Parker 45 pen

The Parker 45 pen was a low-priced pen made in many colours and finishes, one of the Parker Pen Company's great survivors. Parker always tried to fill the demands for both expensive and economy line pens. During the Duofold era there had been the Raven Black, the Writefine, the Pastel and the very attractive Thrift Time Pens; Duette, Premiere and the Moderne. During the Vacumatic era Parker offered the very beautiful and popular Challenger and the Parkette. During the1950's, following the phenomenal success of the Parker 51, Parker produced three lines aimed at the economy market, so called school pens. The main difference to the top lines being the material rather than the design. Thus the economy pens are more prone to breakage and often sported alloy, rather than gold, nibs. The threesome was the Parker 51 Special, virtually identical to the Parker 51 save the gold nib, the Parker 21, which, adding a few colours, also closely followed the design of the Parker 51, with the exception of an assortment of clip designs and, again, the lack of the gold nib. The third pen was the Parker 41 which was very similar to the Parker 21 but was offered in a range of clear "youthful" colours, today much sought for by collectors.

Parker was however working on an entirely new concept of school pen. This pen, subsequently known as the Parker 45 (actually named after the western revolver) was aimed to shoot into and make a kill on the economy market. And you even loaded it with cartridges! It was introduced in 1960.

The Parker 45 was designed by Don Doman (who also designed the Jotter, Parker 61, Parker VP, Parker 75, Parker T1 and Liquid Lead). Not wanting to differ too much from their prize-winning design of the milk cow Parker 51, Doman initially kept the metal cap and the arrow clip but adopted the stylized clip of the Parker 21 Super, introduced in 1956. The body of the Parker 45 was tapered at both ends, creating a slimmer and lighter pen than the Parker 51. The body also sported a metal ring and a completely new kind of nib. The nib was triangular and very small, compared to prior Parker nibs. The complete nib/feed could be unscrewed and easily replaced and many styles of nibs were offered. The 14 carat gold nib was very unusual on a pen that initially cost only $5. Another clue to the low price of the pen later lie in a new manufacturing process in which the entire pen could be made up from the same dyes, which sped up the production, the so called Parker 45 CT (aka Arrow), introduced in 1964. A breakthrough that economized production costs

The most extraordinary feature of the pen was however its new filling system. Even back in the eyedropper days Parker had experimented with a more portable ink supply, other than the travelling inkwell. Back then the solution was a tablet of concentrated ink, to be dissolved in water. This time the solution was a replaceable cartridge. The idea has been said to originate from the short lived cigarette lighter experiment of the Parker Flaminaire (1950-1952). The Flaminaire contained a replaceable cartridge of liquid lighter fluid. Unfortunately the cartridge could not be refilled, which soon rendered the discontinued lighter useless. To divert from this mishap Parker constructed a removable, refillable ink converter. The new filling system was first adopted to the Parker 51 line in 1958, but people were too accustomed to the pli-glass filler and the feature was abruptly removed.

The filler was tried again on the new Parker 45 in 1960 and suddenly it was a smash hit. The novel filling system became very in demand and was soon applied to other Parker models, such as late models of the Parker 61, the Parker 75 (1964-1994) and many other subsequent models. With the Parker VP (1962-64) Parker tried a different approach with a removable filler in plastic and metal, but this construction proved brittle and the Parker VP was soon discontinued.

The cartridge/converter idea was also soon adopted by most pen companies. Both the cartridge and converter became a manufacturers standard and is still being used today.

The Parker 45 in 1960: • Black• Burgundy• Grey• Light Blue• Dark Blue• Green

In 1964 Parker introduced the Parker 45 Arrow with the name in white on the body (which was instantly rubbed off at first use) The name survived only for a short while and was soon replaced by the denotation CT (Chrome Trim). This pen didn't have the steel cap, but was solely made out of plastic. This made production cheaper, partly because metal was more expensive than plastic, but also because of a new production process. It was continually produced in the standard colours. Since the Parker 45 sold surprisingly well Parker realized that the pen might have more potential than just as a cheap school pen. Thus Parker launched a top line Parker 45: more expensive all-metal pens but otherwise with the same design and nibs. The all steel Flighter was immediately a best seller. There was also gold plated models referred to as Insignia that sported black plastic ends with converging lines all over and black sections.

The Parker 45 in 1964:

Models:• Classic• CT (Arrow)• Flighter• Insignia

Parker continued to extend the production line. In 1965 an Insignia in rolled silver was introduced and also an Insignia in rolled gold. A plain rolled gold Insignia, without the converging lines, was also introduced. Licensed productions in other countries included a 14 carat solid gold Parker 45 in fine Barley, produced in Germany. Two new colours in the CT-line was Olive and Turquoise, both which became very popular. The Classic model also came with a gold filled cap, referred to as the Costum pen.

The Parker 45 in 1965:

Models:• Classic• Costum• CT• Flighter• Insignia In 1967 Parker introduced the Parker 45 DeLuxe, an attractive "CT" with rolled gold filled trim (should have been called "GT"). From here on the Parker 45 was offered in a wide variety of colours and models at different price levels. An attractive economy line, called Student, also referred to as the Happy Colours, were introduced towards the end of the 1960's. They came with steel caps, chrome trim and a steel nib. The colours were strong and glowing: yellow, orange, mauve, aqua and olive. The 1970's saw the arrival of the Parker 45 Coronet in metallic colours of red, blue or grey, later adding metallic black, brown and blue. They were produced by a special process that bound the colours to an aluminium pen with satin finish, which resulted in a pen with both striking colours and durability.

In the 1970's, during the big dip in the public's interest in fountain pens, the Parker 45 still continued to have an appeal. The Harlequin was introduced. It was a metal pen with an engraved pattern, either a Circlet or a Shield. They came in grey or black, although rare prototypes in red, blue and green has surfaced. Production unfortunately proved too complicated and the line was soon discontinued.

In 1980 the Parker 45 TX, a very attractive metal pen with a bluecoated metal finish was introduced but sales were down and the TX was discontinued in 1983. Parker 45 "TX" Blue metal coated

There are also clipless Parker 45 models with brushed metal finish and helical lines on the cap and body. Others came in gold tone with wooden ends or silver tone with black plastic ends. Late finishes are Parker 45 Classics with steel cap, chrome trim, steel nib and plastic barrels in black, blue or maroon. The Flighter DeLuxe in steel with gold plated trim also survived into the 2000's. The Parker 45 in its heyday sold 75 million units during 20 years, generating $140 million for Parker.

Don Doman once said that "a good design has no calendar" which is a suitable epitaph for a pen that became one of Parker's longest surviving models. Being around for more than 40 years the Parker 45 has been offered in a multitude of colours and models. Although the Parker 45 sold very well it never seemed to catch the eye of the collector community. It is a very nice pen, usually a good writer, but with the exception of the Flighter and Insignia models lacks the weight and balance of the Parker 51's. Maybe for this reason collectors are willing to pay double or triple for the all-metal models of the Parker 45. The Parker 45 collector, on the other hand, have more colours and finishes to choose from than any other collector of Parker pen models.