Say Good Bye To The Parker Factory Newhaven...

[ray501]

It's sad to see Newhaven go - the site has a great history of achievement - but the real loss is the people and the abilites that go with them. As I understand it one of the assets of newhaven was that they did both design and production (although I seem to remember that the P25 was outsourced, designwise).

 

Ok, so if the production is now in the far east, where is the design HQ for Parker?

 

Ray

[Ceilidh]

  On 5/14/2014 at 2:23 AM, kestrel said:

A small sample of the craftsmanship produced by the people at Newhaven. Most of these were made during WWII.

 

 

Mmm, very nice!

[KAC]

  On 5/13/2014 at 6:01 PM, ParkersAndPaper said:

 

Pride in manufacturing is something that is missing today. With machines taking so many jobs, the men and women who still have careers in manufacturing don't have the chance to appreciate something that was crafted by hand.

 

Sad day indeed. Any word on what will go up in the building's place?

Absolutely agree with that.

[OcalaFlGuy]

  On 5/14/2014 at 3:56 PM, ray501 said:

Ok, so if the production is now in the far east, where is the design HQ for Parker?

 

Ray

 

At the Waterman-Parker factory in France.

 

Bruce in Ocala, Fl

[Darryl.k]

Dropped by again today. Security was tight, but managed to walk around a bit more. Not much left now. I asked the demolition crew if they had found the supposed Swastika pen that is apparently buried some where on site!

 

The first photo was taken on 18th May 2010. A view having come in the main car park leading up to reception past H - Block on the right which had the HR department in.

 

http://i1022.photobucket.com/albums/af350/darryl_k/CopyofDSC02181_zps3ece79da.jpg

 

The same view today 14th May 2014.

 

http://i1022.photobucket.com/albums/af350/darryl_k/entrance_zps4d209e08.jpg

 

http://i1022.photobucket.com/albums/af350/darryl_k/Space_zpsf0c339dc.jpg

 

Who wants an authentic brick?!

 

Darryl

[tryphon]

The best Parker pens were made there! And there would have been no Prker re-birth in 1987, without Newhaven. Very, very sad!

[twdpens]

It is very sad, but it needn't have been that way. Times change and markets and companies move and adapt, often re-locating or moving resources. The problem with Parker is that the management have thrown the baby out with the bath water, to use an old expression. Parker was a quality brand and the market leader. If it had held onto its position in the market no one would give two hoots about the old building because it would be seen as progress (although it's always sad to see any manufacturing facility disappear). As it is what we see is parts of an old friend slowly dying away.

 

Martin

[OcalaFlGuy]

I would make it worth one of those workers while to loan me a hard hat and a pry bar and let me wander around during their lunch hour.

 

 

Bruce in Ocala, Fl-maybe I'd find the treasure map to Mt. Parker45 Parts and that horde of Duofolds

[OcalaFlGuy]

  On 5/14/2014 at 6:22 PM, Darryl.k said:

 

 

 

Who wants an authentic brick?!

 

Darryl

 

Me. I do.

 

What might work better is to drop a couple nicer bricks (in case they break one) off at a granite shop and have them saw a few smaller slabs out of the brick.

 

Much easier for shipping and long term display. I'd LOVE to shoot some pics of my BBB 51 RS cap on one of those mini-slabs.

 

If he had them, one of Daryls Parker Business cards taped to the bottom of the slab would be nice too.

 

Bruce in Ocala, Fl-hey, ya can't get what ya don't ask for...

[Ernst Bitterman]

On the brick question; how about a gross of them, at speed, through the windows of the Newell-Rubbermaid boardroom?

[PenFisher]

+1 Mr. Bitterman +1

[pajaro]

N-R is just doing what other businesses have been doing for a long time: swallowing up other companies that have become vulnerable for some reason. Shark infested waters. The real fault was with Parker and its prior owners.

[Florida Blue]

  On 5/14/2014 at 7:57 PM, pajaro said:

N-R is just doing what other businesses have been doing for a long time: swallowing up other companies that have become vulnerable for some reason. Shark infested waters. The real fault was with Parker and its prior owners.

 

Indeed. The management at Newhaven sold Parker to Gillette who in turn sold it to Newell-Rubbermaid.

 

It's a real shame since that factory had been an important part not just in fountain pen, but in British history in general.

 

Maragret Thatcher visited Newhaven in 1987 as part of the Parker centenary celebrations and was given a special Duofold. They were given two royal warrants by Elizabeth II and the Prince of Wales. The Queen uses a Newhaven-made 51 as her personal pen and Buckingham Palace uses Quink for handwritten correspondence. During WWII, they manufactured munitions for the war effort and they were even bombed by the Germans during an air raid.

Edited May 14, 2014 by Florida Blue

[Ernst Bitterman]

  On 5/14/2014 at 7:57 PM, pajaro said:

N-R is just doing what other businesses have been doing for a long time: swallowing up other companies that have become vulnerable for some reason. Shark infested waters. The real fault was with Parker and its prior owners.

 

It's not the swallowing that give me trouble, it's the apparent willingness to run it right out the other end of the tract. The thing N-R is doing that hasn't been done to Pelikan, Montblanc, Sheaffer, and various others that have been glomped up by some big concern is... or appears to be, since this is something of a subjective opinion (and looking back at Martin's comment, I don't think I'm alone in this)... to let the inherent quality collapse while preying upon the long-developed reputation of the brand to keep sales running, with an evident endgame of wrapping up the marque when the reputation has run out of juice. As Martin said, this final demolition would be a lot less of a blow to weirdos like us if it didn't have an element of coffin-building in it.

Edited May 14, 2014 by Ernst Bitterman

[white_lotus]

Mr Bitterman is 100% correct.

 

Unfortunately in large companies, in the board room, it's all about sales figures, costs, and profits. The businesses are probably simply too large overall to run them any other way. Which is very sad and I think one of the great failings of corporations. They can be very efficient, but sometimes the efficiently effects quality over the long run.

[pajaro]

Get out the violins. But Wait, too late to save your shoes.

[pen2paper]

scratch a line through my comment yesterday about lands across the sea keeping historic sites intact.

 

 

...discussion about a real life "Filed of Dreams" scenario.

[Readymade]

/sigh.

[welch]

Vandals.

[erpe]

Seeing this makes me want N-R to just close down the brand so somebody with some cash and more love for the product can pick it up in a few years and resurrect it like it was done with Onooto or KaWeCo.