On the 21st of May, 1636, William Parker (aged 17), together with his wife Mary, were embarking on the "Matthew" ship in Dover, leaving England and emigrating to the New World, America. They established and began a new life in Connecticut New England. William and Mary Parker were the first generation of the Parker family settled on American soil, being the direct grand-grandparents of George Parker (the future founder of the Parker company).

1st of November, 1863 is the birthday of George Safford Parker (who was going to found Parker) in Shullsburg Wisconsin. He was the seventh child out of the eight in the Parker family.

The background of George Parker's childhood is represented by the farm of his parents from Fayette Iowa, where he spends much time in the fields, having little time to devote to school and study. Instead, we can observe George's entrepreneurial talent since that time. He has selling magazines and newspapers, making a profit of 50 cents on each dollar invested.

Ever since that period, Parker began to think about a career. He initally wanted to become a doctor. Because of the poor financial situation of his family, he was unable to follow his dream. Instead, he dreams to travel. In that period, this was one of the best ways to learn telegraphy. Like the majority of teens, the new technology fascinated George. That time, the railways were spread all around the country and telegraphers were needed at each station. In 1880, he left the parental home in order to enroll at Upper Iowa University. Surprisingly, he failed the entry exam. Undeterred, after a while he attempted at Valpariso University of Indiana, but the result was the same.

George was an avid reader of the popular magazine "The Youth's Companion". One day, he found an announcement of the Valentine telegraphy school in Janesville, Wisconsin. The temptation was overwhelming. He squeezed 55 bucks and went to Janesville where he enroll in the school (the school founded in October 1872). He proved to be a very capable student, with real inclinations in learning Morse code. Shortly thereafter, he successfully finalised the studies. After gradiation, George Parker committed as a telegraphist at Chicago Milwaukee & Sf. Paul Railroad Dakota. Lastly, he began the long awaited journey. Not long after that, he went back to the school of telegraphy, this time as a teacher. Out of his small wadge, he was only affording to pay the hotel room and the lunch at Myers House hotel (5 dollars per week). In order to meet the other expenses, George becomes a salesman for the John Holland Pen company at the same time, selling pens to his students and colleagues. Unfortunately, the quality of them was lacking and he felt obligated to repair them in order to maintain his reputation. He bought a series of simple tools that helped him to disassembly and repair these pens. Following this services, the sales increased. In the meantime, he gained experience and decided to eliminate the mistakes of others instead of repairing them, thinking of producing his own writing tools. 

How did George Parker, a telegraphy instructor applying modern means of training, manage to become a magnate of modern writing instruments? He purchased about 300 sets of unbranded pen pieces from components manufacturers. The fine artistic elements were produced by a local jeweler. All of them were collected in his hotel room (which later became his first studio) and were assembled mainly at night. Expanding sales of pens beyond the students and colleagues from the Valentine - Janesville School of Telegraphy represented a problem. Fortunately, the hotel lobby where he lived (Myers House) was frequently passed by travelling merchants and sellers that were merchandising. To cover some of the large expenses, he unsuccessfully tried to convince his dad to invest $500 in his new business. He believed that the investment in the new, developing Parker Pen Company had been a very bad decission.

Increasing of sales would have been extremely slow and could even fail if George wouldn't have benefited from the luck of an unplanned meeting with William F. Palmer in the lobby of the Myers hotel of Janesville. William F. Palmer was an insurance broker and wanted to sell George a life insurance policy. Parker tells Palmer about his business and the financial hardships that were not allowing him to develop as he would have liked. Palmer immediately has the sight of the fact that Parker's business with pens could have a future. The two decide to join, setting up a new company in which Palmer brings a Capital of $1,000 in exchange for half of the Parker U.S. Copyright. When the hotel room of George Parker became too small for the pieces of pen, the new company rented a space on the top floor of the Myers House hotel and hired some workers. Pens were assembled during the night and sold the next day.

In February, 1892, Parker Pen Company is registered at the Chamber of Commerce of Wisconsin. John Palmer was the president, a title which was more than honorary, because he was still dealing with selling insurance and business travel. His new role in the new founded company was mainly related to counseling. Instead, George Parker was the treasurer, but in reality he was holding a plurality of functions, being general manager, sales manager, advertising director and director of logistics. In short, he was holding the entire company in his hands.

On November 24, 1892, George Parker, aged 29 years married Martha Clemens, a native of Chicago Illinois. After marriage, Martha moved to Janesville.

