Interesting history of the ballpoint pen, and the decline of handwriting

[magpens]

This article came across my screen today.

I found it interesting, if for no other reason than I learned the origins of the names "Biro" and "Bic".

Others might find this article interesting as well.

How the Ballpoint Pen Killed Cursive

Thicker ink meant it didn't smudge as easily as its predecessor, the fountain pen—but it also made writing by hand more physically demanding.

getpocket.com

 

[Jehster1]

Interesting read. I realized I don't think I've ever written with a fountain pen (45 years old). Now I kind of want to make myself one...

 

[stuckinohio]

Thanks for that link Mal. Very interesting!

 

[aldjmc]

Excellent read! As a school administrator, I often get parents and teachers complaining about student's limited penmanship skills and blaming computers. Next time someone brings up handwriting, I'm going to ask if they think we should teach the Palmer Method or should we go Spencerian? Then when the finger starts getting pointed at the prevalence of computers in schools, I'm going to pull this article from my desk and squarely put the blame on the ballpoint, and then start signing papers with a fountain pen!

 

[Bryguy]

Mal, Nice article.
I grew up and went to school in England in the late 50's early sixties. We were not allowed to use ball points for school work because of their impact on our handwriting. My love affair with fountain pens started then and I've been collecting them ever since. Importantly research shows that notes taken in cursive are more likely to be remembered than notes which are printed or typed on a computer. For me that is reason enough for kids to be taught cursive in school and to make it a requirement for some assignments.
Anyway, what is more beautiful than a fountain pen?

 

[Jim_V]

Fountain or Ballpoint, cursive or block makes little difference to a lefty. I was taught cursive in school at the tender age of 7 and used a wooden stick with a changeable nib at first and then a 10 cent plastic stick with the more traditional permanent nib. The point (no pun) is, if you don't either curl your hand over the top or under the line you leave skid marks all over the page.

 

[montmill]

Oh how I struggled through the Zaner-Bloser method in teacher's college. One good thing about the stay at home situation we're sure writing more letters. I think I'll make my wife a fountain pen.

 

[TellicoTurning]

I learned cursive in about the 3rd grad, late 40's... then in high school in late 50's we were required to do all English papers in pen, no ball points... they were just coming in vogue the last couple of years of high school, but a paper done in one was graded off a few points... I never really developed much in the way of penmanship... I usually tell people, after the ink dries, even I can't read it. After I learned to type, my junior & senior year of HS, I pretty much prefer a keyboard... I learned to take dictation on a typewriter during my time in the Navy as a radio operator.

My concern about the lack of cursive to students now is, how do they sign their names without cursive? 'course I can sign my name 3 times on the same form and I'll have three different looking signatures.... not like my old boss in Houston... I've seen him sign 180 payroll checks and you could lay one signature over the other and they would all be the same.

 

[walshjp17]

My desks in grade school had holes in the top left corner for inkwells. All we had to write with were pencils and fountain pens. The Palmer Method of penmanship was one of the topics in English classes that I never really mastered (I hated drawing all those circles and telephone poles). I still "write" (cursive in today's tongue) but often revert to "printing" when clarity is necessary. I also have adopted a hybrid print/write (cursive) style when I am really in a hurry. One of my EDCs is an Emperor fountain pen which always gets a comment or two whenever I use it to sign a check or restaurant receipt.

 

[monophoto]

I know that I must have been taught cursive in elementary school, but frankly, I just don't recall - that was a really long time ago! Like John, I recall that our desks had holes for inkwells, and were stained with fountain pen ink. But I do recall using fountain pens, and even seeing Shaeffer fountain pen commercials on TV (specifically, on the Ed Sullivan Show) - the 'snorkle' was a real innovation at the time, but it has all but passed into obscurity now.

I have a Parker 45 pen that I was given as a graduation gift - I think it was when I graduated from High School, and the timing makes sense - the 45 was based on a design that Parker acquired when it bought Eversharp in 1957, and had its commercial introduction in 1960 - three years before I finished high school. I still have that pen, and it occasionally gets into my EDC rota.

In college, I used a Rapidograph technical fountain pen loaded with India ink to take notes. Writing with a Rapidograph is a different experience - it's very smooth like a conventional fountain pen, but the pen must be almost vertical, and while cursive is possible, it is better suited for lettering. I can still read those notes - in part because the process forced me to be more careful in forming letters, and in part because the India ink is so black and permanent. But I also recall that pen maintenance with a Rapidograph was really time consuming! The nib on a Rapidograph is a hollow tube, with a weighted wire inside to prevent ink from coagulating inside the tube. So about once a week, I had to disassemble my pen and flush out the ink to keep it flowing through that tube.

For the first half of my professional career, I used whatever pens my employer stocked in the stationery room. But I always favored fountain pens, and in 1988, I treated myself to a new fountain pen - the standard Cross of the day in a matte gray finish. I still have that pen although I don't use it a lot. But that was a watershed point - since then, I have only used fountain pens.

My handwriting ranges from fair to truly awful, depending mainly on whether I take the time to write carefully, and in this respect, I think I am fairly typical. I know a few people who were taught truly elegant cursive writing and who have retained that practice as they have gotten older. While I can't be sure what the difference was, my sense is that most of them are products of Catholic parochial elementary schools.

 

[Woodfreak]

Mal, Nice article.
I grew up and went to school in England in the late 50's early sixties. We were not allowed to use ball points for school work because of their impact on our handwriting. My love affair with fountain pens started then and I've been collecting them ever since. Importantly research shows that notes taken in cursive are more likely to be remembered than notes which are printed or typed on a computer. For me that is reason enough for kids to be taught cursive in school and to make it a requirement for some assignments.
Anyway, what is more beautiful than a fountain pen?

Hi There. I am born and live in the UK. Spent a year in Dallas/Fw TX , twenty years ago. Same as you Bryguy, was educated in the mid fifties till 1965. We never used ballpoints ever, or come to that allowed to. In the infants, (I know you guys in the states cannot relate to that, it being our first school) We used pencil for two years, then in the next grade Primary, we had to use wooden styled dip in ink well type. They had interchangeable nibs. Atrocious things to use. Then at secondary school, we were allowed to use our own fountain pens. Usually the bladder fill type. Although my writing technique is atrocious, and my script in not ledgable, I adore using a real fountain pen. I have done many craft fairs, here in the UK and people love the fountain. I have sold many more of those, than any rollerball or ballpoint pen.