1 00:00:01,320 --> 00:00:04,240 Speaker 1: Welcome to Stuff You Missed in History Class, a production 2 00:00:04,400 --> 00:00:14,600 Speaker 1: of iHeartRadio. Hello, and welcome to the podcast. I'm Tracy V. 3 00:00:14,760 --> 00:00:18,439 Speaker 1: Wilson and I'm Holly Frye. A few weeks ago, my 4 00:00:18,520 --> 00:00:21,279 Speaker 1: spouse and I did something we've been putting off for 5 00:00:21,320 --> 00:00:25,000 Speaker 1: almost a decade, which is getting a will in place. 6 00:00:26,120 --> 00:00:29,800 Speaker 1: Nothing's wrong, it's just something we've been meaning to do forever, 7 00:00:30,520 --> 00:00:33,520 Speaker 1: and whenever we have traveled together for the last few years, 8 00:00:33,520 --> 00:00:36,360 Speaker 1: I've had kind of a background anxiety of what if 9 00:00:36,360 --> 00:00:39,519 Speaker 1: something happens to us on this trip and everything's a 10 00:00:39,560 --> 00:00:42,640 Speaker 1: mess and our friends and family have to clean up 11 00:00:42,680 --> 00:00:45,599 Speaker 1: the mess. We went to a lawyer to do this, 12 00:00:46,000 --> 00:00:49,000 Speaker 1: and we had a scheduled signing day with the law 13 00:00:49,080 --> 00:00:52,639 Speaker 1: practice arranging for things like the witnesses and the notary. 14 00:00:53,080 --> 00:00:56,160 Speaker 1: And when we got there, everything was very neatly laid 15 00:00:56,160 --> 00:00:59,560 Speaker 1: out with a pair of ballpoint pens at each seat 16 00:00:59,680 --> 00:01:02,680 Speaker 1: at the table. We had a pair of them in 17 00:01:02,680 --> 00:01:05,280 Speaker 1: case one of the pens ran out while we were 18 00:01:05,319 --> 00:01:08,679 Speaker 1: all signing these very many documents that needed to be signed. 19 00:01:08,760 --> 00:01:12,160 Speaker 1: So this is another episode that was inspired by a 20 00:01:12,240 --> 00:01:16,080 Speaker 1: random thing in the world catching my attention, which is 21 00:01:16,160 --> 00:01:21,000 Speaker 1: ballpoint pens. Who thought of these things? Turns out that 22 00:01:21,160 --> 00:01:25,520 Speaker 1: just requires kind of a basic history of pens in general. 23 00:01:26,560 --> 00:01:30,119 Speaker 1: People have of course been making marks on things for millennia, 24 00:01:30,240 --> 00:01:33,560 Speaker 1: going back to Paleolithic peoples using their hands and natural 25 00:01:33,600 --> 00:01:38,399 Speaker 1: pigments like heematite, ochre, manganese, and charcoal to create cave art. 26 00:01:39,240 --> 00:01:42,120 Speaker 1: The earliest known writing system that used some kind of 27 00:01:42,200 --> 00:01:46,280 Speaker 1: tool or utensil is Sumerian cuneiform, made by pressing a 28 00:01:46,360 --> 00:01:50,760 Speaker 1: reed stylus onto clay. The first inks were made roughly 29 00:01:50,920 --> 00:01:54,240 Speaker 1: forty five hundred to five thousand years ago, when people 30 00:01:54,320 --> 00:01:58,440 Speaker 1: in both East Asia and Northern Africa started mixing carbon 31 00:01:58,520 --> 00:02:01,200 Speaker 1: with some kind of glue or gum and then mixing 32 00:02:01,320 --> 00:02:05,960 Speaker 1: that with water. This carbon based black ink is often 33 00:02:06,040 --> 00:02:10,560 Speaker 1: called India ink today. The first pens were made from 34 00:02:10,600 --> 00:02:14,560 Speaker 1: things like reeds and bamboo, with one end sharpened into 35 00:02:14,680 --> 00:02:17,960 Speaker 1: a point or a nib, which was then dipped into 36 00:02:18,000 --> 00:02:22,000 Speaker 1: a well or a pool of ink. Reeds and bamboo 37 00:02:22,040 --> 00:02:25,800 Speaker 1: are both hollow, and the pen making process typically involved 38 00:02:25,960 --> 00:02:30,440 Speaker 1: further hollowing out and cleaning the interior, as well as 39 00:02:30,480 --> 00:02:33,519 Speaker 1: making a small slit to help draw the ink up 40 00:02:33,639 --> 00:02:37,320 Speaker 1: into the pin and let it flow out again. Through 41 00:02:37,360 --> 00:02:41,960 Speaker 1: capillary action. This hollow structure of the pens stored enough 42 00:02:42,040 --> 00:02:44,680 Speaker 1: ink to allow a person to write for a little 43 00:02:44,680 --> 00:02:47,800 Speaker 1: bit before they needed to dip it back into the 44 00:02:47,840 --> 00:02:52,240 Speaker 1: well to refill it. In China, people likely started making 45 00:02:52,320 --> 00:02:56,120 Speaker 1: and using brushes as writing implements around three hundred BCE, 46 00:02:57,160 --> 00:02:59,560 Speaker 1: and at some point, and it is not clear exactly 47 00:02:59,639 --> 00:03:03,280 Speaker 1: when people in parts of Europe started using quills or 48 00:03:03,320 --> 00:03:07,160 Speaker 1: the hollow shafts of bird feathers as pens. The word 49 00:03:07,320 --> 00:03:10,600 Speaker 1: pen comes from words that trace back to the Latin penna, 50 00:03:10,760 --> 00:03:15,080 Speaker 1: which means feather. The first written references to quill pens 51 00:03:15,080 --> 00:03:18,200 Speaker 1: are in the work of seventh century writer and historians 52 00:03:18,200 --> 00:03:22,000 Speaker 1: Saint Isidore of Sevilla, although they were probably being used 53 00:03:22,200 --> 00:03:28,000 Speaker 1: long before that mention. Today quill pens are sometimes depicted 54 00:03:28,160 --> 00:03:33,280 Speaker 1: as huge, ostrich like plumes, but they were usually made 55 00:03:33,320 --> 00:03:36,960 Speaker 1: from the long flight feathers of geese and swans, and 56 00:03:37,200 --> 00:03:42,000 Speaker 1: after Europeans started traveling to the America's turkeys, some other 57 00:03:42,040 --> 00:03:45,640 Speaker 1: feathers too. Those are the big three. The barbs or 58 00:03:45,680 --> 00:03:48,520 Speaker 1: the flat feathery part of the feather would be stripped 59 00:03:48,600 --> 00:03:51,520 Speaker 1: off of the shaft, which would be cured and hardened 60 00:03:51,520 --> 00:03:55,560 Speaker 1: before use. At some points in history, it was fashionable 61 00:03:55,600 --> 00:03:58,080 Speaker 1: to leave some of the barb at the top of 62 00:03:58,120 --> 00:04:01,480 Speaker 1: a quill pen, but this was a relatively small kind 63 00:04:01,560 --> 00:04:05,000 Speaker 1: of decorative bit. Even if a lot of that barb 64 00:04:05,120 --> 00:04:08,120 Speaker 1: was left on the shaft, it would not normally look 65 00:04:08,280 --> 00:04:12,640 Speaker 1: anything like a gigantic ostrich plume. So when you go 66 00:04:12,760 --> 00:04:16,520 Speaker 1: to the party store today, if you can find one 67 00:04:17,440 --> 00:04:19,720 Speaker 1: and you buy a pen like that for an occasion, 68 00:04:20,160 --> 00:04:24,720 Speaker 1: it's just for show. It's a modern invention. Yeah. Reed 69 00:04:24,839 --> 00:04:28,160 Speaker 1: pens and quill pens had a lot in common. They 70 00:04:28,240 --> 00:04:31,240 Speaker 1: both started out as hollow objects from the natural world 71 00:04:31,480 --> 00:04:33,599 Speaker 1: that had to be shaped and sharpened to be used 72 00:04:33,600 --> 00:04:37,279 Speaker 1: for writing and drawing, and they also had similar downsides. 