Geoff Parker wrote:

It seems almost alien nowadays but much of Parker's early success was built on the personal relationships my great-grandfather and grandfather built with dealers and distributors 'way back when. Those relationships were established - and maintained - using the old- fashioned "face-to-face" method. Doing so, especially in the early 1900s, took alot of time - just getting there and back! Doing so outside the US, beginning in the early 1900s, obviously took even more time. Fortunately my great-grandfather loved to travel as much as he enjoyed meeting people. My grandfather, Kenneth, was, however, more reserved. Fortunately though, as a youngster he was fascinated with aviation. So much so that he joined the U.S. Navy (Reserves) in 1917 and learned to fly. Once working for Parker Pen though he did not forget his love of flying. In 1928 he devised a sales promotion program that combined Aviation and Parker Pens wherein Parker purchased a Fairchild FC-2W2, painted it bright orange - just like the bright orange Duofold pens, and sent it out on an 18-month long US tour; dropping coupons, giving rides, and ... well, putting the Parker name in front of a large number of people, many of whom had rarely ever seen an airplane, much less ridden in one! Since that time, running up to the mid-1960s when Parker's aviation department was eliminated, I've identified 12 more planes tied to Parker.

 

As you can tell its quite easy to get me talking about Parker history.

That, according to family lore, is due to the fact that I was born with "ink in my veins". Guilty, as charged.

Geoff