On the 15th of September, 1893, Russel, the first son of George Parker was born in Janesvile. He was known by the family as Russ (his childhood nickname).

Kennet Parker, the second son of George was born on April 8, 1895 in Janesville.

The production facility of the Myers hotel becomes insufficient. Consequently, in December 1898, George Parker is forced to purchase the McKey blocks on the main street no. 17, 19 Janesville, known as the Beverley Theatre Building. In 1899 the facility is completely renovated. The ground floor was holding a showroom for the Parker products. The 1st and 2nd floor were holding offices and production facilities were on the 3rd floor.

The Parker Jointless Pen (No. 023) was used to sign the peace treaty between USA and Spain on December 10, 1899 in Paris. This treaty ended the conflict between the two countries. Spain recognizes the independence of Cuba and gives Guam, Puerto Rico and Philipines to the United States in exchange for 20 million dollars.

In this year, the Gold Filigree Curve Pens were introduced.

After a journey that George Parker performs in Europe, he contacted Christian Olsen, the director of a stores network in Copenhagen and layed the foundation for Parker products distribution in Scandinavian countries (Denmark, Sweden, Norway).

The key to the success of Parker products sales consists of a very strong distribution network. In 1903 the network reached 9,000 distributors, and by 1917 it exceeded 20,000.

Parker patented the first mechanical ink filling system using a rubber pump.

 Parker Pen Co. wins the gold medal at the 1904 international fair of St. Louis, Louisiana USA. The event was celebrating the annexation of Louisiana to USA through the acquisition from France. This fair was one of the most important fairs of consumer goods in the United States, being visited by more than 20 million people. This medal certifies the full quality assessment and innovation of the Parker products.

Due to the increase in the company personnel (100 employees), in 1908 a re-location of two superior floors of Gazette Building of Janesville is done.

Russell Parker (the first descendant of George Parker), joins the company, focusing on production and management.

United States War Department order George Parker the Trech Pen - an innovative and unique writing instrument, in whose tank the water turns into black pigment ink instantly for the letters from the battlefield to the loved ones at home.

For the first time, Parker exceeds one million dollars in yearly sales.

Kenneth Parker (the second descendant of George Parker) joins the company, being in charge with the construction and finalising of the bulding hosting the new central headquarter.

Encouraged by the dynamic growth of the company, George Parker started the building the new headquarter that was desired to incorporate all the functions (both facilities production offices and places for rest and recreation, etc.). The building was designed to have four floors and a basement that was based on the use of the latest construction technologies, also adhering to the safety standards of that time. The final cost far exceeds the initial estimate. High quality materials (marble, terrazzo, plywood, etc.) were used for finishings. The construction is made of reinforced concrete covered with brick.

In the same year Parker began the construction of 5 new stores in Janesville.

The new Court Street Building headquarter was operational in December 1920. The cost was about $2 million, exceeding the initially planned budget with $500,000. At the end of the year, Parker held the 4th position in the manufacturers of writing instruments ranking worldwide, after Waterman, Wahl, Sheaffer.

The release of the Duofold pen in 1921 was and still represents an emblem of excellence. Duofold made ​​the Parker company become one of the largest pen manufacturers in the world.

Parker Pen Company inaugurated a distribution office in London for products manufactured in Canada. This distribution channel allowed Parker to be present in the entire Europe.

William Palmer sold 75% of the company assets to an investment bank that handled their trading at the Stock Exchange in Chicago. This way, Parker Pen offers shares to the public for the first time.

The Parker logo is composed of two "P" letters, deriving from "Parker Pen". The mirror layout creates the image of an oval (suggesting the styling of the globe). On top of them, there is an arrow, the symbol of progress and the vector (which has the meaning of career in Latin).

In January 1933, the eldest son of George Parker died due to an infectious blood disease. In 1932, he had managed to finish one of the most successful ranges in the Parker history, Vacumatic.

This new product quickly became a huge success in the market. It included the latest technology, having a double tank capacity compared to Duofold. The arrow-shaped clip Arrow is introduced for the first time, that became the most famous symbol of Parker products.

Vacumatic Parker was the best selling product for the following 12 years.

After the death of his son Russell in 1933, George Parker got into a deep depression from which no longer returned. As a result, he died in 1937. Despite of suffering a great loss by the death of its founder, the company continued to move forward.

The "Parker 51" name commemorates the 51st anniversary from the foundation of Parker Pen. This pen is the best selling product in the history of writing instruments. At the same time, it is the most copied. It was also evaluated as one of the best designed products in the world.

Parker Pen Company established a subsidiary in South Africa, thus continuing its expansion on the global market.

The Parker Pen Company opens a branch in Australia.

The Parker Pen Company opens a branch in Argentina

Parker 45 was the first pen that used cartriges. Beside this fact, the "Parker 45" name is a game of worlds that makes analogy with the Colt 45 revolver (revolver cartridges vs. pen cartridges).

The cartridge reserves system was invented and patented by Parker. Cartridges are used for the first time in the Parker 45 range. All other important pen manufacturers had taken this invention over time and used it with great success.

The Parker company gains the right to supply writing instruments and related consumables to British Royal House. Since this year and until now, Parker Pen Company holds the exclusive title of "Official British Royal House writing instruments supplier".

Parker opens branches in Peru and Columbia.

This type of mine is produced specifically for Window Jotter. Jotter pen provided a transparent slit that showed the desired slogan printed on mine.

RMS Queen Elizabeth Parker 75 Limited Edition commemorates liner ship "Queen Elizabeth". It was built in the 1930s and for the next 30 years was the largest passenger liner ship ever built. It caught fire and sank in Hong Kong harbor in early 1972. The limited edition includes only 5,000 copies which are made ​​from brass recovered from the sunken vessel.

Number of copies: 5000 Pieces

With the occasion of the wedding of Prince Charles and Lady Diana Spencer, Parker commemorates this event by launching a limited edition of Parker 105. The pen is made from solid gold and engraved on July 29, 1981 (date of the event).

Number of copies: 1000 Pieces

The writing instruments division is acquired by a UK fund management. Consequently, the central headquarter of the company is moved to Newhaven, England.

In 1993 the American company Gilette acquired Parker.

This range is the direct follower of Parker 88. It represents more than a change of name with minor finishing modifications.
Conspiracy theorists claimed that the number 88 represents the number of white racial supremacy. The eighth letter of the alphabet is H, 88 representing HH (Heil Hitler). To stop these speculations, Parker decided to change the name of Parker 88 in Rialto.

Norman Rockwell was an American painter and illustrator of the 20th century. He painted ads for advertising campaigns in 1950 for Parker. To celebrate 75 years of the event Parker launches a limited edition with the artist name.

Number of copies: 3500 Pieces

This limited edition is a remake of the famous 1906 Snake Gold.

Number of copies: 250 Pieces

This limited edition is a remake of the famous 1906 Snake Silver.

Number of copies: 5000 Pieces

Parker releases the limited edition to celebrate the upcoming Olympic Games which will be held in Sydney, Australia in 2000.

Number of copies: 500 Pieces

With this limited edition, Parker commemorates the 50th anniversary of the founding of Israel.

Number of copies: 500 Pieces

To commemorate the 100 years anniversary from the birth of the belgian artist René Magritte, Parker released this limited edition exclusively for the markets of Benelux countries (Belgium, Luxembourg).

Number of copies: 300 Pieces

In 2000, Newell Rubbermaid American corporation (through its office supplies division, Sanford) firm acquires Parker from the American company Gillette.

After the acquisition by Sanford, Parker starts a rebranding process of its products and image, which resulted in new products, consumables, packaging and also a new logo.

Number of copies: 50 Pieces

Number of copies: 50 Pieces

To commemorate the new millennium and the Royal Observatory in Greenwich, Parker offers this special edition. Parker is the only writing instruments manufacturer that has permission from Greenwich Royal Observatory to use its logo on the writing instruments.

Number of copies: 3000 Pens / 1000 Rollers

Number of copies: 150 Pieces

Through the Mosaic Blue Special Edition, Parker brings in the mosaic art of the Roman Empire in the modern era. This collection was continued with two other colours (red and black) in 2002.

A limited edition exclusively dedicated to the Chinese market. It is represented by a set of a ballpen and an ink pen. This is a commemoration of the prosperity year (2001) both for China and for Parker.

Number of sets: 2000 Pieces

In 2002 Parker celebrates 50 years from the accession to the throne of Queen Elizabeth II by the solid gold Duofold limited edition, engraved with a text excerpt from the proclamation of the coronation "Queen Elizabeth II by the Grace of God, Queen of the Realm and of Her other Realms and Territories, Head of the Commonwealth, Defender of the Faith" . The lid is inlaid with an 1,5K amethyst.
Pen number 1 was given as a gift to Queen Elizabeth II and number two to Prince Charles.

