Parker Pen History: From Janesville to Newell

Parker factory timeline from 1880 to 2030 above an ownership ribbon from Parker to Gillette to Newell — Where Parker pens were made and who owned the company, on one time axis.

Key takeaways

Parker dates its story to 1888, when George Safford Parker, aged 25, applied for his first pen patent in Janesville, Wisconsin; the Parker Pen Company was incorporated in 1892.
Gillette bought Parker Pen Holdings Limited on May 7, 1993; its 10-K puts the price and costs at US$458 million, after a US antitrust suit filed March 22, 1993.
Newell Rubbermaid completed the purchase of Gillette's stationery business, Paper Mate/Parker with Waterman, on December 29, 2000; the price for it alone was not disclosed.
Newell's 10-K for 2009 still lists pen plants in Janesville, Newhaven and Nantes; the 10-K for 2010 lists only Nantes, and the Newhaven factory closed in 2010.
On June 2, 2026 Newell announced a three-year investment of 40 million euros (about US$45 million) in its French sites, where it says Parker and Waterman are made.

Parker started as one man’s leak-proof fountain pen in Janesville, Wisconsin. Today it’s one of the writing brands of Newell Brands, made in France. Here is how it got there, with every date taken from Parker’s own history, Gillette’s and Newell’s SEC filings and UK and French records.

Who owns Parker pens and where are they made?

Parker is owned by Newell Brands, the Atlanta group that bought it with Gillette’s stationery business on December 29, 2000, and most Parker pens are now made at Newell’s plant in Nantes, France. Parker’s own 2023 press release says plainly that “Parker is part of Newell Brands”, with a presence in 145 countries.

Newell’s 2025 10-K places Parker in its Learning and Development segment, next to Paper Mate, Sharpie, Elmer’s and EXPO. Its brands page also lists Waterman, X-ACTO, Prismacolor and Rotring, the same stationery group we map in who owns which stationery brands.

On where Parker is made, the clearest primary evidence is Newell’s own plant list. Its 10-K for 2009 still lists writing-instrument plants in Janesville, Newhaven and Nantes; the 10-K for 2010 keeps only Nantes. In a June 2, 2026 release, Newell says Parker and Waterman have been “produced on French soil across generations”.

Newell doesn’t publish a country of origin for every Parker model, so check the box or the barrel imprint. Retailers list France for the Parker Jotter, the brand’s best-known pen.

Parker timeline: 1888 to today

Parker was independent for about a century, then passed to Gillette in 1993 and to Newell in 2000. Dates come from the sources named in the last column.

Date	Event	Source
1888	George Safford Parker, aged 25, applies for his first pen patent in Janesville	Parker history
1892	The Parker Pen Company is incorporated; William F. Palmer is its first president	Janesville Gazette
1894	The “Lucky Curve” anti-leak feed, Parker’s second patent	Parker history
1921	Duofold launched; the orange “Big Red” follows	Parker history
1931	Quink ink (formula #1022)	Parker history
1933	Vacumatic and the arrow clip by Joseph Platt	Parker history
1941	Parker 51 launched; Parker takes over a pen factory in Newhaven, England	Parker history; Hughes and Salvidge
1954	Jotter ballpoint; 3.5 million sold in the first year	Parker history
1962	First Royal Warrant, from Queen Elizabeth II	Parker history
March 22, 1993	US Justice Department sues to block Gillette’s purchase of Parker Pen Holdings	DOJ
May 7, 1993	Gillette acquires Parker Pen Holdings Limited for US$458 million including costs	Gillette 10-K 1993
June 30, 2000	Gillette decides to sell its Stationery Products business	Gillette 10-K 2000
December 29, 2000	Newell Rubbermaid completes the purchase of Paper Mate/Parker	Newell 10-K 2001; Gillette 10-K 2000
2009	Newell announces the end of Parker operations in Janesville	Janesville Gazette
2010	The Newhaven factory closes; Nantes is Newell’s remaining writing-instrument plant of the three	Hughes and Salvidge; Newell 10-K 2010
April 15, 2016	Newell Rubbermaid completes the Jarden deal and becomes Newell Brands Inc.	Newell 8-K
June 2, 2026	Newell announces an investment of 40 million euros (about US$45 million) in its French sites	Newell release

When was Parker founded?

