You certainly have to love the 1970s. While BIC recently tried (and failed) with a "pen for women," Parker was smart enough to run with the Call Me Ms. movement that was just coming into play as women decided that their titles shouldn't indicate their marital status.
A friend gave me this piece of history. The Ms. Parker was styled by Italian designer Emilio Pucci, and featured a gold band that's ribbed on this model (you could get a plain one, too). It would originally have come with a thin leather holder that fit in the large blank space in the box behind the pen. The model was discontinued in 1981.
It used a "floating ball" liquid ink system, but I'm not having much luck finding a replacement, and this pen may have to stay in the collection as a curio, rather than a writer. It's a problem with a few old pens -- I have an ancient Esterbrook pen that will probably never write again, since its refills are long defunct.
It's also one reason why I won't buy the Parker 5th. It's mostly because I prefer a fountain pen, not a fineliner masquerading as one. But beyond that, I'm leery of pens that take refills specific to them. If the pen goes off the market, eventually the refills will, too. And what's a pen for, if not for writing?
