Evolution Of Fountain Pens

Do you miss writing letters? When you watch a TV show and see characters writing notes to each other, do you feel nostalgic? If you do, a fountain pen might be the best for you. Fountain pens or ink pens get their name due to their never-ending ink supply – like a fountain.

Fountain pens gained popularity between the 1890s – 1950s, making an on-and-off comeback. The fountain pen was a result of frustration, creativity, and need. Though M. Bion created the original fountain pen, Lewis Waterman and William Purvis, among others, improvised u it and made it what it is today.

Today, the fountain pen is a sign of luxury and nostalgia, with collectors worldwide looking for their next find.

The World Before Fountain Pens

People used dip pens and quills before the invention of fountain pens. They started as a sharp stick or feather (Quills) and later became artificial metal points. When people talk about dip pens, they often refer to the metal point attached to a holder.

The issue with these pens was that you spent more time dipping and re-dipping than writing. They dipped the pen into the ink and could only write a few words before having to re-dip. You also need to carry your ink bottle no matter where you go and therefore aren’t portable. They are also very messy.

Before the invention of fountain pens, people used dip pens, that is, until someone got tired and created something better.

The First Fountain Pens

Using writing instruments with portable ink supply existed for over one hundred years before Waterman decided to improve it. The earliest people to invent fountain pens discovered that the hollow channel of a bird’s feather had a natural ink reserve. They tried recreating this when they built a pen, hoping it would hold more ink and not require constant re-dipping.

However, feathers and pens are different. Filling a long, thin rubber reservoir with ink and adding a metal ‘nib’ at the bottom did not create a smooth writing instrument. M. Bion, a Frenchman, designed the oldest known fountain pen in 1702.

Peregrine Williamson, a Baltimore shoemaker, was the first to receive an American patent for such a pen in 1809. John Sheaffer followed him by receiving a British patent in 1819 for attempting to mass manufacture a half-quill-half-metal pen. In 1831, John Jacob Parker patented the first self-filling fountain pen. These also faced ink spills like Waterman and had impracticalities, making them hard to sell.

People in the early 19th century used an eyedropper to fill the reservoir. By 1915, most pens had self-filling soft and flexible rubber sacs. When refilling these pens, an internal plate squeezed the reservoirs flat. All you had to do was insert the pen nib into the ink bottle and squeeze. This released the pressure on the internal plate to fill up the ink sac, drawing in a fresh supply of ink.

The Golden Age Of Fountain Pens

The Golden Age of the fountain pen was between the late 1890s to the 1950s. The advancement in technology in this era led to an increase in high-quality fountain pen production and sales. Most of the current fountain pen technology is from this era.

The two world wars that happened during this time motivated pen manufacturers to be resourceful and creative with their materials and designs. The manufacturers switched from expensive to readily available plastic materials. Despite continued evolution, this pen has stood the test of time better than its predecessors. You can still find fountain pens over 80 years old working as well as the manufacturing day.

For most people who collect vintage pens, this period makes up most of their collection. They are not just in excellent condition, but there are so many of them. There are also several exceedingly rare pens available and can be bought for reasonable prices.

Famous manufacturers from this time include Eversharp, Esterbrook, Parker, Shaeffer, and Waterman.

Modern Fountain Pens

Modern fountain pens do not differ much from those in the Golden Era. After the 1950s, fountain pens decreased in quality. Ballpoint pens gained popularity, and pen manufacturers started making them instead.

While there are still fantastic pens from the 1960s, these fountain pens are for school kids who could not afford a ballpoint and are not high quality. The 1990s saw a fountain pen comeback. Pen manufacturers started mass manufacturing high-quality pens again and targeted limited-edition pens towards collectors.

Fountain pens are now a sign of luxury. While one can spend over a thousand dollars on a quality pen, you can also get a pen for less than $20. While this might seem reasonable, remember that you can get hundreds of ballpoint pens for the same price.

How Do Fountain Pens Differ from Other Pens?

Buying a pen these days is difficult with the diverse options to pick from. However, before you buy a fountain pen, know the difference between the different pen types:

• A Ballpoint Pen: Ball pens don’t use liquid ink. They instead use a paste made of ink and oil. The pen tip rotates as it moves on paper. When you press the nib on the surface, the ball turns after picking up some ink paste. As the ball rotates on the paper, ink flows and creates lines and letters.
• A Rollerball Pen: Rollerball pens are ballpoint pens with liquid ink.
• A Gel Pen: Gel pens work similarly to rollerball pens with different ink. They use pigmented liquid ink for colors, making it easy to have various vivid colors.
• A Felt-tip Pen: Felt pens do not use liquid ink. They instead use fiber masses (synthetic) that make the pen’s tip on one end and are filled with dyes and solvents inside. When you write with the pen, the dye flows to the tip and onto the paper, letting the solvent evaporate and leave a highlight.