The P-51 of Pens

The Parker Pen Company was an American-British manufacturer of luxury pens, founded in 1888 by George Safford Parker in Janesville, Wisconsin. Parker received a patent on his "Lucky Curve" fountain pen feed in 1894. The company's first successful pen was the 1899 Parker Jointless. The Lucky Curve feed was used in various forms until 1928. Like other products of the World War II generation, the Parker "51" was associated with the North American Mustang P-51. The company's headquarters moved to England in 1986. As of 2011, headquarters were again moved to France. Check out Parker's brief history here.

Drought, Heat and Wind Create Dust

 

On this day in 1936, Wisconsin Dells, Wisconsin set a state record high temperature of 114°F. Across Lake Michigan in Mio, Michigan, they also set a state record of 112°F. The record temperatures occurred during the "Dust Bowl" drought which came in three waves, 1934, 1936, and 1939-40, bringing some of the hottest summers on record to the US, especially across the Upper Midwest and the Great Lake States. The periodic severe dust storms in the Plains greatly damaged the ecology and agriculture due to poor farming management techniques, plowing every acre available. Without the vegetation and soil moisture, the region acted as a furnace taking on desert-like qualities and provided the most dramatic photography to chronicle the period. Congress occasionally has its relevance. They passed Public Law 74-46 in 1935, recognizing that “the wastage of soil and moisture resources on farm, grazing, and forest lands…is a menace to the national welfare.” This law established the Soil Conservation Service, now USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service.