73 00:04:37,760 --> 00:04:40,680 Speaker 1: They had to be maintained. The tips of quills and 74 00:04:40,720 --> 00:04:44,440 Speaker 1: reed pens dulled as they were used, so they occasionally 75 00:04:44,440 --> 00:04:46,640 Speaker 1: had to be sharpened with a pen knife, which does 76 00:04:46,680 --> 00:04:51,039 Speaker 1: require some skill, and eventually they just wouldn't be usable anymore. 77 00:04:51,600 --> 00:04:54,760 Speaker 1: A well made quill pen might last just about a 78 00:04:54,760 --> 00:04:59,160 Speaker 1: week while they could hold some ink. Writing involved repeatedly 79 00:04:59,200 --> 00:05:01,800 Speaker 1: dipping the pen back into the ink to refill it, 80 00:05:02,160 --> 00:05:05,279 Speaker 1: and these pens were also just messy, leaving stains on 81 00:05:05,360 --> 00:05:08,040 Speaker 1: people's fingers and drips of ink in places that they 82 00:05:08,040 --> 00:05:11,760 Speaker 1: were not wanted, both on and off the page, famously 83 00:05:12,040 --> 00:05:16,320 Speaker 1: Marie Antoinette's signature on her wedding day. They could also 84 00:05:16,360 --> 00:05:20,640 Speaker 1: be really cumbersome. If you were traveling and you needed 85 00:05:20,640 --> 00:05:23,479 Speaker 1: to write while you were away. You couldn't just drop 86 00:05:23,520 --> 00:05:25,719 Speaker 1: a pen in something to write on into your bag 87 00:05:25,760 --> 00:05:28,280 Speaker 1: and then go. You had to take an ink well 88 00:05:28,320 --> 00:05:32,039 Speaker 1: with you, and that was a bottle of liquid ink 89 00:05:32,160 --> 00:05:36,359 Speaker 1: it could easily spill in transit. You also needed extra 90 00:05:36,480 --> 00:05:39,280 Speaker 1: pens and a pen knife, and a pounce box, which 91 00:05:39,360 --> 00:05:42,480 Speaker 1: was a shaker full of sand or bone also called 92 00:05:42,560 --> 00:05:46,159 Speaker 1: pounce to absorb the extra ink from the page to 93 00:05:46,200 --> 00:05:49,800 Speaker 1: try to keep it from smearing. Some people had whole 94 00:05:49,880 --> 00:05:53,760 Speaker 1: portable writing desks that acted both as a writing surface 95 00:05:54,200 --> 00:05:58,480 Speaker 1: and as storage for all the various writing tools and accessories. 96 00:05:59,640 --> 00:06:03,440 Speaker 1: While most people were using reed pens, quill pens, and brushes, 97 00:06:03,839 --> 00:06:07,840 Speaker 1: there were also experiments with making pens out of other materials. 98 00:06:08,640 --> 00:06:11,200 Speaker 1: A pen nib made of bronze was found in the 99 00:06:11,279 --> 00:06:14,360 Speaker 1: ruins of Pompeii, which was destroyed in the eruption of 100 00:06:14,400 --> 00:06:18,240 Speaker 1: Mount Vesuvius in the year seventy nine CE. More than 101 00:06:18,279 --> 00:06:21,839 Speaker 1: one thousand years ago, people also started experimenting with making 102 00:06:21,880 --> 00:06:24,880 Speaker 1: pens that had a reservoir that could hold more ink 103 00:06:24,960 --> 00:06:28,400 Speaker 1: than a reed or quill could. Calif Al muis Le 104 00:06:28,480 --> 00:06:32,960 Speaker 1: Dinalla of the Fatimad dynasty reportedly commissioned and received a 105 00:06:33,000 --> 00:06:35,760 Speaker 1: pen like this, which also would not stain in his 106 00:06:35,839 --> 00:06:39,120 Speaker 1: hands and clothes, although we don't know the details of 107 00:06:39,160 --> 00:06:42,360 Speaker 1: what this pen was made of or precisely how it worked. 108 00:06:43,160 --> 00:06:47,040 Speaker 1: Leonardo da Vinci, who died in fifteen nineteen, drew diagrams 109 00:06:47,040 --> 00:06:50,440 Speaker 1: that seemed to represent a reservoir pen, but it isn't 110 00:06:50,440 --> 00:06:53,719 Speaker 1: clear whether he actually made one of them. By the 111 00:06:53,760 --> 00:06:57,919 Speaker 1: seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, though, people were definitely using a 112 00:06:58,040 --> 00:07:02,200 Speaker 1: variety of metals to make reservoir pens. One of the 113 00:07:02,240 --> 00:07:06,320 Speaker 1: first was patented by French engineer and instrument maker Nicholas 114 00:07:06,400 --> 00:07:10,480 Speaker 1: Bion in the sixteen eighties. It had a metal nib 115 00:07:10,560 --> 00:07:13,920 Speaker 1: and the body was a hollow brass tube. The word 116 00:07:14,160 --> 00:07:17,800 Speaker 1: fountain pen was first used in writing in seventeen twelve, 117 00:07:18,120 --> 00:07:21,680 Speaker 1: and soon that term was being used to generally describe 118 00:07:21,960 --> 00:07:26,880 Speaker 1: various styles of reservoir pins. This term probably comes from 119 00:07:26,920 --> 00:07:30,360 Speaker 1: the idea that the ink flowed from these pens like 120 00:07:30,440 --> 00:07:34,640 Speaker 1: a fountain, rather than having to continually be replenished by 121 00:07:34,680 --> 00:07:38,360 Speaker 1: dipping the pen into an ink well. By the late 122 00:07:38,440 --> 00:07:42,640 Speaker 1: eighteenth century, people were using sheets of steel rolled into 123 00:07:42,640 --> 00:07:45,760 Speaker 1: a tube to make reservoir pens. Those were also called 124 00:07:45,840 --> 00:07:50,480 Speaker 1: barrel pens. Samuel Harrison made one for chemist Joseph Priestley 125 00:07:50,560 --> 00:07:54,680 Speaker 1: in seventeen eighty. People were also still working on ways 126 00:07:54,720 --> 00:07:58,160 Speaker 1: to improve on the quill pen. In eighteen oh nine, 127 00:07:58,240 --> 00:08:01,440 Speaker 1: English inventor Joseph Bramo was awarded a patent for a 128 00:08:01,480 --> 00:08:05,800 Speaker 1: machine that could cut one quill into multiple nibs, which 129 00:08:05,800 --> 00:08:08,679 Speaker 1: could be attached to the end of a reusable ink holder. 130 00:08:09,160 --> 00:08:12,240 Speaker 1: So instead of continually using a knife to sharpen the 131 00:08:12,320 --> 00:08:14,600 Speaker 1: end of the quill, you could just swap out a 132 00:08:14,640 --> 00:08:18,000 Speaker 1: dull nib for a fresh one. People were also making 133 00:08:18,080 --> 00:08:21,480 Speaker 1: steel pen nibs by the early nineteenth century, which were 134 00:08:21,520 --> 00:08:24,000 Speaker 1: of course a lot more durable than the points on 135 00:08:24,120 --> 00:08:28,760 Speaker 1: reeds or feathers. We will get to how fountain pens 136 00:08:28,880 --> 00:08:32,880 Speaker 1: started to become more sophisticated than just essentially a tube 137 00:08:32,920 --> 00:08:36,719 Speaker 1: and a nib after a break, but first let's take 138 00:08:36,760 --> 00:08:40,120 Speaker 1: a quick detour to talk about pencils just for the 139 00:08:40,160 --> 00:08:43,920 Speaker 1: sake of completeness. The word pencil traces back to the 140 00:08:44,040 --> 00:08:47,720 Speaker 1: Latin word for paint brush, and the first pencil like 141 00:08:47,840 --> 00:08:52,120 Speaker 1: devices were wires made from metals like silver and lead, 142 00:08:52,679 --> 00:08:57,520 Speaker 1: which could leave marks on paper. The first graphite pencils 143 00:08:57,559 --> 00:09:01,199 Speaker 1: were probably made in the sixteenth century following the discovery 144 00:09:01,240 --> 00:09:04,720 Speaker 1: of large graphite deposits in the Lake district of England. 