A belated Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukah, and/or Happy Holidays to all of you!
As I reflect upon this past first year for my Parker 75 website, I admit I am somewhat overwhelmed by the number of people interested in this family of writing instrument. Without any advertising, there have been many who visit this humble website. Thanks to all of you who wrote to me; I am so gratified that you find this information useful.
I am happy to announce that changes are coming, in the hopes that this website will be even more useful to you. No, not in the form of ads; this is still a hobby for me and not a commercial endeavor. What I am planning to do is to expand this website over the coming months to include some new areas of interest, implementing some of the suggestions that a number of visitors have sent to me. These include a buy, sell, trade section and a recent finds area highlighting some significant finds a number of you had. The existing website will be placed under a section called the Parker 75 reference.
So, while this expansion is under way, please excuse the 'electronic debris' that might be laying around. You will no doubt find areas that will still be empty, filled only with an 'Under Construction' marker.
OK, so what's new for this past month? I am happy to say that this has been one chock full of Parker 75 prototypes! Santa, played by previous contributors Lynn Sorgatz and Howard Edelstein, came by twice and brought lots of goodies in his bag so that I can share with you. Notable among them, was a conceptual 75 FP that was designed to be retractable! It never got beyond the concept stage and remains in an unfinished form. You can see it here for its first public unveiling!
I am also happy to add a new contributor, one Glen Christensen. Glen was kind enough to provide me with Parker dealer materials on the Bicentennial 75. With this material, I think this section is about as complete as it will get.
My sincere thanks go these contributors. They really helped me close out this last year of the 20th century and 2nd millennium with a bang!
One more thing to note. I have begun to add a button to hide/show the table of contents pane on the left hand side. In this way you can more easily view the pictures found on this website without the need to scroll to the left. Thanks to all who suggested this to me!
As always, I welcome your feedback/criticisms on this site. I am always interested in hearing from you, especially if you have some 75 that you don't see here. Even better if you want to sell it to me. Or if you are looking for a particular 75 or have need of parts, drop me a note. I might just have it. Send me email at the LTW@Parker75.com address.
Thanks for visiting!
Best wishes for a Happy & Healthy New Year! May it be filled much happiness and good health in abundance to last the new millennium!
Updated information about the Bicentennial LE from Parker dealer materials.
Added a new section for Parker 75 ephemera.
With all these prototypes being added, this section has been elevated to that of a book/folder of its own in the table of contents pane on the left.
Found two prototype Keepsakes and compared the differences with the production version.
Concept model retractable 75 FP.
Two titanium 75 prototypes.
Three Flighter prototypes, one with goldplated trim fitted with flat tassies and the other with chromeplated trim fitted with two different tassie styles.
Two different black prototype caps, anodized aluminum and plastic.
Brush stainless steel barrel prototype with a finish similar to the Ms. Pucci edition of the Parker 180.
Smoke gray stainless steel prototype with different matte gray finish on part of the barrel.
Textured gray stainless steel prototype.
Matte gray powder-coated stainless steel or aluminum fountain pens with two different patterns -- one in crosshatch grid and the other completely smooth.
Pencil cartridge refill that will fit the BP.