Early History of Fountain Pens

A brief history of writing instruments from the Victorian era onwards.
I'm extremely passionate about antique writing equipment. If you want to know more - check out my blog at www.throughouth... - there's lots to see!
Check out the antiques I've got for sale, at:
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[@grahamparr4710]

My school was still using dip pens in the 1950's. I was an ink monitor filling ink wells in the desks.

[@parkerhowell7560]

did you give the special lady of the class a little more than the rest?

[@grahamparr4710]

Parker Howell ah, memories.

[@stefanlaskowski6660]

My elementary school in the 1960s was built around 1905, and the student desks still had shallow holes to hold the ink bottles (which of course were no longer used).

[@warrenricardo5244]

instablaster...

[@Crazytesseract]

I still use some fountain pens like a dip pen (no cartridge fits).

[@Pentrove]

Great collection of vintage pens and thanks for sharing the history.

[@singlesideman]

Even though I've been collecting and using for a darned long time and I know all of this, I can't tell you how much fun it is to take this little tour of (part of) your collection! Thanks a million! What a blast!

[@shahancheong9792]

I have a lot of antique and vintage writing equipment in my collection. What you see in this video is a small sample of it. One day I'll make more videos.

[@ChrisSaenz13]

This is such a great video... I really enjoyed it!!!!

[@TheImaginaryCat]

Really interesting video! So happy I stumbled upon this

[@peterpuleo2904]

Well presented and well photographed. I enjoy your enthusiasm. I have a few older fountain pens from 1940 - 1960 which may qualify as vintage, and the nibs, even though not flexible, all have some bounce or spring in performance that adds to the experience of writing.

[@singlesideman]

A couple of things - Waterman's came up with the clip cap, a clip riveted onto the cap, in 1905, which was an option that cost more money. That is the first attached clip that I am aware of. The accommodation clip was roughly from the same period, and was essentially an aftermarket option for those who wanted to add a clip to a pen that didn't already have a clip. Before that companies like Mabie Todd offered a pen sleeve add on which was essentially a holder for the pen with a clip on it. Also, the Wahl pen you have there was called the All Metal Pen because the metal (machine turned, engraved rolled gold, silver, sometimes gold over silver with cutaway designs, sometimes enameled) was not an overlay over hard rubber, but was the structure of the pen barrel itself, and this was a selling point for Wahl because the thinner barrel material allowed for a wider sac, which allowed for greater ink capacity.

[@bradenhicks4231]

Mabie, todd.

[@blu3982]

Thank you a lot for sharing such an amazing and interesting part of history, very beautiful pieces in your collection btw, congratulations!

[@SpringNotes]

Thank you for this bit of history on writing instruments.

[@abrusticrelics5808]

Great video. I too am obsessed with fountain pens.

[@shahancheong9792]

Been into FPs since I was a kid. Will never stop loving them :)

[@Jesse-zj7pp]

This is a very interesting video. Thank you for sharing your knowledge. I'm glad that it showed up on my feed. I prefer this type of pen video far more than "pen reviews". I have only 1 fountain pen which I use daily. I don't collect fountain pens but I do enjoy collecting vintage/antique wtiting accessories. My passion is for the portable writing cases (without the slope) from the 1930s-1940s. I will check out your blog now.

[@garybeckner2991]

Very interesting video, thank You! I am just getting into fountain pens.

[@jaya6738]

Glad to see this! It is a good video for beginning collectors. Thanks so much for this. Your explanation is clear and simple.

[@conradsmith9332]

Awesome video! I'm super happy I have a few of these pens and I can confirm they are AWESOME! Realy nice video.

[@richardsimms251]

Great video

[@randy25rhoads]

Excellent video!

[@maryharper9321]

So happy I stumbled on to your video most interesting and as I'm a novice I will certainly be asking some questions ... thanks

[@shahancheong9792]

Ask whatever you want. Always happy to answer if I can.

[@deuxpomme9777]

Good video this is such an interesting topic !!

[@stefanlaskowski6660]

This was fascinating. I thought fountain pens were older than that, maybe from around the mid-1850s. How interesting to learn that dip pens were the best thing they had to write with (excluding pencils), especially when so many of our ancestors wrote so prodigously: Journals, letters, books, all done with such a primitive and messy technology. I'm just now getting into fountain pens, but clearly I have a lot to learn.

[@shahancheong9792]

People like to claim that FPs dated all the way back to the 1600s, but if it doesn't work like a FP, is it REALLY a fountain pen?? They really only started getting practical in the 1880s, 1890s.