145 00:09:05,480 --> 00:09:10,920 Speaker 1: People incorrectly thought these deposits were lead, thus the term 146 00:09:11,240 --> 00:09:15,760 Speaker 1: pencil led. This graphite could be cut into rods, but 147 00:09:15,800 --> 00:09:18,640 Speaker 1: since it's very soft, it also had to be wrapped 148 00:09:18,720 --> 00:09:21,920 Speaker 1: in something to actually use it as a writing utensil. 149 00:09:22,640 --> 00:09:25,360 Speaker 1: The first wrappings were made of things like string or 150 00:09:25,400 --> 00:09:30,120 Speaker 1: animal skin, and eventually people started using hollow wooden rods 151 00:09:30,200 --> 00:09:34,559 Speaker 1: to hold the graphite. Wooden pencils were being mass produced 152 00:09:34,640 --> 00:09:38,800 Speaker 1: within about a century of that sixteenth century graphite fined. 153 00:09:39,480 --> 00:09:42,640 Speaker 1: We'll get back to fountain pens as promised after a 154 00:09:42,679 --> 00:09:55,480 Speaker 1: sponsor break. As we said before the break. By the 155 00:09:55,559 --> 00:09:59,360 Speaker 1: eighteenth century, people were using the term fountain pen to 156 00:09:59,480 --> 00:10:03,080 Speaker 1: describe pens that had some kind of reservoir so they 157 00:10:03,120 --> 00:10:06,920 Speaker 1: could hold more ink than a simple read or quill. 158 00:10:07,080 --> 00:10:10,760 Speaker 1: These might have removable nibs that could be cleaned or replaced, 159 00:10:10,800 --> 00:10:15,440 Speaker 1: and people were also tinkering with various nib designs that 160 00:10:15,600 --> 00:10:18,439 Speaker 1: changed the way the ink flowed or what it felt 161 00:10:18,440 --> 00:10:21,760 Speaker 1: like to write with them. By the nineteenth century, people 162 00:10:21,760 --> 00:10:26,280 Speaker 1: had invented machines and developed techniques to allow mass production 163 00:10:26,559 --> 00:10:31,040 Speaker 1: of metal pens and their nibs. Steel pens and nibs 164 00:10:31,080 --> 00:10:34,880 Speaker 1: became more popular than quills, and people also started to 165 00:10:34,920 --> 00:10:39,120 Speaker 1: experiment with making them out of different metals, especially metals 166 00:10:39,120 --> 00:10:42,960 Speaker 1: that would be more resistant to corrosion from ink, which 167 00:10:43,000 --> 00:10:47,400 Speaker 1: is often acidic. This included making pens from gold alloys, 168 00:10:47,640 --> 00:10:51,719 Speaker 1: with nibs made from iridium alloys. When people use the 169 00:10:51,760 --> 00:10:54,800 Speaker 1: word fountain pen today, they're usually talking about something a 170 00:10:54,800 --> 00:10:58,199 Speaker 1: little more sophisticated than what was basically a metal to 171 00:10:58,480 --> 00:11:01,599 Speaker 1: with a nib at the end. Those are still the basics, 172 00:11:01,679 --> 00:11:05,280 Speaker 1: but today's fountain pens are more reliable and less leaky 173 00:11:05,320 --> 00:11:09,160 Speaker 1: than the reservoir pens of the eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries. 174 00:11:09,920 --> 00:11:13,120 Speaker 1: A lot of people applied for patents on pen innovations 175 00:11:13,200 --> 00:11:16,080 Speaker 1: during these decades, and we're not going to try to 176 00:11:16,120 --> 00:11:19,079 Speaker 1: talk about every single one, but these are the highlights. 177 00:11:20,120 --> 00:11:23,960 Speaker 1: Sometimes Frederick Fulsch is described as the first person to 178 00:11:24,200 --> 00:11:28,080 Speaker 1: patent a fountain pen. That was a British patent that 179 00:11:28,160 --> 00:11:31,040 Speaker 1: was awarded in eighteen oh nine, but it was really 180 00:11:31,080 --> 00:11:35,720 Speaker 1: a patent on improvements for the pens that already existed, 181 00:11:35,760 --> 00:11:40,840 Speaker 1: which people were already calling fountain pens. In an ideal situation, 182 00:11:41,240 --> 00:11:44,880 Speaker 1: a fountain pen worked through capillary action, with the ink 183 00:11:44,960 --> 00:11:48,600 Speaker 1: being drawn out of the nib only when it was 184 00:11:48,640 --> 00:11:52,880 Speaker 1: in contact with the writing surface. But air also needed 185 00:11:52,880 --> 00:11:55,720 Speaker 1: to get into the pen to fill the space that 186 00:11:55,880 --> 00:11:59,200 Speaker 1: was left as that ink was transferred out onto the page. 187 00:12:00,160 --> 00:12:02,800 Speaker 1: Without enough air taking the place of the ink, the 188 00:12:02,840 --> 00:12:06,600 Speaker 1: ink could just stop flowing. But too much air into 189 00:12:06,640 --> 00:12:08,839 Speaker 1: the pen could also cause the ink to just rush 190 00:12:08,880 --> 00:12:13,520 Speaker 1: out in leaks or drips or blobs. Fulsh's design tried 191 00:12:13,559 --> 00:12:16,640 Speaker 1: to control this airflow and to cut down on the 192 00:12:16,679 --> 00:12:20,080 Speaker 1: skips and the drips quote, chiefly by the addition of 193 00:12:20,120 --> 00:12:22,960 Speaker 1: a valve at the top by pressing down, which a 194 00:12:23,000 --> 00:12:26,200 Speaker 1: small quantity of air is admitted on the enclosed ink 195 00:12:26,640 --> 00:12:30,720 Speaker 1: so as to let it descend as required. The valve 196 00:12:30,880 --> 00:12:33,760 Speaker 1: was formed by a button covered in leather, which could 197 00:12:33,800 --> 00:12:36,240 Speaker 1: close off an aperture at the bottom of the tube. 198 00:12:36,960 --> 00:12:40,120 Speaker 1: A spring returned the button to its original position when 199 00:12:40,160 --> 00:12:44,200 Speaker 1: the user let go. This aperture allowed air into the 200 00:12:44,200 --> 00:12:46,880 Speaker 1: interior of the pen, which helped keep the ink where 201 00:12:46,920 --> 00:12:49,760 Speaker 1: it was supposed to be. The lower part of this 202 00:12:49,880 --> 00:12:52,080 Speaker 1: pen was removable so that it could be taken off 203 00:12:52,080 --> 00:12:56,680 Speaker 1: and cleaned. Remarks that were printed alongside one publication of 204 00:12:56,720 --> 00:13:00,800 Speaker 1: this patent red quote, these pens seem very in their 205 00:13:00,840 --> 00:13:04,880 Speaker 1: construction to common fountain pens, and would be found very 206 00:13:04,920 --> 00:13:08,240 Speaker 1: serviceable to those who were much pressed in time when writing. 207 00:13:08,600 --> 00:13:12,120 Speaker 1: It is, not, however, likely that the metallic pens which 208 00:13:12,200 --> 00:13:16,320 Speaker 1: terminate them will be found equally pleasant to write with 209 00:13:16,559 --> 00:13:20,400 Speaker 1: as pens made of quills, the particular elasticity of which 210 00:13:20,600 --> 00:13:25,160 Speaker 1: no art has yet been able to imitate effectually in metal. 