Pen Model: Parker Victory

The earliest years of Parker’s history in England are complex and murky, but it is known definitively that their operation in Newhaven began in 1941 in the Valentine Company’s pen production facility, and which Parker then took over after WWII for its English production. The Victory was the first all-English Parker, and it shared characteristics with Valentines and Parker Duofolds. In fact, most Victories look like Duofolds at first glance, with its black crown and blind cap, the celluloid patterns, and the fact that is was a button-filler. However, Victories have the best of both worlds: Duofold styling but a soft English nib. Victories were produced from 1941 through the early 1960s in five distinct forms, the MKI (1941-6) with the most Duofold-like appearance, the more slender MKII (1946-7) with matching crown and blind cap, MKIII (1947-48) with a longer blind cap, the yet more slender MKIV (1948-52) with a new Challenger-like clip, and finally the aerometric MKV (1952-mid ’60s), more slender yet and with cheaper components.