Quink
Encyclopedia
Ink
Ink is a liquid or paste that contains pigments and/or dyes and is used to color a surface to produce an image, text, or design. Ink is used for drawing and/or writing with a pen, brush, or quill...
developed by The Parker Pen Company and Francisco Quisumbing
Francisco Quisumbing
Francisco Quisumbing is a Filipino chemist that invented the Quink ink used by The Parker Pen Company. He was graduated from the University of Chicago under the American pensionado program. After World War II, he did not manage to organize the Philippine Ink Corporation under the Japanese...
, a Filipino
Filipino people
The Filipino people or Filipinos are an Austronesian ethnic group native to the islands of the Philippines. There are about 92 million Filipinos in the Philippines, and about 11 million living outside the Philippines ....
chemist.
In 1928, under the direction of Kenneth Parker, the Parker company invested three years and $68,000 into the development of an ink that would eliminate the need for blotting. When used with the Parker 51 pen, this ink was to become a completely new "writing system". Research for the project was headed by the chemist Graham Sayler and took place in a small laboratory at the company's headquarters in Janesville, Wisconsin
Janesville, Wisconsin
Janesville is a city in southern Wisconsin, United States. It is the county seat of Rock County and the principal municipality of the Janesville, Wisconsin Metropolitan Statistical Area. As of the 2010 census, the city had a population of 62,998.-History:...
. The major discovery in the project's development was an ink that dried by absorption, as opposed to evaporation.
History
Quink was first marketed in 1931. The resulting product was strongly alkaline and contained isopropyl alcoholIsopropyl alcohol
Isopropyl alcohol is a common name for a chemical compound with the molecular formula C3H8O. It is a colorless, flammable chemical compound with a strong odor...
, a solvent not previously used in inks. At that time, most pen barrels and caps were manufactured using pyralin, which was often damaged by the alcohol contained in Quink. This problem is what eventually led to the development of the world's most successful fountain pen
Fountain pen
A fountain pen is a nib pen that, unlike its predecessor the dip pen, contains an internal reservoir of water-based liquid ink. The pen draws ink from the reservoir through a feed to the nib and deposits it on paper via a combination of gravity and capillary action...
, the Parker 51
Parker 51
The Parker 51, introduced in 1941, is a famous fountain pen. Parker’s period advertising called it “The World’s Most Wanted Pen,” and this assertion was true although a little deceptive; the U.S.A. entered World War II in December 1941, and the War Production Board placed severe restrictions on...
: a common misconception about Quink is that it was intended to be the ideal ink for the Parker 51, which generated over 400 million dollars in sales during its thirty year history. It was in fact the Parker 51 pen that was developed as the only pen of the time capable of using Quink effectively. However, the Parker 51 was only made available ten years after Quink, in 1941.
The success of Quink lay in the fact that it had a number of useful features:
- it resisted water,
- it did not clog,
- it had the desired quality of ink flow,
- it resisted moulding,
- it was non-corrosive,
- it did not leave deposits,
- it did not fade,
- and, most importantly, it was quick-drying.
It was manufactured in four colors: India Black, Pan American Green, China Red, and the famous Tunis Blue. It was sold in bottles made by the Armstrong Cork Company
Armstrong World Industries
Armstrong World Industries, Inc. is an international designer and manufacturer of floors, ceilings and cabinets. Based in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, Armstrong operates 40 plants in 10 countries and has approximately 12,300 employees worldwide. In 2006, Armstrong’s net sales were $3.42 billion, with...
, Lancaster, PA.
The bottles were designed with a low centre of gravity in order to prevent tipping. The ink was to have several improvements over the years; an even quicker-drying product was brought out in 1939 called "Double Quink". It included a further refinement in the addition of the chemical SOLV-X which dissolved sediment and cleaned the pen when writing.
In 1941, when the Parker 51 was launched, Double Quink was renamed and repackaged as "Parker 51 ink" as a marketing initiative. Parker's ink sales became the key to maintaining the company's profitability. (This is still true today for modern day computer printer companies, whose survival often depend on the sales of ink cartridges.)
Further enhancements were made to Parker inks with its revolutionary "Super Chrome" ink. This ink was marketed in 1947 after a research period that cost over $200,000 and lasted 17 years. It claimed to be the "first basic ink improvement in over 250 years." It offered almost instant drying, greater brilliance and a wider selection of colors.
Note, however, that regular Quink is not waterproof, unlike India ink
India ink
India ink is a simple black ink once widely used for writing and printing and now more commonly used for drawing, especially when inking comic books and comic strips.-Composition:...
. If paper that has been written on is wet, black ink will run and separate into blue and yellow components.
Quink is still the world's biggest selling pen ink in this millennium. According to fountain pen enthusiasts, Parker Quink is generally considered to be so-called "safe fountain pen ink". This means it should not stain or clog fountain pens very easily. However, the use of fountain pens gradually fell out of favor over the second half of the 20th century. In fact, the manufacture of the Parker 51 ink was phased out in the UK in 1972 and the US in 1978. But the legend of the Parker 51 still lives on, with a large worldwide network of collectors and enthusiasts who still use these vintage pens today. In fact, in 2002 Parker introduced a limited edition of Parker 51 revival pens. As part of the revival, Parker emphasised the value of using their own quick-drying ink as the perfect partner for the Parker 51, a classic of engineering and design.
Sources
- Martín-Gil J, Ramos-Sánchez MC, Martín-Gil FJ and José-Yacamán M. Chemical composition of a fountain pen ink. Journal of Chemical Education, 2006, 83, 1476-78
See also
- Fountain penFountain penA fountain pen is a nib pen that, unlike its predecessor the dip pen, contains an internal reservoir of water-based liquid ink. The pen draws ink from the reservoir through a feed to the nib and deposits it on paper via a combination of gravity and capillary action...
- Fountain pen inks
- InkInkInk is a liquid or paste that contains pigments and/or dyes and is used to color a surface to produce an image, text, or design. Ink is used for drawing and/or writing with a pen, brush, or quill...
- Parker 51Parker 51The Parker 51, introduced in 1941, is a famous fountain pen. Parker’s period advertising called it “The World’s Most Wanted Pen,” and this assertion was true although a little deceptive; the U.S.A. entered World War II in December 1941, and the War Production Board placed severe restrictions on...
- The Parker Pen Company