[@explorerextraordinaire5472]

dude your collection is#legit

[@manfredknie8998]

very very well done. manfred here from Vienna in Austria

[@grahamparr3933]

What was the first pen for lower classes🤔

[@iliassakalak]

Excellent video!! Thank you!!

[@fabricioazevedo2361]

Questin: What are the small numbers in top of the feeds? They mean anything?

[@shahancheong9792]

Nib-size numbers, so that the right feed goes with the right nib.

[@ladyflimflam]

You are missing a Sheaffer Balance. That was actually the origin of the tapered cigar shape you showed with the Parker.

[@shahancheong9792]

I did have one. Sadly, I lost it. I have another one now, though.

[@stansmith4054]

Shahan, what do you think of vintage Esterbrook FPs? I purchased a locked box that was certified sealed in 1955. In the box I found a Esterbrook lever fill J series FP. Now keep in mind it hasn't seen the light of day since 1955. So I tried it on paper to see how smooth the nib was. Ink came out! I used the pen for 3 days until the ink finally ran out. I have seen many things in life especially in the military but that pen with working ink from 1955 surprized the heck out of me. Is this common in your experience? Thank you.

[@shahancheong9792]

FP ink is water-based. That it would last 60-odd years in a pen without drying out, the pen would have to be sealed in plastic. I don't see how that works...

[@stansmith4054]

@@shahancheong9792 It was sealed in an air tight metal box. The pen was wrapped in wax paper. It is a true story. Thank you for the quick response. I am starting my FP collection too. It is seeming to be an addictive hobby. It is a healthier addictive hobby than my smoking hobby though! Thanks for your time.

[@stansmith4054]

Maybe it is a sign from the fountain pen gods.

[@peterfordyce7003]

Great video. That 1920s rolled gold pen was cool. Do you have any tips for replacing the ink sac of a c1960s Conway-stewart lever-fill, I can't seem to remove the barrel to actually get at the ink sac!

[@shahancheong9792]

The vast majority of lever-filler pens have parts which are just friction-fit. The nib slides on top of the feed, the nib and feed slide into the section, the section slides into the barrel. Granted, they are extremely tight fits. To remove the section from the barrel, grip the section and barrel in opposing fingers and *GENTLY* rock back and forth with slight twisting motion. The section will slowly walk itself out, milimeter by milimeter. Then once you've got enough of it out, you can pull or twist it out *CAREFULLY* to get into the barrel. Provided the pen hasn't been glued shut (which shouldn't be done ANYWAY!!), this is all you should have to do. If it's proving stubborn, you can HEAT the section using HOT WATER *(no dry heat, and ABSOLUTELY no naked flames!!)*, and this may help to loosen things up a bit. But whatever you do, don't RUSH it. These are very old pens, and they need patience to be repaired properly.

[@peterfordyce7003]

Thanks for the reply :) I do wonder if the pen if the pen is celluloid and would burst into flames if it got near an naked flame! Obviously I don't want to find out!

[@shahancheong9792]

Most likely yes, celluloid. And I have set a pen on fire once (it was broken, don't worry) to see what would happen. It wasn't pretty.

[@peterfordyce7003]

I can imagine! By the way, thanks for this video and your blog posts about fountain pens. Because of them I now use a Parker fountain pen for writing notes during lectures. (The Conway-stewart was a fairly recent impulse buy)

[@shahancheong9792]

Impulse buys can be the best buys :)

[@Dobj319]

If you go to the Lincoln Museum in Springfield Illinois you can see Abraham Lincoln's dip pen on display. It was manufactured by "Parker" but not the Parker of "51" fame.

[@aethanchannell9131]

What is said in the beginning is incorrect: the first commercially successful fountain pen was invented in about 1873-1875, it was known as the “Ink pencil”, or the stylograph. It was invented by Duncan McKinnon and later improved upon by of Alonzo T. Cross, which turned out to be the very beginnings of the modern day Cross brand.

[@diegoscopia]

Just curious but what is the reason as to why all the caps have wholes in them? Was this a common thing?

[@shahancheong9792]

Air-pressure. The pens when capped, had to be air-tight (or as near to airtight as possible) to prevent the pen from drying out. But when you uncapped the pen, the vacuum caused by the pen leaving the cap and the air rushing in, could create a suction effect which would suck ink out of the pen. The holes drilled into the pen-caps was to provide airflow, to stop this from happening.

