Parker Duofold

The Duofold is the pen that actually made the Parker Company one of the greatest pen-manufacturers of the world. Until the Duofold few pens were made of anything but black rubber. Parker found a method to make the rubber in a red-orange colour, and when the pens began to sell they really sold. The Duofolds had their world premier in early 1921. Within a few months the Duofold was the best selling high priced pen on the market. the red Duofolds was something of a risky venture since Parker previously, in the early 1900's, had tried marketing a red pen, the Red Giant, which was disastrous. Especially the cap proved very brittle and the guarantee became very expensive. The production came to an abrupt halt.

In 1928 the cap bands on the Senior and Junior Duofolds were split into two to match the Lady, which broad band earlier had been split into three. The overall design, however, stayed the same.

Here is my 1928 Parker Dufold Senior, "the Big Red", with a medium 14k nib...a wonderful inheritance!