Number of copies: 2500 Pieces

Number of copies: 70 Pieces

Number of copies: 70 Pieces

Through the Mosaic Black Special Edition, Parker brings the mosaic art of the Roman Empire in the modern era. After the success of the Mosaic Blue Special Edition of 2001, Parker edits a black version.

Through the Mosaic Red Special Edition, Parker brings the mosaic art of the Roman Empire in the modern era. After the success of the Mosaic Blue Special Edition of 2001, Parker edits a red version.

The Parker 51 Special Edition is a remake of the 1941 model that aims to celebrate the best selling pen in the world ever. Compared to the original model that had the Aeromatic filling system, this pen uses the cartridge / converter system. The Vista Blue version has a solid silver lid and an Arrow Blue Diamond (lifetime warranty) clip plated with gold.

Parker 51 Special Edition is a remake of the 1941 model that aims to celebrate the best selling pen in the world ever. Compared to the original model that had an Aeromatic filling system, this system uses the cartridge / converter system. The Black version has solid silver lid with a vermeil model and an Arrow Blue Diamond clip (lifetime warranty) plated with gold.

On the occasion of the 50th anniversary of accession to the throne of Queen Elizabeth II, Parker releases the Sonnet Accession limited edition, continuing the Duofold Accession limited edition. It is composed of a pen and pencil.

Number of copies: 60 Pieces

Number of copies: 60 Pieces

Number of copies: 120 Pieces

Parker created this limited edition to celebrate the 300 years jubilee of the founding of Saint Petersburg city (it was founded by Peter the Great in 1703, building on the 44 islands in the Neva river delta a new city in the West-European style that became new capital of the Russian Empire). This limited edition is exclusively dedicated to the Russian market and is produced in two versions: a VIP version plated with solid gold and another standard version. The VIP version is not for commercial use, being offered to members of the Russian government and personalities of Saint Petersburg.

Parker created this limited edition to celebrate the 300 years jubilee of the founding of Saint Petersburg city (it was founded by Peter the Great in 1703, building on the 44 islands in the Neva river delta a new city in the West-European style that became new capital of the Russian Empire). This limited edition is exclusively dedicated to the Russian market and is produced in two versions: a VIP version plated with solid gold and another standard version.

Number of copies: 300 Pieces

Number of copies: 30 Pieces

Rashin in Japanese means compass. This was the logo of a Japanese shopping network (Maruzen) based in Nihonbashi, Tokyo. It orders Parker a limited series to celebrate 135 years since the founding of the company.

Number of copies: 300 Pieces

Parker releases a special edition in 2004 called Pinestripe to revive the famous fashion striped suits. Two finishes are released: Chocolate and Navy.

Parker releases a special edition in 2004 called Pinestripe to revive the famous fashion striped suits. Two finishes are released: Chocolate and Navy.

Number of copies: 130 Pieces

Number of copies: 60 Pieces

Number of copies: 130 Pieces

Number of copies: 88 Pieces

Parker celebrates the 80th anniversary of Queen Elizabeth II, through a limited edition made of solid gold, printed with a Portcullis model (the symbols of Birtish Royalty for more than 600 years). Pen number 1 was given as a gift to the Queen, the rest being auctioned.

Number of copies: 130 Pieces

Number of copies: 150 Pieces

Number of copies: 5000 Pieces

Number of copies: 100 Pieces

In 2007, Parker released the "Urban" range of products, represented by a modern pen that virtually redefines the pleasure of writing.
The "Urban" pen was described as a pen "with attitude". It had a sophisticatesd, slightly futuristic shape, but also perfectly balanced for writing comfort.

Number of copies: 3888 Pieces

Number of copies: 188 Pieces

Number of copies: 50 Pieces

In mid-2008 Parker completes the "Urban" range of products, through a mechanical pencil and a roller that keeps the same sophisticated, slightly futuristic shape, which virtually redefines the pleasure of writing.

Nine years after the acquisition by Sanford, Parker changed the logo, which is now inspired by the original one dating from 1958, dedicated and worldwide known.

Number of copies: 800 Pieces

Number of copies: 1088 Pieces

Number of copies: 100 Pieces

Number of copies: 100 Pieces

In 2009 Parker concludes the products range by releasing an attractive pen with premium finishes that provides a touch of refined elegance of the modern lines, for which the URBAN range is already famous.

Number of copies: 88 Pieces

Number of copies: 888 Pieces

Number of copies: 188 Pieces

Number of copies: 1000 Pieces

Number of copies: 1000 Pieces

Number of copies: 18 Pieces