Take an extra dose….

I wrote some time ago about Jack, and his quirky habit of writing to the presidents of companies whose products he had bought. They—or their secretaries—always responded, and a whimsical, perhaps gently satirical correspondence evolved. Seems like a different time—quieter, gentler. And I remembered Westinghouse, and its funny little trademark. Where’d Westinghouse go off to, I mused.

Well, today I wondered about Parker Pen. What’s up with those guys?

Oh, but first—you have taken your anti-depressants today, haven’t you?

Parker Pen was founded in Paul Ryan’s hometown—Janesville, Wisconsin. I knew that, of course, because Jack would on occasion refer to “old man Parker.” He started the whole company in 1888. Knew everybody in town, everybody knew him.

And Janesville, thought Jack, was a nice little town. Good people. Nice place to live. Not like Rockford—a hardscrabble city.

And old man Parker did OK for himself. Got a patent in 1894 for something called the “Lucky Curve” pen, and then, in 1931, developed the “quink.” That would be “quick drying ink”—and it eliminated the need for blotting.

Turned out to be a hit. The Parker pen was number one or two in the world for forty years between 1920 and the sixties. They got around—the company had manufacturing units in Canada, France, Germany, Denmark, Mexico and the UK.

Oh, and the armistice that ended World War II?

Signed with a Parker pen!

Things got a little screwy in the seventies, when the company bought, and then sold, Manpower, the temp agency. Also, strangely, an automotive sensor company. (Don’t know what that’s about).

But not as screwy as in 1987, when there was a management buyout, and the company moved to Newhaven, England. Then, in 1991, Gillette bought the company. They manufacture, you may recall, PaperMate.

And then, in the summer of 2009, the company announced two things. Production in Newhaven was moving to France. 180 jobs lost. 

And operations ceased in Janesville, Wisconsin. Here’s what the company said:

This decision is a response to structural issues accelerated by market trends and is in no way a reflection on the highly valued work performed by our Janesville employees over the years.

Gee—why does this sound familiar?

“Not one job will be lost,” they announced at Wal-Mart, in a special meeting called to boost morale and quell rumors.

Well, it was true. The day I was terminated, I was told that the position I held had been eliminated. But there were other positions available! I was given a list!

Cake decorator in the Ponce store?

Night shift receiving in Carolina?

I stopped reading after that.

You know, old man Parker probably made a bundle. He also had to walk down the streets of Janesville, Wisconsin. People looked him in the eye, greeted him. His kids went to the same school as the kids of the guys working in the factory.

Was he a good guy, a nice guy?

Jack never said.

They both operated under one principle:

You don’t do that to good people.

Sorry, that’s the “highly valued workers of our Janesville operation over the years.”