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Great Depression put brakes to the skyrocketing consumer culture of
the 1920s and cut sales for all pen makers dramatically. Between 1929
and 1930, Parker's profits were cut in half. Many smaller companies
disappeared altogether. By the end of the depression, the field was
dominated by four companies, in order of size, Parker, Sheaffer, Waterman,
and Eversharp.
Despite hard times, the major companies did not halt innovation or cut
advertising in the depression years. Those firms that survived the crash
stepped up their efforts to sell pens that were new not only in style
but in function. The greatest innovator in the 1930's was without doubt
Parker, which rose to the leadership of the industry during the decade.
Again, advertising and technology led the way, and once again the technological
issue was filling systems.
Parker always tried to look forward and anticipate the need
of changes. In the middle of the 1920's, while still on the roll with
the Duofolds, Parker knew that there would come a time when it had to
be replaced with something new.
For all it's simplicity and utility, the lever filler
did not add to the beauty of any pen and on occasion levers could mistakenly
be forced open, creating an ink-mess. For that reason, Parker never
adopted the lever for their top quality pens, preferring to use a button
enclosed by a blind cap at the barrel end to activate the pressure bar.
Around 1925, a professor Dahlberg at the University
of Wisconsin started working on a new filling system for fountain pens.
Within two years he was granted a patent. He was however having trouble
with the mechanical details and was also running out of money. He decided
to offer the patent to Parker, and although the patent was far from
marketable Parker were impressed and purchased the patent.
 Parker
then spent five years developing and perfecting the mechanism. They
also hired a top designer, Joseph Platt from New York. He did design
the Parker arrow - one of Parkers trade marks to this day, but he was
also a consultant on the design for the complete pen. Parker then approached
the company DuPont for supplying the plastic, they doubted that they
could supply the celluloid with the striped pattern requested, but they
succeeded in the end. Parker then applied for and was granted a design
patent for the new plastic.
The stripes are sometimes uneven, both horizontalwise
and in colouring.
Earlier Vacs were made out of solid rod stock. The reflectivity
of the pearlescent material had to do with its orientation as the materal
cured. Maximum pearlescence would thus be visible only from two sides
and minimum 90 degrees off from that.
Later Vacs were made from flat stock wrapped around
a mandrel, so max pearlescence went all the way around. [Thanks David
Nishimura].
Parker in the end had spent $ 125,000 and five years
developing the container and the new filling system.
 fter
several years of in-house development and styling Parker in 1932
quietly began test marketing the novelty pen. The pen was radical in
several ways. Parker boasted the model to be the first self filler without
a sac, which wasn't entirely true. However the filling mechanism was
an innovation.
 By
using a diaphragm rather than a sac, the whole barrel could be used
as a reservoir. The principle workings was essentially like that of
the earlier button fillers (Duofold) as the
depression of the plunger pushed on the rubber sac and forced out the
air (creating a vacuum) and when the rubber regained it's natural form
the ink got sucked into the pen to replace the air. The outward difference
was that the previous button was replaced with a fat (approximately
4 mm) plunger that was used to operate the diaphragm. The plunger could
be locked in a down position with a twist of the thumb. (And is referred
to as the Lock-Down Fill, or Twist-Fill). A short blind cap that sported
a tassie ring and a "jewel" was also fitted, the two jewels (top and
bottom) followed the pens colour and was also striped in the same manner.
The new arrow was also fitted to the nib. The Parker boasted 102% of
the ink capacity of their rivals.
Golden Arrow July 1932 —
November 1932
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very first pens were test marketed in July 1932, they were known
as the Golden Arrow. They had the distinct body-imprint
"Golden Arrow Made In USA".
The test marketing strategy had proven successful during the introduction
of the Duofold and Parker quietly began distributing 60 hand made Golden
Arrows in a store in Chicago. During the month of July 1932 the store
had sold nine Wahls, seven Sheaffers, six Parkers, two Swans and one Waterman.
Enter the Golden Arrow.
The first week of August the store sold 15 Golden Arrows,
one Parker Duofold and one Swan. Both the store owner and Parker were
very impressed by this, and one week later Kenneth Parker went on a trip
to instruct all the sales managers of the districts about the new Golden
Arrow. He brought two samples to each salesmen and they could start taking
orders immediately from the store owners. Of the samples one was a demonstrator,
the other one a standard pen.
The salesmen came back very excited, one in the Pacific Coast
Region had sold 595 pens and 230 pencils, and called it "the end
of the depression". By the first week of October a complete line
of Golden Arrow samples was sent to each salesman with a request to return
the first two items to the factory. Orders poured in but no pens were
shipped until the end of October.
The new pen was still referred to as the Golden Arrow,
but in the Parkergram of November 3 (the Parker Company's internal newsletter),
the pen was suddenly listed as the Vacuum Filler. It's a mystery
why the sudden change. The Vacumatic expert Lynn Sorgatz has three possible
explanations:
- Parker used the Golden Arrow name only to test market the pen.
- In the Parker archive is the end of a pen box marked Golden Arrow.
The pen contained in the box was made in England (but not by Parker)
and was a button filler.
No date has been established for these pens, but it is quite possible
that Parker was concerned with trademark infringement, even though,
as an extra twist the English Golden Arrow bears a striking resemblence
to the Duofold.
- A combination of the second and third alternative is the most probable.
Because this new pen had a revolutionary new filling mechanism, as
well as a striking new exterior, the marketing department may have
had trouble deciding whether to market the pen based on its form or
its function. Function ultimately won out, and the pen became the
Vacuum Filler.
he Golden Arrow was never advertized and the first national advertisement
for the Vacuum Filler appeared in march 18, 1933.
The 1932 Golden Arrows:
- Standard (122 — 132 mm).
- Demonstrator was not really a part of the line, but was produced
in transparent plastic to allow the sellers to demonstrate the new
filling system.
 Most
Golden Arrows that have survived have Vacuum Filler
nibs, one nib exist with the imprint "Golden Arrow", another
has a separate gold arrow soldered on top of the platinum plated nib
for a 3D-appearance [left], some nibs have a large gold "V",
pointed towards the tip. Very few demonstrator items exist.
- The Golden Arrow and Vacuum fillers
exist in many variations, not subsequently found in the Vacumatic
line. There are items with a one piece barrel-section assembly, while
most are in two pieces. They exist in both red and white gold trim
on black pens alike. Sizes also vary. Items have been found only 109
mm long when closed while others are equivalent to the later 112 mm
sub Juniors etc. Since the Deluxe/Economy, (or Top line/Bottom line
- see below) differency is not applicable, there are in fact bottom-line
style pens with top-line style three rings and vice versa. They do
come with the lock-down filler, striped sections, striped or black
jewels. Some have top rings, rather like the earlier Duofolds, notably
the "Stub" pens, while most have the new arrow clip. Very
few Golden Arrow pencils have been found, but these are in most respects
similar to the later (pre 1935) Vacumatic pencils.
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