211 00:13:26,080 --> 00:13:29,400 Speaker 1: A Lonzo T. Cross of Providence, Rhode Island worked for 212 00:13:29,440 --> 00:13:33,000 Speaker 1: at Cross Company, which his father had founded in eighteen 213 00:13:33,040 --> 00:13:37,400 Speaker 1: forty six. In eighteen eighty, Cross was awarded US patent 214 00:13:37,480 --> 00:13:40,760 Speaker 1: two three two eight zero four for what he described 215 00:13:40,800 --> 00:13:44,280 Speaker 1: as a stylographic pen, which was another attempt to deal 216 00:13:44,320 --> 00:13:49,400 Speaker 1: with a sometimes unpredictable flow of ink. This patent described, quote, 217 00:13:49,480 --> 00:13:53,080 Speaker 1: a centrally arranged air tube closed at its upper end 218 00:13:53,160 --> 00:13:56,040 Speaker 1: by means of a removable plug and having a side 219 00:13:56,080 --> 00:13:58,640 Speaker 1: aperture made near the bottom of the plug for the 220 00:13:58,679 --> 00:14:01,920 Speaker 1: proper admission of air to the ink chamber under the 221 00:14:01,960 --> 00:14:05,800 Speaker 1: control of a vent cap. It also consists in providing 222 00:14:05,880 --> 00:14:08,439 Speaker 1: means for the passage of air from the air tube 223 00:14:08,840 --> 00:14:11,200 Speaker 1: into the ink chamber to control the flow of ink 224 00:14:11,240 --> 00:14:13,720 Speaker 1: to the point of the pen by slotting the lower 225 00:14:13,840 --> 00:14:16,679 Speaker 1: end of the air tube or an extension thereof, and 226 00:14:16,720 --> 00:14:20,200 Speaker 1: connecting loosely there to the cylindrical upper portion of the 227 00:14:20,280 --> 00:14:23,480 Speaker 1: vibrating spindle, so that the vibration of the spindle in 228 00:14:23,520 --> 00:14:26,400 Speaker 1: the act of writing may assist in passing the air 229 00:14:26,480 --> 00:14:31,600 Speaker 1: into the ink chamber. So, where Fulci's design had used 230 00:14:31,600 --> 00:14:34,560 Speaker 1: a button and a valve to try to control the airflow, 231 00:14:35,080 --> 00:14:39,080 Speaker 1: Crosses relied on the vibrations caused by the act of writing, 232 00:14:39,720 --> 00:14:43,800 Speaker 1: idealing with those vibrations letting little bubbles of air into 233 00:14:43,840 --> 00:14:46,640 Speaker 1: the interior of the pen so that the ink flowed 234 00:14:46,760 --> 00:14:51,400 Speaker 1: smoothly and consistently. But this still had the potential to 235 00:14:51,520 --> 00:14:54,920 Speaker 1: release way too much ink or not enough, depending on 236 00:14:55,080 --> 00:14:58,720 Speaker 1: exactly how the pen was vibrating and how those air 237 00:14:58,760 --> 00:15:03,280 Speaker 1: bubbles flowed. The person who is usually credited with resolving 238 00:15:03,360 --> 00:15:07,640 Speaker 1: this unpredictable ink flow situation is Lewis E. Waterman of 239 00:15:07,720 --> 00:15:11,720 Speaker 1: New York. According to a story that has a possibly 240 00:15:11,720 --> 00:15:15,800 Speaker 1: apocryphal vibe, Waterman was working as an insurance salesman and 241 00:15:15,920 --> 00:15:19,280 Speaker 1: he lost a big client after his pen ruined an 242 00:15:19,320 --> 00:15:22,600 Speaker 1: important contract with a big blob of ink, and in 243 00:15:22,640 --> 00:15:24,280 Speaker 1: the time it took for him to get a new 244 00:15:24,320 --> 00:15:29,760 Speaker 1: contract drafted, that client took their business elsewhere. Waterman's US 245 00:15:29,800 --> 00:15:33,200 Speaker 1: patent number two nine three five four five, simply titled 246 00:15:33,400 --> 00:15:36,720 Speaker 1: Fountain Pen, described a pen that was fed through three 247 00:15:37,120 --> 00:15:41,400 Speaker 1: very fine grooves or fissures. It still used capillary action 248 00:15:41,600 --> 00:15:44,120 Speaker 1: to move the inks through the nib, but those three 249 00:15:44,160 --> 00:15:48,800 Speaker 1: fissures balanced the airflow through the pen. Here's how Waterman 250 00:15:48,880 --> 00:15:52,160 Speaker 1: described it in his patent quote, it may be observed 251 00:15:52,280 --> 00:15:55,840 Speaker 1: that the tendency to a heavy an excessive flow of 252 00:15:55,920 --> 00:15:59,240 Speaker 1: ink caused by amplified motion of the pen or otherwise 253 00:15:59,680 --> 00:16:03,440 Speaker 1: will be compensated by an increased influx of air through 254 00:16:03,480 --> 00:16:06,520 Speaker 1: the groove to fill the vacuum tending to be produced 255 00:16:06,560 --> 00:16:11,080 Speaker 1: within the reservoir, thus retarding the flow and automatically regulating 256 00:16:11,200 --> 00:16:14,720 Speaker 1: the same. It may also be stated that air bubbles, 257 00:16:14,800 --> 00:16:19,040 Speaker 1: which usually form within and greatly impede the discharge of 258 00:16:19,080 --> 00:16:22,600 Speaker 1: ink through the ink duct, are in my admention pressed 259 00:16:22,640 --> 00:16:26,120 Speaker 1: to one side of the duct, and their outward movement 260 00:16:26,240 --> 00:16:30,920 Speaker 1: greatly accelerated by the outflow of current of ink. This 261 00:16:31,120 --> 00:16:34,240 Speaker 1: pen's ink reservoir had to be filled with an eye dropper, 262 00:16:34,360 --> 00:16:37,360 Speaker 1: which was often the case for reservoir pens of this era, 263 00:16:38,040 --> 00:16:41,000 Speaker 1: but this use of fine grooves to control the flow 264 00:16:41,000 --> 00:16:44,680 Speaker 1: of air and ink did indeed seem to work. It's 265 00:16:44,720 --> 00:16:49,040 Speaker 1: often described as the first truly reliable fountain pen, providing 266 00:16:49,120 --> 00:16:52,280 Speaker 1: far more writing time than quills or reed pens, and 267 00:16:52,360 --> 00:16:57,640 Speaker 1: more predictability and reliability than most earlier fountain pens. Waterman 268 00:16:57,880 --> 00:17:01,480 Speaker 1: established his own pen company, and in nineteen hundred his 269 00:17:01,600 --> 00:17:04,200 Speaker 1: pens were awarded the Medal of Excellence at the Paris 270 00:17:04,240 --> 00:17:10,320 Speaker 1: World Exposition. Fountain pens are obviously still around today, and 271 00:17:10,520 --> 00:17:14,680 Speaker 1: Frederick fulch at Cross and Watermen are all making fountain 272 00:17:14,720 --> 00:17:18,800 Speaker 1: pens still today. Some of those brands also make other 273 00:17:18,880 --> 00:17:23,280 Speaker 1: types of pens, including ballpoints, and today ballpoints are way 274 00:17:23,320 --> 00:17:26,359 Speaker 1: more popular than fountain pens are. We will get to 275 00:17:26,400 --> 00:17:40,080 Speaker 1: how that happened after another sponsor break. While fountain pens 276 00:17:40,119 --> 00:17:43,920 Speaker 1: were becoming more reliable and sophisticated in the nineteenth century, 277 00:17:44,359 --> 00:17:47,960 Speaker 1: there were still people using quill pens and other writing devices, 278 00:17:48,240 --> 00:17:51,240 Speaker 1: and one reason had to do with what it felt 279 00:17:51,280 --> 00:17:54,600 Speaker 1: like to write with them and what the resulting writing 280 00:17:54,960 --> 00:17:58,600 Speaker 1: looked like. That the nib of a quill pen was 281 00:17:58,680 --> 00:18:01,840 Speaker 1: flexible and a last, while the metal nib of a 282 00:18:01,880 --> 00:18:05,840 Speaker 1: fountain pen was not. Some inventors worked on this by 283 00:18:05,840 --> 00:18:08,919 Speaker 1: trying to find metals and designs that would allow for 284 00:18:09,000 --> 00:18:13,879 Speaker 1: a more flexible pen nib. Another issue with fountain pens 285 00:18:13,920 --> 00:18:16,560 Speaker 1: had to do with what a person needed to write on. 286 00:18:17,640 --> 00:18:20,720 Speaker 1: That Capillary action through the nib meant that fountain pins 287 00:18:20,760 --> 00:18:24,480 Speaker 1: often didn't work well on surfaces that were rough or irregular. 