Web Page No 2526

11^th November 2018

1^st Picture. Bottle of Quink

2nd Picture. Parker 51

3^rd Picture. Osmiroid Pen

4^th Picture. Watermans Ink

Quink

We all must have used gallons of Quink Ink in our school days and thought nothing of it, so here is a little of the history of Quink.

Quink is what is termed as a portmanteau word coming from 'quick' and 'ink' and was and still is a fountain pen ink developed by the Parker Pen Company. It was introduced in 1931 and has remained in production ever since.

In 1928, under the direction of Kenneth Parker, the Parker Pen Company set out to develop a new and improved fountain pen ink. Inferior inks had long been the main cause of clogged fountain pens, yet popular ink formulations had remained unchanged in decades. Research for the project was initially outsourced to Miner Laboratories of Chicago. In August 1930 one of the lead chemists, Galen Sayler, was hired directly and put to work in a small laboratory at company headquarters in Janesville, Wisconsin. It was here that he developed the formula for a non-clogging ink. Once developed Quink was heavily advertised, and was an immediate success. According to Kenneth Parker's personal journal, Quink production began on March 17^th  1931, and $89,000 worth had been shipped by October 22^nd, more than twice the company's expectations and an excellent return on the $68,000 spent on its development. Quink was introduced as a general-purpose ink, safe for use in all fountain pens. It remains in production to the present day and with only minor changes in formulation.

The success of Quink lay in its useful features: it had the desired quality of ink flow, it resisted water and moulding, it was non-corrosive, and it was claimed to be quick-drying. From the beginning it was advertised as containing a secret additive which purportedly dissolved sediment and reduced clogging. In 1942 this additive was given the trademarked name of "Solv-X".

Quink was developed and introduced when the Duofold Pen was Parker's flagship line, but the Duofold's successor, the Vacumatic  was already under development and was in full production by 1933. Vacumatics held their ink supply directly within their celluloid barrels, so Quink was formulated accordingly.

Quink is not to be confused with two special inks formulated exclusively for use in the Parker 51. This ink was highly alkaline and while water-based, also included a substantial amount of alcohol in its make up. It was released in 1941 as "51" ink, along with the Parker 51 pen; in 1947 it was made somewhat less corrosive, and renamed "Superchrome". Parker was careful to print prominent warnings on caps, labels, and boxes that the ink could only be used in the 51 (and, later, its economy version, the 21), and would damage any other pen.

Prior to the full public introduction of the Parker 51 in 1941, selected market testing of the new pen was carried out, starting in 1939. Since the 51 and its special ink had been designed together as a complete system, the new ink was given limited release in tandem with the market tests under the name "Double Quink". By all evidence, Double Quink was not advertised to the general public, and the name was dropped once the 51 went on general sale. Actual surviving examples of Double Quink bottles would appear to be vanishingly rare: not a single photo appears in the Shepherds' officially-sponsored Parker 51 monograph, despite the researchers' access to Parker's own archives as well as collections worldwide.

For most of us, when we were at school, we were normally forced to use Osmiroid Pens, which were made in Gosport, unless we were lucky enough to be given a Parker pen as a gift.  

Mind you Quink was not the only ink we used there was also Stephens and the unique coloured Watermans.

You Write:

Aaah!  Bonfire night memories.  I use to save up my megre pocket money allowance to buy fireworks from Taylor's corner shop some 3 weeks before the excitement of the big night.  I would normally have at least 30 1d "Mighty Atoms" put aside after the home garden display and saved for the trip to Flint House grounds where a huge bonfire would have been built over the past two weeks. Anyone remember eating the baked potatoes cooked in the hot ashes of the fire?  I have to admit it would be the only night that I would venture into Flint House grounds after dark with company as I truly believed it was haunted.

                        Penny banger's in those days were quite powerful for their size and I know for a fact that 3 "Mighty Atoms" tied together could easily split a brown ceramic drain pipe as I found out on November 5th 1959  and I still have a guilt trip about doing that even after all these years. So I would like to apologise to the Co-op Bakery for what I did. But hang on, the Co-op Bakery is no longer there, it has been demolished so forget all what I have just written by way of a confession.

Melvyn "Griff" Griffiths.  (  Young Vandal )

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On this day 11th November 1960-1965

On 11/11/1960 the number one single was Tell Laura I Love Her - Ricky Valance and the number one album was South Pacific Soundtrack. The top rated TV show was No Hiding Place (AR) and the box office smash was Psycho. A pound of today's money was worth £13.68 and Tottenham Hotspur were on the way to becoming the Season's Division 1 champions. The big news story of the day was US places embargo on goods to Cuba.

On 11/11/1961 the number one single was Walkin' Back to Happiness - Helen Shapiro and the number one album was The Shadows - Shadows. The top rated TV show was Sunday Night at the London Palladium (ATV) and the box office smash was One Hundred and One Dalmations. A pound of today's money was worth £13.25 and Ipswich Town were on the way to becoming the Season's Division 1 champions.

On 11/11/1962 the number one single was Telstar - The Tornadoes and the number one album was Best of Ball Barber & Bilk. The top rated TV show was Coronation Street (Granada) and the box office smash was Lawrence of Arabia. A pound of today's money was worth £12.89 and Everton were on the way to becoming the Season's Division 1 champions.

On 11/11/1963 the number one single was Do You Love Me? - Brian Poole & the Tremoloes and the number one album was Please Please Me - The Beatles. The top rated TV show was Coronation Street (Granada) and the box office smash was The Great Escape. A pound of today's money was worth £12.64 and Liverpool were on the way to becoming the Season's Division 1 champions.

On 11/11/1964 the number one single was Oh Pretty Woman - Roy Orbison and the number one album was A Hard Day's Night - Beatles. The top rated TV show was Coronation Street (Granada) and the box office smash was Dr Strangelove. A pound of today's money was worth £12.24 and Manchester United were on the way to becoming the Season's Division 1 champions.

On 11/11/1965 the number one single was Tears - Ken Dodd and the number one album was The Sound of Music Soundtrack. The top rated TV show was Coronation Street (Granada) and the box office smash was The Sound of Music. A pound of today's money was worth £11.69 and Liverpool were on the way to becoming the Season's Division 1 champions.