[2] George Safford Parker, the founder, had previously been a sales agent for the John Holland Gold Pen Company.

[7][8] Manufacturing facilities were set up over the years in Canada, United Kingdom, Denmark, France, Mexico, USA, Pakistan, India, Germany (Osmia-Parker), Brazil and Argentina.

In 1993 Parker was purchased by the Gillette Company, which already owned the Paper Mate brand – the best-selling disposable ballpoint.

In 2000 Gillette sold its writing instruments division to the company Newell Rubbermaid, whose Sanford Stationery Division became the largest writing instrument manufacturers in the world at that time, simultaneously owning such brand names as Rotring, Sharpie, Reynolds as well as Parker, PaperMate, Waterman, and Liquid Paper.

[citation needed] After Parker's unique design patent for its Jotter classic metal ink refill cartridge expired, low cost generic copies produced in China led to increased commercial competition.

[12] The following month, Newell Rubbermaid Inc. announced that the factory in Janesville, Wisconsin, was also to close the remaining operation there producing Parker Pens (which eliminated a further 153 manufacturing jobs).

The company press release stated: "This decision is a response to structural issues accelerated by market trends and is in no way a reflection on the highly valued work performed by our Janesville employees over the years."

From their first company business plane, the Parker Duofold Fairchild, they used it as an innovative advertising weapon inviting[clarification needed] his dealers.

Created by the designer Kenneth Grange based on a detailed brief,[17] it was manufactured in Newhaven, England and produced in a variety of different versions until 1999.

In fact, its tapering barrel was inspired by an American space rocket, a form that enabled the lid to be the same diameter as the pen no matter which end it was attached to.

[20] Parker 25s were issued in several variants: initially, fountain pen, ballpoint, fibre point and mechanical pencil.

The earliest Mark I Parker 25 fountain pens dating from the first year of production feature a distinctive breather hole in the nib.

Parker 25s were all assembled in Britain by hand[22] – unlike Jotters, Vectors and other mass market pens – and were very minimalist, comprising between 9 and 11 components.

[25] But in recent years they have been enjoying a revival, their space age look evoking nostalgia for the final quarter of the twentieth century.