Parker duofolds

Parker Duofold

In 1921, the Parker Pen Company took a risk by introducing a new pen based on the design of the company’s successful Jack-Knife Safety pen. The new model, proposed by a Parker branch manager named Lewis M. Tebbel, was the Parker Duofold. It was identical to the oversize Jack-Knife Safety Nº 26, and instead of the usual black, It was red. It was known as the Big Red. It was priced at $7.00, a dollar more than the Jack-Knife Safety Nº 26. Tebbel insisted that the Duofold would sell, but very few in Janesville were optimistic — until sales took off with great success. 

There are various sizes and colours for the Duofold collection. The maxi size is considered to be the most desirable and the  mandarin yellow the most desirable for the Duofold collectors. The Mandarin yellow color appeared in Parker’s catalog after a visit George Parker made to China, where he discovered this particularly bright yellow and observed how popular it was there. 

But it wasn’t as popular in the West and as a result, not that many yellow Duofolds were made. To make things worse, the yellow celluloid turns out to be much more fragile than the material used for any of the other Duofold color as these pens, when they turn up, frequently have cracks at the cap lip.

Even during the early 1920s, Parker has already started to target female consumers with the below advertisements: