The unconventional advertising campaign of the Parker Duofold fountain pen from 1926
Fountain pens are fascinating little creatures: their various versions have provided humanity with the joy of carefree writing for nearly a century.
The triumphal march of the fountain pen
At the end of the 19th century, with the onset of mass production, ink-filled writing instruments began their triumphal march, initially made of hard rubber (ebonite). Early pieces were often unreliable due to the primitive filling mechanism. The ink filling was solved with a dropper (hence the early models being called eyedroppers). Around the turn of the century, several companies (including Parker, Waterman, Conklin, and Sheaffer) experimented with developing an easy-to-use and reliable dispensing system.
In the first decades of the 20th century, the fountain pen became not just a tool but also a status symbol. Alongside standard black ebonite pens, by the 1920s, various masterpieces with noble metal (gold and sterling silver) coatings, which could also be worn as jewelry, became widespread in manufacturers’ offerings, conveying that the pen owner was an educated and wealthy person.
The gold nib of the pen was equipped with a hard and durable iridium tip. Its corresponding grinding allowed for various (thinner or thicker) writing styles. The fountain pen is also a very functional yet truly personal tool, as its writing style adapts over time to the person who “breaks it in.”.
“There is always a better pen to be made”
The quote comes from a pioneer of fountain pen manufacturing, a teacher from Janesville. George Safford Parker (1863-1937) supplemented his teacher's salary by selling fountain pens as a sales agent for John Holland Gold Pen. However, the writing instruments he sold were quite unreliable. Parker repaired them while thinking about a new, revolutionary leak-proof mechanism.
In 1888, Parker founded the Parker Pen Company, and five years later, he patented the Lucky Curve leak-proof ink dispensing system, which later became standard equipment for all Parker pens.
The business was doing really well: by 1908, the Janesville factory had developed into one of the largest pen manufacturing plants in the world. The growth was greatly aided by a series of technical innovations and several patents, one of which brought a large-scale Ministry of Defense order to the company in 1917. The model, named Trench Pen, designed for military use, could store dry ink tablets.
These “ink tablets” became liquid when mixed with water. The Parker Trench Pen quickly became popular among soldiers who often wrote letters during breaks in fighting, as they could not carry liquid ink in glass containers.
Enter the Parker Duofold Big Red
The next big hit from the Parker Pen Company was the introduction of the Duofold product line. The Parker Duofold, launched in 1921, was truly a surprising writing instrument among competitors. First of all, it stood out with its enormous size, crowned with a suitably sized gold nib. The impressive-sized fountain pen's color palette also brought novelty: alongside the standard black model, it was also launched in bright red (hence the model's nickname Big Red).
The most astonishing aspect was the pen's price: it cost $7, making it twice as expensive as an average fountain pen. Parker took quite a risk, as a previous attempt to enter the market (under a different name at the time) had ended in failure at the turn of the century. However, this time it worked: the American public liked the large, yet easy-to-handle, colorful fountain pen.
The advertising campaign for the Parker Duofold fountain pen
The Parker Pen Company supported the launch of the Duofold with a 3-month local advertising campaign. Chicago was the test market. During the campaign, paid advertisements appeared in the Chicago Tribune, and the city was “sprinkled” with flyers and posters. Sales were also organized: a trained sales team of ten visited retailers' locations with product samples, posters, and 25-year warranty letters.
Thanks to the coordinated campaign, Parker Duofold sales skyrocketed, and the advertising expenses were recouped in just two weeks.
A few months later, the company launched a national advertising campaign. Soon, the Parker Duofold became the best-selling exclusive fountain pen in the American market. Numerous celebrities spoke enthusiastically about the fountain pen. Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, the author of the Sherlock Holmes adventures, wrote a satisfied letter to a member of the company's board, stating that he had finally found the perfect fountain pen. Parker naturally seized this opportunity and featured Doyle as a “brand ambassador” in the February issue of The Saturday Evening Post in 1931. A month later, Puccini also appeared in the newspaper, who, according to the headline, also used a Parker pen to write his great operas.
The special advertising campaign for the Parker Duofold
The successful advertising campaign was followed by more and more, while the Parker Pen Company continuously focused on innovation and expanding its product range. Thanks to the developments, the Duofold models were already made from a new type of material in 1926. The company introduced the “unbreakable Permanite Duofold,” made from durable plastic, in special, never-before-seen color combinations (jade green, lapis lazuli, mandarin yellow).
From this point on, Parker offered a “lifetime guarantee” on the pens. The “indestructibility” of the Duofold was, of course, a product advantage that the company wanted to communicate.
The new national advertising campaign was rich in creative solutions. Parker Duofold fountain pens were subjected to tough tests: they were thrown out of airplanes, from the tops of various buildings, and even dropped into the depths of the Grand Canyon, proving the durability of the fountain pen made from the new material. These unusual, shocking, and attention-grabbing events generated more and more press appearances.
By the mid-1930s, the innovation-driven Parker Pen Company deemed the Duofold series outdated and launched new, more modern types. The Duofold remained in the product range with various modifications until the 1960s.
The model family was revived in the 1980s. It has since been considered Parker's flagship and is still available today in the original red color as this legendary writing instrument.
Look it up!
- Parker Duofold 1921-1933
- Parker Duofold Flat-Top Pens 1921-1929
- The History of the Parker Pen Company
- Word of Parker Timeline
- Parker Pen History
- Ildikó Lovászi: The Pen of Kings, the King of Pens (The article was published in CKM magazine in 1998)
Csaba's further articles in the Budapest Pen Show community magazine. can be found here.
