Stacy Conradt
History of the World: The Demise of Fountain Pens
by Stacy Conradt - October 15, 2008 - 9:30 AM

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biro I dunno, I kind of think it would be cool if we all still wrote with big fountain pens. Perhaps I’ve seen Harry Potter one too many times. At any rate, Lazlo Biro definitely disagreed with me. He and his brother Georg invented a pen that had a tip with a freely revolving ball and ink in a cartridge. They patented the idea in 1938, and in 1940, the brothers fled Europe to Argentina and opened a ballpoint pen factory. When a man vacationing there saw the pen, he decided to bring it back to the U.S… even though he didn’t have the brothers’ permission. The pen went on sale at Gimbels department store in New York. You could have owned one (ONE) for the low, low price of $12.50. Sounds a little pricey, but some people were impressed – Gimbels sold 10,000 in one day.
Of course, there was still room for improvement – in 1949, a couple of guys invented a pent with no-smear ink and a retractable tip. THey called it the Papermate. Then, in 1952, Marcel Bich came up with a smooth-writing pen in a plastic barrel and named it after himself, although he dropped the “H” and called it the Bic.
But, in lots of countries, ballpoint pens are still called biros, and in Argentina, Lazlo’s September 29 birthday is celebrated as Inventors’ Day.

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Comments (6)

  1. These articles are great! I can’t wait to get my copy for Christmas, please no one ruin the end for me!

    posted by Witty Nickname on 10-15-2008 at 9:42 am

  2. In defense of fountain pens, I was always fascinated by them, but never tried buying one more expensive than the cheapo ones which were fairly leaky, either too fat of a nip or so small it was scratchy, and were just generally frustrating.

    One day at a Levenger store there was a sale on their medium priced nice pens. I can’t remember the model, but I got a fairly heavy metallic blue, solid metal body pen with a nice medium nip (after trying several in the store) and some good ink. It was normally about $50 or $60 dollars, but I got it on sale for $30 (I think). It is now easily my favorite pen and I can see what the big deal is for high-quality, expensive fountain pens – even if this one isn’t top of the line, it writes smoother and more comfortably than any disposable pen or cheap fountain pen I’ve used.

    posted by Chris Palmer on 10-15-2008 at 10:25 am

  3. I’ve been using one for about the last 15 years. I love the feel and it never gets stolen. One reason is that most people have no idea how to use it. The other is that i always keep the cap with me, anyone that takes it and puts it in their pocket gets what they deserve!

    posted by Mike on 10-15-2008 at 11:07 am

  4. I’m a fountain pen fan, too – I have a (fairly cheap-o) Parker that’s my absolute favorite. There’s just something about writing with it… I can’t quite put my finger on it, but it’s almost as though I’m more ‘deliberative’ when I’m using it.

    posted by Roger on 10-15-2008 at 11:36 am

  5. It’s too bad Marcel Bich dropped the “H” from his name to name the pens.
    It would be kind of funny to ask for a Bich to write with.

    posted by Sheldon Siegel on 10-15-2008 at 12:33 pm

  6. Fountain pens are the bane of left-handed writers.
    I tried writing with one. Once. My hand smeared the ink on the page, turning it into a Rorshach test. And that’s not mentioning the ink stain that took days to get off my hand.

    posted by 8rustystaples on 10-15-2008 at 1:16 pm

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