[@neilpiper9889]

eye dropper pens are popular today. Most people just seal plastic fountain pens with silicone grease after filling them with ink using an eyedropper.

[@shahancheong9792]

Yep. I've done that with a few cheap pens. Rip out the guts, fill it with ink and seal it with grease. Works extremely well :)

[@SamiyuruSenarathna]

What are considered to be top fountain pen brands?

[@shahancheong9792]

That's very difficult to answer. Modern brands include Visconti, Parker, Waterman, Pilot, Montblanc, etc. Most younger folks like Lamy, although I've never actually tried it. I tend to stick to classics and vintage pens.

[@SamiyuruSenarathna]

Thanks for the answer. I am looking to buy a nice fountain pen. But I am worried about leaking the it in the flights.

[@diegoscopia]

If you take good care its really unlikely the fountain pen will leak on the flight.

[@SamiyuruSenarathna]

Good care means?

[@onatorrent]

@Samiyuru Make sure your fountain pen is not completely full of Ink. If it is make sure to remove 1/4 to 1/2 the ink so when the pressure changes in your flight there is room for the ink to expand and then there will be enough room in the ink sac or ink chamber and it will not leak out. This is much easier to do when filling your pen form bottled ink rather than ink cartridges.

[@yeska7192]

hey, by chance do you know how to disassemble a Doric nib and feed with an ink shut off valve? PLease please tell me if you know and please please dont tell me dont do it like everyone else

[@garybeckner2991]

Looks like, a Pilot Varsity would be fairly easy to turn into a eyedropper fill fountain pen, even though they are meant to be a throw away pen.

[@neilpiper9889]

Today when you buy a Pilot Metropolitan it has a squeeze sac filler and Hero of China make the 616 with a squeeze sac filler just like the old Parker pens. I agree all things are coming back

[@SevenDeMagnus]

Cool Thanks. I like the old lever or eye dropper hard rubber pens, they have the ugly but interestingly cool cigar look, like the crescent filler. What's your favorite? Thank you. God bless, Proverbs 31

[@dylanstandingalone]

Is anyone still making pens out of hard rubber? Those pens still look nice after all these years!

[@shahancheong9792]

Hard-rubber/ebonite is a REALLY old-fashioned manufacturing material these days. I'm not aware of any company that still makes pens out of that stuff, mostly because the colour-instability. If you leave an ebonite-ANYTHING in the sun, it fades faster than blinking.

[@smilesketches]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/a2LQfpiQrZKhr5Y

[@LANCSKID]

I make mine out of bamboo cane and/or monkeybone … 🥸

[@timeisahumanconstruct9251]

pilot/namiki do on their higher end range

[@mrpilotsapien7705]

So It is confirmed that Waterman Was the first Maker of the fountain pen?

[@shahancheong9792]

The Waterman COMPANY was one of the first, yes. But Waterman himself was not the person who actually invented the fountain pen. He invented the three-channel feed, which made the fountain pen possible.

[@mrpilotsapien7705]

@@shahancheong9792 Im blown away! Im a Parker fan I thought they were (may because I was positiveley Manipulated into thinking so Because I Discovered a Parker 25 flighter) A piece of history I have; so I thought. I now have a different perspective for waterman now.

[@burg0tv446]

What people first used fountain pens?

[@shahancheong9792]

The first FPs came out in the 1880s and 1890s. The technology was REALLY crude back then but they did work. That said, they were expensive, so I think only professionals who did a lot of writing, would've bothered to buy them.

[@burg0tv446]

@@shahancheong9792 you don't answer my question.

[@shahancheong9792]

@@burg0tv446 I just did. Read it again.

[@burg0tv446]

@@shahancheong9792 I'm not asking who. I'm talking about what fountain pen did people first used.

[@shahancheong9792]

@@burg0tv446 Oh, well your first comment said "what people", not what pens, so... The first fountain pens were eyedropper pens, usually back in the 1880s - 1900s. The first pens with actual inbuilt filling mechanisms didn't show up until about 1902, 1905.

[@grahamparr4710]

Henry ford never said that!

[@农民-u5b]

Damn I always thought fountain pen works because of gravity

[@shahancheong9792]

Not really. Air pressure is more important. All the gravity in the world won't help it if the pen can't breathe.

[@hungryboy424]

Pity we have adverts.......annoying

[@hungryboy424]

Pity we have adverts.......annoying