arker's subsidiary in Newhaven in the UK had been around since 1941 and during that time had produceed a vast number of attractive designs, not found in the US. Especially in the Duofold lines. Throughout the 1970's Parker was struggling to survive, diversifying, among other things they ran the workers agency Manpower. In the pen business they were relying heavily on the top line pens Parker "75", Classic, Parker Falcon and Parker "180", and the lower priced Parker "45", which had been around for years, the Parker "B5", that never really gained any ground and the cheap Big Reds, reminicents of the heyday era of the 1920's, that managed to keep the company afloat.

In the early 1970's the UK sales force in Newhaven identified a costumer's age group that previously had never been targeted by Parker, 18—30. They decided that they wanted a pen that would appeal to that age group, which potentially held 10 million costumers.

t should be modern in styling and design but should also be easily identified as a Parker product. The Newhaven Product design and engeneering teams decided that they wanted an outside designer with a proven track record, according to Malcolm Troak in his book Pen to paper. Parker selected Kenneth Grange who had designed a whole range of modern products. He was given a list of specifications.

he pen should have as few parts as possible, it should be designed for automatic assembly, the finishing process should be held to a minimum and the repair and servicing requirements should also be minimised.

Grange came up with several designs and while they were indeed modern, most were just too modern for Parker but eventually they agreed on an all metal pen with a new one-piece collector, specially designed to handle air travel. The production technique was also relatively new. The body was made with a deep draw press which simply used a round piece of metal, like a large coin, and stamped it in several stages until it was in the shape of an elongated cup.

t a sales conference in June of 1975, when the fountain pen business was at it's lowest, Parker UK introduced the cheap, but very functional Parker "25", for the low end market. It was a Flighter, made from steel and plastic, and had easily replaceable nib/sections. The shape of the Parker "25" was a bit odd, since the back of the pen was thinner than the front end, stepped down without really being tapered. It was indeed very square in appearence and sported a new, totally square clip, with the parker logo in a — what else — square plastic emblem.

The nib was also in steel but in spite of the low price it was sturdy and proved to be a surprisingly good writer. It was like the Volvo of the time— boxy but safe!

A selection of Flighter Parker "25", 1980's.

n 1979 the Matte Black Parker "25" was shown also in the US catalogue, it was referred to as the Parker "25B". Both the Flighter and Matte Black was now offered in the nib sizes Fine and Medium only. Parker discontinued the Parker "45" fountain pen (ball pen and pencil remained but the Parker "45" fountain pens didn't appear again until the mid 1980's catalogues) and bumped up the price of the Parker "25" Flighter. A Fountain pen now cost $12.50 (like the Parker "45" the year before), while a ball pen cost $7.50. The Matte Black was a tad more expensive with $15 for the fountain pen and $10 for the ball pen.

In the long run it was clear that the Flighter model attracted the most costumers so in the mid 1980's the Matte black was discontinued while the Flighter was enhanced. Previously the plastic cap "jewel", the section and Parker logo on the clip had been offered in black only, now it came in either black, blue or green.

As before mentioned times was not really good for pen manufacturers and hadn't been for decades. Parker was losing money.

So when The Parker family was made an offer of $400 million from the subsidairy in Newhaven they decided that it was time to pursue other values in life. Hence Parker Newhaven in 1987 took over the Parker mother company. Again it was to be the Duofold that was to boost sales. To commemorate Parker's 100 anniversary the Centennial was introduced and in one year the new Parker company was again making money.

he Parker "25" was still featured in the 1989 catalogue but was discontinued in 1990. By then the popular Vector, that introduced the roller ball in 1982, with it's slick, stylized arrow clip, had begun gaining ground, and although quite similar in appearence, the Parker "25" design was beginning to look clumsy and dated in comparison.

Nevertheless the Parker "25" still attracts users the world over. Even though it was produced for a very long time they still catch somewhat silly prices at auction sites. Without hesitation collectors pay six times the original selling price for a low-end all-steel pen that is quite common. The black one is even more sought for as well as the uncatalogued White Parker "25"'s. Well, I suppose that says something about the quality. I use one myself as an everyday writer and it has never let me down.

A Matte Black Parker "25", 1980's.

A White Parker "25", 1980's.