Do you remember when Parker Pens were all the rage growing up?

[DodgerGirl]

My mom was telling me stories of her teenage years and she told me the story of how she got a Parker Pen for Christmas from my great-uncle as a gift and according to her story Mom's Parker Pen was really fancy and came in a fancy case. My mom took her Parker Pen to school but she lost it according to her story and so I'm wondering if any of you owned or had Parker Pens growing up? Because they seemed to be all the rage when my mom was a teenager and according to Mom everyone had to own Parker Pens because they were neat. Is Parker Pens still being made today?

 

[Kathryn Merteuil]

I seem to vaguely remember my grandmother having one of these at her desk. I am not sure where she got it though, or whatever happened to it.

 

[bobbiwoz]

I am pretty sure that the Parker pen I used in grammar school had an ink cartridge and that made it preferable to using ink in a bottle.

 

[happily single]

I don’t remember Parker Pens,but I remember pens made by AT Cross, in my home state of Rhode Island. They were expensive and usually given as gifts to mid/high level executives.

 

[tony67]

I recall them, but don't recall them being a bid deal in the 80s anyway.
They were a nice pen, but nothing special.

Cross was the big brand. I still have a very nice one I got from work back in the 90s.
It goes missing every once and a while and the just shows up again.

 

[GAN]

My mom was telling me stories of her teenage years and she told me the story of how she got a Parker Pen for Christmas from my great-uncle as a gift and according to her story Mom's Parker Pen was really fancy and came in a fancy case. My mom took her Parker Pen to school but she lost it according to her story and so I'm wondering if any of you owned or had Parker Pens growing up? Because they seemed to be all the rage when my mom was a teenager and according to Mom everyone had to own Parker Pens because they were neat. Is Parker Pens still being made today?

Looks like they still sell them. Maybe you should pick one up for your mom as a gift?

https://www.parkerpen.com/

 

[Meriweather]

I don't recall them.
I did have a cartridge pen at home for calligraphy, but never at school.
Always used Bic pens in school

 

[Babs Johnson]

In Catholic school in the 1960s ball point pens were forbidden. We had to use ink cartridge pens, but I don’t think the ones I used were Parker brand.

 

[FreeTime]

Like others, I remember Cross but they were not considered special. They were usually received as graduation, new job, holiday gifts. The rage was the fruity smelling markers. I would have taken those any day over the stuff pens.

 

[tvguy]

I had heard of Parker Pens but BIC pens were what most of us used in school in the 1960's. One year the school had enough money to buy every student a pen, but they were cheap BIC knockoffs and they tended to leak the ink.
To be honest, if I ever owned a Parker Pen, I sure don't recall. I was given a Cross pen that I keep with my checkbook. My daughter calls it the "Butter Pen" since it writes so smoothly.

 

[Cannot_Wait_4Disney]

No. If they were all the rage when I was growing up I totally missed the trend. In fact I've never even heard of them.
Yes. The brand still exists. I had to look it up.

 

[Cogswel_Cogs]

I remember Parker Pens but I think I was at end of cartridge pens. Defiantly th best ones I knew of. I think they sometimes had a PP square on the clip and other time they clip was like a feather design.

 

[disneychrista]

Can’t that I do.

 

[Dan Murphy]

Parker T-Ball Jotter.

Catholic school in the 50's, ball points not allowed. We tried to sneak in the T-Ball Jotters.

 

[NannyBeBe]

I started learning cursive in second grade and was required to use a fountain pen. I had a Parker pen and used green ink. It made learning cursive fun.

 

[leebee]

Cross pens were the choice for graduation and "special holiday" gifts when I was in high school.

 

[amcnj]

We used cartridge pens in grammar school, in the upper grades only I guess. I believe I did have a Parker. There may even be some cartridges around somewhere, and I may still have ink stains on a few fingers! By high school I think it was all ball point.

I also remember the cross pen and pencil sets. And they were considered a “cut above” type gift way back then in my area.

 

[Cadiewampus]

Yep I remember them growing up. Not sure if I ever ended up with one though. As sloppy as I wrote it wasn't worth spending extra money for. Back in the early 90's on a cruise we were in St. Thomas. They had some really nice Monte Blanc pens at good prices but as you could guess the sloppy handwriting argument won again.

 

[rlk]

In Catholic school in the 1960s ball point pens were forbidden. We had to use ink cartridge pens, but I don’t think the ones I used were Parker brand.

Parker T-Ball Jotter.

Catholic school in the 50's, ball points not allowed. We tried to sneak in the T-Ball Jotters.

I am curious why ball point pens were forbidden.

 

[Dan Murphy]

The desks were wooden and we were told that you had to push a little harder to write with a ballpoint as opposed to ink flowing very easily with a fountain type pen. Pressing harder would mske impressions on the wooden desks, or so we were told. It was a big no-no to use, or bring a ballpoint to school. Remember, this goes back to the 50's, over 70 years ago.

Some things in life have lasting impressions.

@rlk