The “Big Red” is the fountain pen that “made” the Parker Pen Company!
Up until that time, almost all fountain pens, including Parker’s, were produced from black hard rubber. Parker’s line of black Lucky Curve pens, although selling well, had nothing truly “eye-catching” to really set them off from other pens on the market.
Meanwhile, Parker already had developed a process for making red-orange coloured hard rubber, but hadn’t successfully marketed any pens using this material.
Enter Lewis M. Tebbel a Parker district sales manager. He immediately “knew” that this was the break-through Parker was waiting for. Tebbel persuaded one of the machinists at the Parker factory to make him a model #26 Lucky Curve pen out of red hard rubber stock, retaining black for the section in which the nib was set, as well as keeping black to crown the pen cap’s top.
The prototype looked stunning! Tebbel named it “the Duofold”, and when he returned to the field several local pen retailers prompted him to ask the factory for a dozen. Although his request initially was refused, Tebbel persisted until finally he was granted his dozen… which immediately sold out.
Tebbel’s further request for even more “Red Duofold” pens, and especially that the company incorporate the Duofold into Parker’s regular line, to sell for a “whooping” $7 each, again met with Parker management’s refusal.
In desperation, Tebbel successfully turned for support to young Kenneth Parker, son of Parker’s founder. He’d just joined the firm to follow in his father’s as well as elder brother’s footsteps and was keen to make his mark! He’d also just returned from internship at an ad agency and was eager to try the power of advertising.
The first Duofolds premiered in early 1921, available in one (BIG) size only and solely in Red.
Very quickly this unusually large brightly coloured pen was nicknamed “Big Red”. Within a few months it had become the best-selling high priced pen on the market!
- Length: 11.2 cm (closed)
- Filler System: Button. The black cap at the pen’s end unscrews to reveal a button which – to fill the pen – is pushed while the pen point is immersed in ink
- Nib: 14K solid gold, signed “Parker Duofold Pen”. “Christmas Tree” ink feed. Medium-flex, thereby permitting you to vary the point continuously from medium to broad
- Material: Red hard rubber
- Barrel and cap: Excellent. Without any chips cracks nor other damage
- Imprint: Crisp, clear DUOFOLD GEO. S. PARKER FOUNTAIN PEN JANESVILLE, WIS LUCKY CURVE [Banner] U.S.A. Pat. 4-25-11
- Box: Original Parker Duofold box
- Condition: Excellent. Serviced and tested.
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Parker Pen Company history
The Parker Pen Company was founded by George S. Parker in 1888. Dissatisfied with the pens available at the time, Parker’s mission was to produce an eminently reliable pen. This tradition continued admirably in the decades that ensued, with the Company becoming the number one leader in writing instrument sales from 1920 through the 1960s.
Parker also continued to regularly revolutionize the fountain pen and all that accompanied it. In 1931 Parker launched Quink, an ink that did away with the need for blotters. This breakthrough also paved the way for Parker’s launch in 1941 of the Parker 51, that would go on to become the most popular fountain pen of all times.
The Parker Pen Company also came to epitomize prestige, as well as the highest standards of craftsmanship, technology and design. As such, Parker pens were frequently selected to sign important documents, including the Armistice following World War II and the INF Treaty between President Ronald Regan and Soviet General Secretary Mikhail Gorbachev in 1987.