288 00:18:25,440 --> 00:18:29,040 Speaker 1: John J. Loud of Weymouth, Massachusetts found a possible solution 289 00:18:29,160 --> 00:18:32,000 Speaker 1: to this in eighteen eighty eight with an early version 290 00:18:32,200 --> 00:18:36,840 Speaker 1: of the ballpoint pen. Loud needed to mark materials like 291 00:18:36,960 --> 00:18:40,679 Speaker 1: wood and leather, and he found the marks from pencils 292 00:18:40,760 --> 00:18:44,280 Speaker 1: to be too light for this purpose, and then fountain pens. 293 00:18:44,359 --> 00:18:47,439 Speaker 1: Because of the texture of these surfaces, they were erratic 294 00:18:47,480 --> 00:18:51,200 Speaker 1: and sometimes messy, so he developed a pen that had 295 00:18:51,240 --> 00:18:55,080 Speaker 1: a quote marking sphere or a ball down in the tip. 296 00:18:55,680 --> 00:18:59,879 Speaker 1: That ball was positioned below smaller balls that provided friction 297 00:19:00,200 --> 00:19:03,199 Speaker 1: for its role against and then all of this was 298 00:19:03,240 --> 00:19:06,800 Speaker 1: held in place by a conical cap that was connected 299 00:19:06,840 --> 00:19:10,760 Speaker 1: to a rod and spring. In the words of Loud's 300 00:19:10,840 --> 00:19:14,360 Speaker 1: US patent number three nine two zero four six quote, 301 00:19:14,480 --> 00:19:17,840 Speaker 1: when the ball is pressed against a surface, the spring yields, 302 00:19:17,960 --> 00:19:20,679 Speaker 1: allowing the ink to flow out of the tube around 303 00:19:20,720 --> 00:19:23,800 Speaker 1: the ball on all sides to the point in contact 304 00:19:23,800 --> 00:19:26,320 Speaker 1: with the surface to be marked, the amount of the 305 00:19:26,359 --> 00:19:29,120 Speaker 1: flow and the width of the line being determined by 306 00:19:29,160 --> 00:19:32,399 Speaker 1: the amount of play of the ball inside the contracted mouth, 307 00:19:32,760 --> 00:19:35,639 Speaker 1: which is in turn regulated by the distance between the 308 00:19:35,680 --> 00:19:40,000 Speaker 1: opening and the lower end of the screw. This invention 309 00:19:40,160 --> 00:19:43,600 Speaker 1: seems to have worked well enough, but Loud did not 310 00:19:43,760 --> 00:19:47,560 Speaker 1: turn it into a commercial product. He did patent some 311 00:19:47,720 --> 00:19:54,440 Speaker 1: other inventions, though, including a firecracker cannon. Quote. My invention 312 00:19:54,680 --> 00:20:00,000 Speaker 1: consists of an improved breech loading cannon adapted for firing cartridge, 313 00:20:00,480 --> 00:20:06,440 Speaker 1: ignited by a fuse inseparably connected therewith I preferably use 314 00:20:06,600 --> 00:20:11,080 Speaker 1: for my cartridge the ordinary firecracker, and the cannon being 315 00:20:11,160 --> 00:20:14,040 Speaker 1: adapted for the purpose here and set forth is so 316 00:20:14,240 --> 00:20:19,200 Speaker 1: constructed as to be perfectly safe for children and careless persons, 317 00:20:19,480 --> 00:20:24,320 Speaker 1: to whom accidents frequently occur using firearms. I'm just gonna 318 00:20:24,320 --> 00:20:28,040 Speaker 1: giggle about it. I love children and careless persons. This 319 00:20:28,080 --> 00:20:30,280 Speaker 1: has nothing to do with pens. But when I read that, 320 00:20:30,400 --> 00:20:32,440 Speaker 1: I was like, that's going in the episode. We all 321 00:20:32,440 --> 00:20:35,040 Speaker 1: know exactly who he's talking about in our friend group too, 322 00:20:35,720 --> 00:20:40,040 Speaker 1: or maybe it's us. Loud's patent on his pen eventually expired, 323 00:20:40,160 --> 00:20:43,920 Speaker 1: and other inventors patented various improvements on it, as well 324 00:20:43,920 --> 00:20:46,200 Speaker 1: as other pens that used a ball in the tip 325 00:20:46,280 --> 00:20:50,600 Speaker 1: instead of a nib. They didn't necessarily differentiate these ball 326 00:20:50,680 --> 00:20:54,960 Speaker 1: points from fountain pens, though. For example, in nineteen sixteen 327 00:20:55,119 --> 00:20:58,320 Speaker 1: Van Vechten Riisberg of Philadelphia was awarded a patent for 328 00:20:58,560 --> 00:21:01,480 Speaker 1: quote a new and improved fountain pen in which the 329 00:21:01,520 --> 00:21:04,000 Speaker 1: flow of ink shall be constant when the pen is 330 00:21:04,000 --> 00:21:07,639 Speaker 1: in operation, which shall be cheap and simple to construct, 331 00:21:07,680 --> 00:21:10,240 Speaker 1: and which may therefore be sold at a low price, 332 00:21:10,680 --> 00:21:14,280 Speaker 1: which shall present a neat and attractive appearance, which shall 333 00:21:14,320 --> 00:21:17,880 Speaker 1: have no tendency to clog up, which may be readily cleaned, 334 00:21:18,040 --> 00:21:21,399 Speaker 1: and which shall be void of complicated or intricate mechanism 335 00:21:21,520 --> 00:21:25,359 Speaker 1: or parts. The tip of this pen ended in a 336 00:21:25,400 --> 00:21:29,040 Speaker 1: cup which cradled a ball. It also had a reservoir 337 00:21:29,119 --> 00:21:32,800 Speaker 1: for ink. Quote. The fluid will now be conducted when 338 00:21:32,840 --> 00:21:35,760 Speaker 1: the pen is maintained in a position suitable for writing, 339 00:21:36,200 --> 00:21:39,240 Speaker 1: to the surface of the ball by means of the duct, 340 00:21:39,440 --> 00:21:42,480 Speaker 1: and from thence to the surface of the paper by 341 00:21:42,520 --> 00:21:46,040 Speaker 1: the rotation of the ball when the pen is in operation, 342 00:21:46,800 --> 00:21:49,679 Speaker 1: the friction between the surface of the ball and the 343 00:21:49,680 --> 00:21:54,600 Speaker 1: paper being sufficient to rotate the former. Like loud, Risberg 344 00:21:54,640 --> 00:21:59,320 Speaker 1: did not turn this invention into a commercial enterprise. One 345 00:21:59,359 --> 00:22:02,280 Speaker 1: of the ongoing issues in all of these pens was 346 00:22:02,320 --> 00:22:04,480 Speaker 1: the time that it took for the ink to dry. 347 00:22:05,280 --> 00:22:08,919 Speaker 1: In the nineteen thirties, Hungarian journalist Las l Biro was 348 00:22:09,000 --> 00:22:12,280 Speaker 1: inspired by how quickly the ink dried on printed newspapers 349 00:22:12,560 --> 00:22:16,560 Speaker 1: and thought something similar might be possible for pens. He 350 00:22:16,640 --> 00:22:20,280 Speaker 1: tried putting printing ink into fountain pens, but that did 351 00:22:20,320 --> 00:22:22,520 Speaker 1: not work because that ink just did not have the 352 00:22:22,600 --> 00:22:26,399 Speaker 1: right consistency to flow through the pen. So he worked 353 00:22:26,400 --> 00:22:29,040 Speaker 1: with his brother Georgie, who was a chemist and a dentist, 354 00:22:29,119 --> 00:22:33,000 Speaker 1: on creating a formula for a dense, fast drying oil 355 00:22:33,080 --> 00:22:36,320 Speaker 1: based ink that could be used in a pen. They 356 00:22:36,359 --> 00:22:39,480 Speaker 1: also worked with Machinist and Orgoy on the pen itself. 