Parker gives 1888 as its starting year, but the Parker Pen Company itself was incorporated in 1892. Parker’s official timeline says that in 1888 George Safford Parker, aged 25, “applies for his first pen patent and begins the Parker story”. Its 135th-anniversary release, dated April 2023, counts from the same year.

The Janesville Gazette’s history, based on Rock County Historical Society material, fills in the details. Parker, a telegraphy teacher, began making pens on a small scale in 1888 with 11 employees on the top floor of the Myers Opera House, got his first patent in 1889, and incorporated the company in 1892 with Janesville insurance man William F. Palmer as president.

The two accounts also differ on the Lucky Curve feed. Parker’s timeline dates it to 1894, while the Gazette says the patent was issued on December 12, 1893. We give Parker’s date in the timeline and flag the difference here.

What made Parker famous before Gillette?

A run of pens that collectors still seek out: the Duofold (1921), the Vacumatic (1933), the Parker 51 (1941) and the Jotter (1954). Parker’s timeline credits the 51 with signing the German surrender in 1945 and the Jotter with 3.5 million sales in its first year. Our vintage fountain pens guide covers the 51, Vacumatic and Duofold as pens to buy today, and the 51 is on our list of the best pens of all time.

A Parker No. 60 “Aztec” from about 1911 appears among the most expensive fountain pens. The company’s home stayed in Janesville, where it opened its Arrow Park headquarters in 1953, according to the Gazette.

How did Parker become a British company?

By the early 1990s Parker’s parent was Parker Pen Holdings Limited, a British company headquartered in Newhaven, England. That is how the US Justice Department described it in March 1993, with the US business run by Parker Pen USA Limited from Janesville.

Newhaven had been a Parker site since 1941, when Parker took over a pen factory there that dated from the 1920s, according to the contractor that later demolished it. Collector histories and Wikipedia say the pen business was sold to a group led by its British managers in 1986. We did not find a primary filing for that sale, so we don’t put it in the timeline.

Why did Gillette buy Parker?

Gillette, which already owned Paper Mate and Waterman, bought Parker to lead the writing-instrument market at every price level. Its 1993 annual report says Parker’s “position in the mid- to high-priced range complements the lower-priced Paper Mate and premium-priced Waterman brands”, and that Parker was strong in Europe outside France, the Middle East and the Far East.

The US Justice Department sued on March 22, 1993 to block the deal, arguing it would reduce competition in premium fountain pens in the United States. It said Gillette had about 21% and Parker about 20% of a US$46 million retail market. Gillette nevertheless completed the purchase on May 7, 1993; we have not read the court’s ruling.

The same Justice Department summary gives Parker’s 1991 sales as about US$308 million worldwide and US$54.5 million in the US. It also notes that Gillette already made Waterman pens in Nantes, France.

Why did Gillette sell Parker to Newell?

Gillette decided on June 30, 2000 to leave the stationery business and sold it to Newell Rubbermaid, which completed the deal on December 29, 2000. Gillette’s 10-K for 2000 records an after-tax loss of US$428 million on the disposal.

Newell’s 10-K lists the business as “Paper Mate/Parker”, which included Waterman. Newell didn’t give a price for this deal alone: it paid US$635.2 million in cash for all of its 2000 acquisitions, including two picture-frame companies. In 2001, its first full year, Paper Mate/Parker added US$498.5 million to Newell’s sales.

The deal is why Parker now sits next to the Paper Mate Flair, Waterman Serenity Blue ink and the Sharpie Fine Point in one company. Later deals added Elmer’s and X-ACTO in 2015, and the Jarden merger renamed the group Newell Brands on April 15, 2016.

