The Pen is Mightier Than the Sword.........written by Vic Davey

Some time ago I decried the poor state of my handwriting since pretty much everything I write these days is tapped out on a keyboard. I also mentioned the embarrassment of finding myself standing in the middle of Mercadona, scrap of paper in hand, trying to decipher my hastily scribbled shopping list. 

I am sure it isn´t really my handwriting at fault, it is the cheapo ball-point pen I use. (At least, that´s my excuse). When I was contemplating this, my thoughts drifted back to my childhood and the horrible pens we were expected to use at school. It was like something out of Dickens. 

A hard wooden desk, the lid of which was scored and scarred by countless numbers of children who had left their mark on it. At the top was a groove for the pen and next to it, inset in the wood, was a small glass phial, containing this dark blue, gelatinous liquid which passed for ink. 

The pen itself was wood too, as far as I can recall, a thin tapered shaft at the head of which was a metal nib which was dipped into the gel and wiped on the side of the inkwell. I swear, it was impossible to put pen to paper without ink splodges on the page. How overjoyed I was when I was bought a Fountain Pen and a bottle or proper ink, Quink it was called…..anyone remember? I even recall having a scented one at one time.  

        

Mind you, that didn´t prevent blotches entirely, but the ease of use was a revelation. The pen was filled with ink by means of a small lever on the side which, when you dipped the nib in the ink, pulled the lever which depressed a little rubber tube inside the body and when you released the lever, sucked in the ink. What a clever invention!   

Apparently, the Egyptians used a pen-like implement made from reeds as far back as 300 BC. I guess everyone remembers seeing old movies of people using quill pens made from sharpened bird feathers, which had been in use for hundreds of years until the introduction of metal pens and nibs. A pen made from bronze was found in the ruins of Pompeii which gives you some idea of how long writing implements have been in use.

It wasn´t until the 1820s when a Steel pen point was made to dip in ink and then replaced in the 1880s with the now familiar fountain pen. Surprisingly, at least to me, the first ball-point pens appeared in 1895. I thought it was much later and, in fact, the first really successful model was patented in 1938 by Lazlo Biro who was a Hungarian-Argentine inventor. 

Interestingly, in 1945 a Marcel Bich bought the patent from Lazlo and so the BIC pen was born and the brand has gone on to sell more than 100 Billion world-wide. It is the World´s top selling pen, around 60 sold every second…….. 

Normal, everyday use Parker Fountain Pens were relatively cheap in my day, the actual body was made from plastic and the nib was steel and could be replaced if damaged, which mine were, frequently. 

 I also remember hearing the name Montblanc in relation to pens and this brand has become almost synonymous for expensive pens for the very wealthy over the last 100 years. One of their current models comes in at over 3,500 Euros.

However, the most expensive pen ever sold went for 8 million dollars at auction! So what do you get for your buck? The body and cap are encrusted with 123 Rubies and 945 Black Diamonds. It was made by a company called Tibaldi, an Italian company which has been around since 1916. 

So there you go. Presumably if you own a Montblanc or a Tibaldi, you wouldn´t use it just to write a humble shopping list but I just wonder whether it would improve my handwriting? So, if anyone has 8 million dollars lying around, I´ll buy one and let you know…….