Jotter

[jot-er]

The Parker Jotter is the Parker Pen Company's first and bestselling retracting refillable ballpoint pen. Later they added a fountain pen, mechanical pencil and rollerball pen that match its design. Just like many other ballpoint pens, it can be turned into gel pen if its cartridge is changed. Since 1954, over 750 million have been sold worldwide. Its refill, called T-Ball (T is for tungsten), is the first textured ballpoint and is now a standard in the industry. Also, the external design of the T-Ball is a standard design for many brands of refillable pens.

The Jotter is distinguished by a button and cap made of stainless steel, chrome or another metal, a stylized arrow-shaped clip, a smooth styrene or metal barrel and a metal nozzle. If styrene, the barrel originally came in black, blue, green and red. Over many years of production, the jotter has been produced in numerous colors, some quite rare.

One popular version, scarce in early models, is identified as the laboratory or "flighter" version. These pens have an alloy cap with a matching alloy barrel. The all-alloy bodied pens come with a gold or chrome clip. Another version is the clear barreled "demonstrator", usually sold to dealers to show the inner workings of the pen.

The so-called "girl's" Jotter is a smaller version of the original. It was manufactured in the early sixties and was popular for a time. It came in seven colors (the rarest being brown), as well as a clear "demonstrator".

Also, it appears that the employees would occasionally experiment with their own combinations of colors. These pens have a marbleized appearance and are the result of cleaning the production machinery. If the production run called for blue, and they had been making grey jotters, the last of the gray plastic would blend into the blue creating what were sometimes called "lunch room" specials. These pens are considered quite collectible, but they are usually not "prototypes" as commonly thought.

Management was always trying to expand the market for this pen and commissioned the design department to explore new designs and materials. Several of these prototypes exist and are also coveted by collectors.

There are many variations of these pens and a large collection can be assembled by the serious collector. The variety is endless if a collector includes the advertising variations. All versions of the pen were used in advertising for an endless list of organizations.

The refill comes in ball pen and gel styles, as well as in three point sizes. The pen also comes in a boxed set with a mechanical pencil which is collectible in itself.

History

In 1954, the Parker Jotter had an inverted "V" style clip without the arrow engraving. The 1954 Jotter came with red, green, grey and black barrels, made of grooved nylon, not smooth plastic. The following year, due to the popularity of the pen, the choice of colors was extended to include bright red, mustard yellow, bright green and bright orange. These later colors are more difficult to find.

In 1956, the company made the Jotter barrel smooth plastic and changed the clip to the "21" style. This clip utilized a reversed "V" rather than an inverted one. It incorporated a ball for pocket retention. This clip remained in use for about two years. During the period this variation was in production a metal barrel end was added in response to complaints that the plastic tip broke from pressure. The cap-actuated Parker 51 fountain pen also came out this year.

In 1957, the company launched the T-Ball refill, which contained reformulated ink and a textured tungsten carbide writing ball.

In 1958, the company added an arrow to replace the aforementioned ballclip design. The arrow has remained on all production Jotters since then. Occasionally a jotter would slip through with a clip that had no embossed arrows. These are now collector's items. Recent production (English manufacture) have clips in the shape of an arrow, but no feathers

In 1962, the company launches the cap-actuated Parker 61.

In 1965, the company launches a Jotter desk pen in brushed chrome.

In 1973, the company flattened the dome-shaped button and put there the Parker imprint.

In the 1980s, the company changed the inner cap threads from brass to plastic.

In 2004, the Jotter's Jubilee, the company released limited edition designs in boxed sets. The dome shaped button was restored to its original rounded shape that it had prior to 1973 when the flattened dome shaped button took over. The sterling silver Jotters were made for only one year and that was in 2004. There were several barrel colors issued to celebrate the Jotter's 50th Anniversary.

Today's Jotters are similar to the popular, "ruggedized" version that first came out in 1954. More than 700 million Jotters have been produced since 1954 and production continues at Parker's plant in Newhaven, England after being transferred there from Janesville, Wisconsin in 1999.