When did the Newhaven factory close?

The Newhaven factory closed in 2010, and Parker production moved to Newell’s existing pen plant in the Nantes area. Newell’s 10-K for 2009 still lists Newhaven as an owned writing-instrument plant; the 10-K for 2010 no longer does.

The closure falls inside Project Acceleration, the restructuring Newell announced in 2005 and planned to finish by the end of 2010. By its 2009 10-K, the program had cut Newell’s manufacturing footprint by more than 50%. Newell’s filings don’t list job losses at Newhaven; the figure of 180 jobs that circulates online comes from secondary sources we couldn’t trace to Newell.

Demolition began in June 2014. Lewes District Council’s brownfield entry for the “Former Parker Pen Site, 52 Railway Road” records approval for 145 homes there under application LW/18/0826.

Where is the French Parker factory?

It’s in Saint-Herblain, on the western edge of Nantes, where Newell already made Waterman pens. Several Newell 10-Ks filed between 2001 and 2008 list the plant as “St. Herblain”; others, and every later one, call it Nantes.

Waterman’s French site says its premium pens are still made in France (“fabriqués en France”). Newell’s June 2, 2026 release says its French subsidiaries employ nearly 1,000 people across four regions and that the 40 million euros (about US$45 million) will go to automation, digitization, sustainability and staff training over three years. It doesn’t say how much goes to the pen plant.

What happened to Parker in Janesville?

Janesville lost Parker manufacturing after the Gillette deal and the last Parker operations in 2009. The Janesville Gazette reports that Gillette moved pen manufacturing to the UK, leaving a special-markets division and a repair center in the city.

In 2009, the Gazette says, Newell announced it would close all remaining Parker operations there, moving production to Mexico and administration to Oak Brook, Illinois, and affecting 153 employees. Newell’s 10-K for 2009 lists a leased Janesville writing-instrument site; the 10-K for 2010 does not.

Frequently asked questions

Who owns Parker pens?

Newell Brands, the Atlanta consumer-goods group that also owns Paper Mate, Sharpie, Waterman and Elmer's. Newell bought Parker with Gillette's stationery business on December 29, 2000, when it was still called Newell Rubbermaid.

Where are Parker pens made now?

Mainly in France. Newell's 10-K filings list Nantes as its writing-instrument plant after the English factory in Newhaven closed in 2010, and Newell's June 2026 release says Parker is produced on French soil. Retailers list France as the country of origin for the Parker Jotter.

Is Parker an American or a British company?

It started in Janesville, Wisconsin, in 1888, but by 1993 the parent was Parker Pen Holdings Limited, a British company headquartered in Newhaven, England, according to the US Justice Department. Since 2000 it has belonged to the American group Newell Brands.

When did Gillette buy Parker, and for how much?

On May 7, 1993. Gillette's 1993 annual report puts the purchase price and other acquisition costs at US$458 million, and Parker's results were included from June 1, 1993.

Why did Parker close its Newhaven factory?

Newell's filings don't give a reason for that plant, but it closed in 2010, the last year of Project Acceleration, the restructuring Newell began in 2005 that cut its manufacturing footprint by more than half. Production went to Newell's existing pen plant near Nantes, France.

Are Parker pens still made in Janesville?

No. The Janesville Gazette reports that Gillette moved pen manufacturing to the UK after 1993 and that Newell announced the end of all Parker operations in Janesville in 2009. Janesville is missing from Newell's plant list from the 2010 10-K on.

Are Parker and Waterman made in the same factory?

They're made at the same Newell site in the Nantes area. Gillette already made Waterman pens in Nantes in 1993, according to the US Justice Department, and Parker production moved there after 2010.

Is the Parker Pen Company still a separate company?

Not as an independent business. Parker is a brand in Newell's Learning and Development segment, and Newell's 2025 10-K lists it among the segment's writing brands alongside Paper Mate and Sharpie.

Sources (17)

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