357 00:22:40,359 --> 00:22:43,680 Speaker 1: In some versions of this story, Laslo Biro was also 358 00:22:43,800 --> 00:22:47,320 Speaker 1: inspired by seeing a child's marble leave a trail behind 359 00:22:47,320 --> 00:22:50,280 Speaker 1: it after rolling through a puddle, which is why this 360 00:22:50,480 --> 00:22:54,600 Speaker 1: pen had a ball point. A prototype of this creation 361 00:22:54,800 --> 00:22:58,600 Speaker 1: made its debut at the Budapest International Fair in nineteen 362 00:22:58,720 --> 00:23:03,040 Speaker 1: thirty one. It was patented in Hungary in nineteen thirty eight, 363 00:23:03,480 --> 00:23:07,520 Speaker 1: and unlike Loud and Reisberg, Laslo Biro did try to 364 00:23:07,520 --> 00:23:11,399 Speaker 1: make this into a commercial product. More patents followed in 365 00:23:11,440 --> 00:23:15,720 Speaker 1: other countries, including in the United States in nineteen forty five. 366 00:23:16,520 --> 00:23:19,880 Speaker 1: By this point, these pens were commercially available in much 367 00:23:19,960 --> 00:23:24,280 Speaker 1: of the Americas and Europe. US patent two three nine 368 00:23:24,440 --> 00:23:29,040 Speaker 1: zero six three six Writing Instrument describes this pen as quote, 369 00:23:29,040 --> 00:23:32,840 Speaker 1: a handy instrument provided with a reservoir for ink, which 370 00:23:32,880 --> 00:23:36,280 Speaker 1: is capable of being fed by simple gravity and capillarity. 371 00:23:36,640 --> 00:23:40,520 Speaker 1: The main feature thereof being constituted by the feed conduit, 372 00:23:40,560 --> 00:23:43,600 Speaker 1: which is so combined that the flow of ink, instead 373 00:23:43,640 --> 00:23:46,920 Speaker 1: of being stopped at the ball, extends against the surface. 374 00:23:47,000 --> 00:23:51,520 Speaker 1: Thereof to the vicinity of the ball setting. The conduit 375 00:23:51,640 --> 00:23:54,920 Speaker 1: for this ink is quote branched by means of channels 376 00:23:55,000 --> 00:23:58,000 Speaker 1: or grooves extending to the sides of the ball setting, 377 00:23:58,359 --> 00:24:01,960 Speaker 1: and thus the ball is kept practically covered with ink, 378 00:24:02,400 --> 00:24:05,600 Speaker 1: so that on rolling out the inner surface thereof the 379 00:24:05,600 --> 00:24:10,439 Speaker 1: ink will mark the paper with well defined strokes. By 380 00:24:10,480 --> 00:24:13,520 Speaker 1: the time Bureau's ballpoint pen was patented in the US, 381 00:24:13,680 --> 00:24:16,680 Speaker 1: he and his brother were living in Argentina. They had 382 00:24:16,720 --> 00:24:20,880 Speaker 1: met Argentinian President Augustin Pedro Justo while on a vacation 383 00:24:21,040 --> 00:24:24,200 Speaker 1: in Yugoslavia, and when the Bureau brothers needed to flee 384 00:24:24,240 --> 00:24:28,360 Speaker 1: from Hungary in nineteen thirty eight, Housto invited them to Argentina. 385 00:24:29,280 --> 00:24:32,879 Speaker 1: The Bureaus were Jewish and Hungary was adopting policies that 386 00:24:32,960 --> 00:24:37,120 Speaker 1: were similar to those of Nazi Germany. They left Hungary 387 00:24:37,200 --> 00:24:39,280 Speaker 1: ahead of a law that would have made it illegal 388 00:24:39,400 --> 00:24:42,440 Speaker 1: for them to take their patented invention out of the country. 389 00:24:43,240 --> 00:24:46,240 Speaker 1: In Argentina, they worked with Juan Jorge Meena to open 390 00:24:46,240 --> 00:24:50,800 Speaker 1: a pen factory in nineteen forty three. They combined their names, 391 00:24:50,840 --> 00:24:57,520 Speaker 1: calling their pen Biromeh. Ballpoint pens quickly became popular. Some 392 00:24:57,560 --> 00:24:59,760 Speaker 1: of this was because of the ways that they worked 393 00:24:59,800 --> 00:25:02,520 Speaker 1: a lot better than fountain pens for a lot of people. 394 00:25:02,600 --> 00:25:05,040 Speaker 1: Like they worked by gravity, you could write with them 395 00:25:05,080 --> 00:25:07,719 Speaker 1: in different angles. They were less likely to leak in 396 00:25:07,760 --> 00:25:10,639 Speaker 1: some cases, but it was also in part because of 397 00:25:10,720 --> 00:25:14,880 Speaker 1: commercial efforts to market them. The Schafer Company paid half 398 00:25:14,880 --> 00:25:19,040 Speaker 1: a million dollars for the US marketing rights. British businessman 399 00:25:19,160 --> 00:25:23,119 Speaker 1: Henry George Martin reportedly sold thirty thousand of these pens 400 00:25:23,160 --> 00:25:26,359 Speaker 1: to the Royal Air Force because they did not leak 401 00:25:26,520 --> 00:25:29,480 Speaker 1: due to changes in air pressure like fountain pens did, 402 00:25:29,880 --> 00:25:32,960 Speaker 1: so pilots could use them in the air. By the 403 00:25:33,000 --> 00:25:35,919 Speaker 1: time the war was over, ballpoint pens had become a 404 00:25:35,920 --> 00:25:40,000 Speaker 1: big enough business to spawn patent infringement suits as multiple 405 00:25:40,000 --> 00:25:43,760 Speaker 1: companies all tried to corner the market on them. For example, 406 00:25:43,840 --> 00:25:47,480 Speaker 1: Milton Reynolds bought some of Bureau's pens while in Buenos Aires, 407 00:25:47,520 --> 00:25:51,640 Speaker 1: and after returning to the US he established Reynolds International 408 00:25:51,720 --> 00:25:56,760 Speaker 1: Pen Company and launched the Reynolds Rocket. He apparently thought 409 00:25:56,800 --> 00:25:59,640 Speaker 1: his design was different enough from Bureaus that it wouldn't 410 00:25:59,680 --> 00:26:03,880 Speaker 1: cause patent issues, But ever sharp and everhard Faber had 411 00:26:03,920 --> 00:26:08,080 Speaker 1: already teamed up to acquire licensing rights for Bureau's ballpoint 412 00:26:08,200 --> 00:26:12,320 Speaker 1: in the United States. This led to lawsuits as ever 413 00:26:12,359 --> 00:26:15,960 Speaker 1: Sharp tried to keep Reynolds from bringing his pens to market. 414 00:26:16,440 --> 00:26:20,280 Speaker 1: This whole thing worked out badly for everybody. Ever, Sharp's 415 00:26:20,359 --> 00:26:24,679 Speaker 1: lawsuit failed, reynolds product didn't actually work that well, and 416 00:26:24,760 --> 00:26:28,879 Speaker 1: the whole market got oversaturated with ballpoint pens in the process. 