Parker And Sanford Parker

February 3, 2015

I shop on Amazon quite a bit and I've run across regular Parkers and Sanford Parkers. I'm confused at the difference, because the pens are rather similar but with maybe one or two minor changes. Did Parker split up? I know Parker is now owned by Rubbermaid, so maybe Rubbermaid only bought half of the company or something (if that's even possible)?

February 3, 2015

I don't have direct knowledge of "Sanford Parker Pens". However, The Sanford Corporation acquired

The Parker Pen Company of Janesville, WI. It was a branch of Rubbermaid. Eventually, The Sanford

Corp. ceased operations at Janesville, and closed the plant. I suppose "Sanford Parker" might refer

to Parker pens produced after the Janesville closing. (I don't actually know.)

I also don't know whether the name has any connection to the original founder George Sanford Parker.

Is the term "Sanford Parker" formal, or casual, like my using the term "Shanghai Parker" in reference

to present-day pens ?

February 3, 2015

I don't have direct knowledge of "Sanford Parker Pens". However, The Sanford Corporation acquired
The Parker Pen Company of Janesville, WI. It was a branch of Rubbermaid. Eventually, The Sanford
Corp. ceased operations at Janesville, and closed the plant. I suppose "Sanford Parker" might refer
to Parker pens produced after the Janesville closing. (I don't actually know.)

I also don't know whether the name has any connection to the original founder George Sanford Parker.

Is the term "Sanford Parker" formal, or casual, like my using the term "Shanghai Parker" in reference
to present-day pens ?

That's what the company, or the people selling the pens are calling them so I assume it's their formal name. Here's a few links to a few of their pens:

http://smile.amazon.com/Sanford-Parker-Gunmetal-Ballpoint-35909/dp/B000UV47TE/ref=sr_1_11?ie=UTF8&qid=1422937636&sr=8-11&keywords=sanford+parker+fountain+pens

http://smile.amazon.com/Parker-Latitude-Writing-Fountain-61940/dp/B000KS35KY/ref=sr_1_7?ie=UTF8&qid=1422937700&sr=8-7&keywords=sanford+fountain+pens

http://smile.amazon.com/Premium-Metallic-Fountain-1795273-Sanford/dp/B00KCTUUPO/ref=sr_1_12?ie=UTF8&qid=1422937700&sr=8-12&keywords=sanford+fountain+pens

February 3, 2015

The company still calls itself the Parker Pen Company. On its own Web site. No need to take seriously what one finds on Amazon. Putting together a site like Amazon, or indeed many smaller sites, involves a lot of cutting and pasting and sloppiness.

February 4, 2015

The Newell Rubbermaid annual reports are on-line. The company pulls about half of its revenue from the Writing division ($1.7 billion), which they used to call Sanford Office Products.

Parker and Waterman are listed as "fine writing products"

Of interest, and, maybe concern: Newell says that in 2013 the Fine Writing Products brands missed their targets. The explanation is fuzzy, but it appears that they made less than they expected in China. Parker had done well selling $5,000 modern Duofolds to Chinese executives, who would buy a dozen or so Sonnets for staff. Maybe those sales have slowed, or maybe sales of the 5th Generation pens have dropped.

Here is the flat PDF of their annual report:

http://ir.newellrubbermaid.com/files/doc_financials/annual_reports/2013/Annual%20Report%20-%20NWL%2010-K%20print%20file.pdf

Here is the spiffy "interactive" version: http://www.corporatereport.com/newell/2013/ar/