417 00:26:29,880 --> 00:26:33,840 Speaker 1: These early ballpoints were also different from the disposable plastic 418 00:26:33,880 --> 00:26:37,760 Speaker 1: ones that are ubiquitous today. This is not something that 419 00:26:37,800 --> 00:26:40,560 Speaker 1: someone would hand you for free at a booth at 420 00:26:40,560 --> 00:26:43,160 Speaker 1: a street fair. They were made from metal and other 421 00:26:43,240 --> 00:26:46,640 Speaker 1: durable materials, and they were refillable but supposed to need 422 00:26:46,680 --> 00:26:49,720 Speaker 1: refilling only every couple of years. And they were all 423 00:26:49,800 --> 00:26:54,000 Speaker 1: so expensive. When reynolds design first went on sale at 424 00:26:54,000 --> 00:26:57,359 Speaker 1: Gimble's department store in New York in nineteen forty five, 425 00:26:57,440 --> 00:27:02,800 Speaker 1: it cost around ten dollars. These comparisons are always an exact, 426 00:27:02,800 --> 00:27:05,600 Speaker 1: but that's something like a two hundred dollars pen today. 427 00:27:06,520 --> 00:27:10,840 Speaker 1: In addition to the expense, that newly developed ink didn't 428 00:27:10,880 --> 00:27:14,320 Speaker 1: actually work that well. It did dry quickly, but it 429 00:27:14,320 --> 00:27:18,040 Speaker 1: could also smear or be wiped away. If someone was 430 00:27:18,200 --> 00:27:21,920 Speaker 1: really really careful, they might even be able to scrape 431 00:27:22,000 --> 00:27:26,680 Speaker 1: somebody's ballpoint signature off of one document and transfer that 432 00:27:26,800 --> 00:27:30,840 Speaker 1: signature on to something else. This blows my mind. Some 433 00:27:31,080 --> 00:27:34,399 Speaker 1: banks would not accept check signed in ballpoint pen and 434 00:27:34,520 --> 00:27:37,679 Speaker 1: a nineteen forty eight article in the American Bar Association 435 00:27:37,920 --> 00:27:42,119 Speaker 1: Journal expressed a number of concerns about forgeries, fading, and 436 00:27:42,160 --> 00:27:45,359 Speaker 1: what they called gooping, that's leaving clumps of ink that 437 00:27:45,400 --> 00:27:49,800 Speaker 1: had accumulated on the ball at random points on the page. 438 00:27:49,880 --> 00:27:52,960 Speaker 1: These issues started to be resolved in nineteen forty nine 439 00:27:53,080 --> 00:27:57,159 Speaker 1: when Austrian chemist Franzique, who was living in California and 440 00:27:57,200 --> 00:28:00,919 Speaker 1: working for paper mat developed a better ink using glycol. 441 00:28:02,200 --> 00:28:05,439 Speaker 1: The person who was the most influential in the shift 442 00:28:05,480 --> 00:28:09,040 Speaker 1: from two hundred dollars ball points or the equivalent of 443 00:28:09,040 --> 00:28:13,800 Speaker 1: two hundred dollars ballpoints to disposable plastic things was Marcel Beeck, 444 00:28:13,840 --> 00:28:16,600 Speaker 1: who had been born in Italy but moved to France 445 00:28:16,640 --> 00:28:20,760 Speaker 1: and became a French citizen. He bought Laso Biro's patent 446 00:28:20,840 --> 00:28:24,359 Speaker 1: rights and a disused factory outside of Paris, and he 447 00:28:24,480 --> 00:28:29,440 Speaker 1: started a company called Society Beck to mass produce inexpensive 448 00:28:29,600 --> 00:28:34,560 Speaker 1: ballpoint pens. The Bic Crystal launched in nineteen fifty and 449 00:28:34,720 --> 00:28:39,520 Speaker 1: soon became the world's best selling pen. Beeck also took 450 00:28:39,560 --> 00:28:44,680 Speaker 1: a similar strategy with razors and lighters, developing relatively inexpensive 451 00:28:44,720 --> 00:28:48,280 Speaker 1: plastic versions of each. In the words of his nineteen 452 00:28:48,360 --> 00:28:52,800 Speaker 1: ninety four obituary in the UK Independent, quote for mere pennies, 453 00:28:52,880 --> 00:28:56,560 Speaker 1: the ordinary man can write more clearly, shave more closely, 454 00:28:56,760 --> 00:28:59,640 Speaker 1: and have more reliable access to fire than a run 455 00:28:59,680 --> 00:29:06,920 Speaker 1: as prints also a lot of plastic waste. Uh. While 456 00:29:07,000 --> 00:29:11,760 Speaker 1: Laslo Biro was paid for selling or licensing his patent rights, 457 00:29:12,160 --> 00:29:15,720 Speaker 1: this really did not compare to how much money other 458 00:29:15,840 --> 00:29:21,200 Speaker 1: people made manufacturing and selling ballpoint pens. Biro is quoted 459 00:29:21,240 --> 00:29:24,520 Speaker 1: as saying, quote, I often think that with a little 460 00:29:24,560 --> 00:29:27,400 Speaker 1: more business acumen, I could have made a huge fortune 461 00:29:27,480 --> 00:29:31,680 Speaker 1: with my invention, but I harbor no grudges. The bureaus 462 00:29:31,680 --> 00:29:35,320 Speaker 1: has become the most popular writing instrument in the world. 463 00:29:35,640 --> 00:29:38,800 Speaker 1: It has overtaken the pencil and the fountain pen, and 464 00:29:38,920 --> 00:29:42,440 Speaker 1: that thought makes me forget the riches I missed out on. 465 00:29:43,440 --> 00:29:46,840 Speaker 1: Ballpoint pens are still known as bureaus and a lot 466 00:29:46,880 --> 00:29:50,640 Speaker 1: of the world today fountain pens still had and have 467 00:29:50,840 --> 00:29:55,320 Speaker 1: their devotees, and in nineteen fifty six, wa Schaeffer developed 468 00:29:55,320 --> 00:29:58,160 Speaker 1: a model with a removable ink tube which could be 469 00:29:58,160 --> 00:30:01,960 Speaker 1: refilled separately from the rest of the The first roller 470 00:30:02,040 --> 00:30:05,320 Speaker 1: ball pens were introduced in Japan in the nineteen sixties. 471 00:30:05,960 --> 00:30:09,400 Speaker 1: These have ballpoint tips with a water based ink rather 472 00:30:09,440 --> 00:30:13,120 Speaker 1: than the oil based inks of most ballpoint pens. The 473 00:30:13,160 --> 00:30:16,600 Speaker 1: first commercially successful felt tip pens came out in the 474 00:30:16,680 --> 00:30:20,960 Speaker 1: nineteen sixties as well. Brush pens developed for East Asian 475 00:30:21,000 --> 00:30:25,840 Speaker 1: calligraphy were introduced in nineteen seventy two. The first erasable pen, 476 00:30:26,120 --> 00:30:31,400 Speaker 1: Gillette's Erasermate, came out in nineteen seventy nine. Sakura Color 477 00:30:31,440 --> 00:30:35,120 Speaker 1: Products of Osaka, Japan, introduced gel pens, which use a 478 00:30:35,160 --> 00:30:38,840 Speaker 1: pigmented gel for ink, in nineteen eighty two. You can 479 00:30:38,920 --> 00:30:41,360 Speaker 1: probably hear the lilting tone in my voice because I 480 00:30:41,440 --> 00:30:46,400 Speaker 1: love them. I love them. Also the first time I 481 00:30:46,480 --> 00:30:50,440 Speaker 1: found gel pens, I was like, these magic has arrived. 482 00:30:51,360 --> 00:30:52,960 Speaker 1: I have found the magical pen I want for the 483 00:30:52,960 --> 00:30:55,720 Speaker 1: rest of my life. That's pens. We'll talk more about 484 00:30:55,720 --> 00:30:59,440 Speaker 1: pens than the behind the scenes. I'm sure I have 485 00:30:59,520 --> 00:31:04,680 Speaker 1: some most This is from Lizzie. Lizzie wrote high Beloved 486 00:31:04,720 --> 00:31:07,120 Speaker 1: History podcast. First of all, I wanted to say thank 487 00:31:07,160 --> 00:31:10,480 Speaker 1: you for keeping me company while I recovered from gallbladder surgery. 488 00:31:11,000 --> 00:31:13,520 Speaker 1: A nice trip down some long country roads sure kept 489 00:31:13,560 --> 00:31:17,600 Speaker 1: me sane while stuck in bed. Your most recent listener 490 00:31:17,600 --> 00:31:20,040 Speaker 1: mail on the ECG episode reminded me of a little 491 00:31:20,040 --> 00:31:23,520 Speaker 1: moment of horror I had some years back. In case 492 00:31:23,560 --> 00:31:27,680 Speaker 1: folks don't remember, this was an episode or a listener 493 00:31:27,760 --> 00:31:31,560 Speaker 1: mail that was about tetanus. There was an archaeological dig 494 00:31:31,560 --> 00:31:34,320 Speaker 1: in town with open volunteering to dig, so, of course, 495 00:31:34,360 --> 00:31:36,360 Speaker 1: being the sort of person who listens to your show, 496 00:31:36,400 --> 00:31:39,240 Speaker 1: I signed right up. The one requirement was an up 497 00:31:39,280 --> 00:31:42,760 Speaker 1: to date tetanus vaccine because we'd be scrabbling around in 498 00:31:42,840 --> 00:31:46,400 Speaker 1: the dirt all day. Well, I ended up chatting to 499 00:31:46,560 --> 00:31:51,600 Speaker 1: another volunteer as we unearthed a terrifying amount of burial 500 00:31:51,720 --> 00:31:56,960 Speaker 1: shroud pens under an old church, and as we work, 501 00:31:57,040 --> 00:31:58,720 Speaker 1: she told me to keep an eye on her and 502 00:31:58,800 --> 00:32:01,280 Speaker 1: call for a member of this staff if anything happened 503 00:32:01,320 --> 00:32:03,680 Speaker 1: to her. She told me she'd done hundreds of these 504 00:32:03,720 --> 00:32:06,360 Speaker 1: sorts of digs in her life, and of course, being 505 00:32:06,360 --> 00:32:11,000 Speaker 1: health conscious, had gotten her tetanus vaccine before every single one. 506 00:32:11,160 --> 00:32:14,400 Speaker 1: She was now functionally allergic to both the vaccine and tetanus, 507 00:32:14,440 --> 00:32:16,880 Speaker 1: which would immediately send her into shock on contact, at 508 00:32:16,920 --> 00:32:20,240 Speaker 1: which point I was staring at her open mouthed, baffled 509 00:32:20,640 --> 00:32:23,720 Speaker 1: at her doctor surgery allowing her to do that, her 510 00:32:23,760 --> 00:32:26,280 Speaker 1: commitment to amateur archaeology, and the fact that she was 511 00:32:26,360 --> 00:32:30,320 Speaker 1: digging without gloves. This moment lives rent free in my 512 00:32:30,400 --> 00:32:32,959 Speaker 1: head at any mention of archaeology or tetanus, and frankly 513 00:32:33,000 --> 00:32:35,360 Speaker 1: I had to pass it on just to not be 514 00:32:35,440 --> 00:32:39,200 Speaker 1: burdened with this horror alone. No pets for the tax. 515 00:32:39,240 --> 00:32:42,360 Speaker 1: But here's the gigantic grogu me and my mom made 516 00:32:42,400 --> 00:32:48,080 Speaker 1: for ourselves because we are silly people. There follows a 517 00:32:49,600 --> 00:32:55,320 Speaker 1: very adorable grogu. Are there any other kind? No, they're 518 00:32:55,360 --> 00:32:59,320 Speaker 1: definitely not. It is hard to tell the size of 519 00:32:59,360 --> 00:33:04,800 Speaker 1: this of this grogu. Grogu is standing in what looks 520 00:33:04,840 --> 00:33:07,200 Speaker 1: to me like a sewing room, on a pile of 521 00:33:07,240 --> 00:33:09,840 Speaker 1: what looks to me like you know, your pile of 522 00:33:09,880 --> 00:33:15,480 Speaker 1: sewing fabric, and grogu is incredibly cute, such a cutie. 523 00:33:16,080 --> 00:33:19,360 Speaker 1: Uh look at that baby, Look at that baby. I 524 00:33:19,400 --> 00:33:22,600 Speaker 1: know exactly the pattern they used for this. Oh yeah, 525 00:33:22,640 --> 00:33:25,840 Speaker 1: because I have it too. I'll never make one, but 526 00:33:25,920 --> 00:33:29,480 Speaker 1: if I ever encounter licensed Star Wars patterns, I buy 527 00:33:29,520 --> 00:33:32,120 Speaker 1: them so that pattern companies know that people want them. 528 00:33:32,440 --> 00:33:37,120 Speaker 1: Although pattern companies are a whole other problem right now. Yeah, 529 00:33:37,120 --> 00:33:39,480 Speaker 1: So this email ends, thank you for all the podcasting, 530 00:33:39,520 --> 00:33:42,720 Speaker 1: and I wish you the exact amount of appropriate immunization 531 00:33:42,880 --> 00:33:47,040 Speaker 1: for whatever situation you're in. Lizzy, thank you Lizzy for 532 00:33:47,120 --> 00:33:50,520 Speaker 1: this email. I have shared the horror of this with everyone. 533 00:33:50,600 --> 00:33:55,560 Speaker 1: Now everyone can all bear this with you. The story 534 00:33:55,600 --> 00:33:57,920 Speaker 1: of someone who got so many tetanus vaccines that they 535 00:33:57,960 --> 00:34:00,600 Speaker 1: are now allergic to the vaccine and tetanus. This is 536 00:34:00,640 --> 00:34:03,720 Speaker 1: not so much as applicable to tetanus, because tetanus, as 537 00:34:03,720 --> 00:34:06,160 Speaker 1: we talked about in that episode, is something that's around 538 00:34:06,320 --> 00:34:09,680 Speaker 1: in the world around us all of the time. But 539 00:34:09,760 --> 00:34:12,400 Speaker 1: the fact that people can be allergic to vaccines is 540 00:34:12,440 --> 00:34:14,680 Speaker 1: one of the reasons that it is so important for 541 00:34:14,800 --> 00:34:18,719 Speaker 1: everyone who can be vaccinated to be vaccinated, because that 542 00:34:18,760 --> 00:34:24,160 Speaker 1: protects the people who cannot. Tetanus is in the environment everywhere, 543 00:34:24,200 --> 00:34:29,040 Speaker 1: so that's the one vaccine I can think of that rule. 544 00:34:29,080 --> 00:34:32,799 Speaker 1: As you're protecting yourself with a tetanus vaccine, you're not 545 00:34:33,080 --> 00:34:36,760 Speaker 1: necessarily protecting your neighbor as is the case with things 546 00:34:36,800 --> 00:34:41,400 Speaker 1: like measles vaccines and COVID vaccines. So yes, thank you 547 00:34:41,719 --> 00:34:44,320 Speaker 1: so much for this, this adorable picture, this great email, 548 00:34:44,400 --> 00:34:47,480 Speaker 1: this story that wow. I also have a number of 549 00:34:47,880 --> 00:34:51,760 Speaker 1: responses and questions to thank you. Lizzy. If you would 550 00:34:51,800 --> 00:34:54,399 Speaker 1: like to send us a note about this or any 551 00:34:54,400 --> 00:34:57,960 Speaker 1: other podcast, or someone you've encountered in the world that 552 00:34:58,040 --> 00:35:00,640 Speaker 1: has done something so baffling that you I would like to share, 553 00:35:00,760 --> 00:35:03,480 Speaker 1: as long as it's not truly traumatic, I'll read that. 554 00:35:05,520 --> 00:35:07,640 Speaker 1: You can send us a note where at History Podcasts 555 00:35:07,680 --> 00:35:10,960 Speaker 1: at iHeartRadio dot com, and you can subscribe to our 556 00:35:11,040 --> 00:35:13,680 Speaker 1: show on the iHeartRadio app and anywhere else you'd like 557 00:35:13,719 --> 00:35:21,720 Speaker 1: to get your podcasts. Stuff you Missed in History Class 558 00:35:21,760 --> 00:35:25,759 Speaker 1: is a production of iHeartRadio. For more podcasts from iHeartRadio, 559 00:35:25,960 --> 00:35:29,520 Speaker 1: visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen 560 00:35:29,600 --> 00:35:32,399 Speaker 1: to your favorite shows.