The Evolution of the Pen – Ballpoints Take Over!

In 1938, the world was just getting close to inventing a fountain pen that met its needs for utility and neatness. In that same year, a Hungarian journalist named Laszlo Biro introduced the world’s first ballpoint pen. This started a war between the hard-fought and established reputation of fountain pens as the accepted writing utensil and these new-fangled ballpoint pens that seemed too good to possibly be true.

Biro appreciated the fact that the ink used at the printing press dried quickly, eliminating the need for time-consuming drying processes. He also noticed that this thicker ink was smudge-free. Slow drying times and smudging were the two most significant problems experienced by people using fountain pens. The fountain variety also was in the middle of a long bout of research and development for an ink reservoir that didn’t need to be filled constantly. Biro wanted to create a pen that used this printing press ink and have no need for continuous refilling.

Since this thicker ink would not flow from the nibs (tips) of fountain pens, Biro needed a new type of point for his pen. He experimented with a tiny ball bearing. He placed it in the tip of his pen. When the pen was moved on paper, the ink was rolled out by the rotating action of this ball bearing. He had known of a similar invention by John J Loud in 1888 used for marking leather. Loud’s invention never flew due to commercial exploitation of his desired patent. In turn, Biro obtained a copyright for the world’s first ballpoint pen in 1938.

The British government bought the licensing rights from Biro because they needed a pen that would work for their Air Force at higher altitudes than a fountain pen was capable of. They would use the sales of these new pens to fuel the war effort. (It’s funny to note that flight was so much further advanced than ink pens!) Biro had neglected to obtain an American patent for his pen and he and his brother emigrated to Argentina. Thus began the war of patents for the ballpoint pen across the globe.

Here’s an interesting time line to describe it:

1884: First working fountain pen patented by L.E. Waterman, a New York City insurance salesman.

The fountain pen becomes the world’s chosen writing instrument for the next 60 years.

1938: The Eterpen Company in Argentina commercializes the ballpoint pen invented by Biro.

The press loves the ballpoint pen. It can write for a year without refilling!

June, 1945: Milton Reynolds, a Chicago businessman visits Buenos Aires. He buys a Biro pen and loves it. He returns to America and begins the Reynolds International Pen Company – ignoring International patent rights.

October, 1945: Reynold’s product, the Reynold’s Rocket, is an immediate success. It sells $100,000 worth on its first day at market. The price was $12.50 per unit!

1950: A Frenchman, Baron Bich begins selling Bic ballpoint pens.

1951: Reynolds folds. His pens were not living up to their advertising claims. Fountain pens regain favor.

1954: Parker introduces the “Jotter”. It works well. Parker sells three and a half million Jotters at $8.75 in less than a year.

Late 1950s: Bic captures 70% of the European market for ballpoints.

1960: Bic dominates the ballpoint market and begins selling his pens to the US market for 29 – 69 cents per pen.

Today: The equivalent of Biro’s pen, the Bic Crystal, sells 14,000,000 pens worldwide on a daily basis! They can write the equivalent of a five-mile-long line before running out of ink. The ballpoint pen continues to be the world’s first choice for their writing needs.

The world of pens has certainly come a long way since the times of quill pens and quill pens were the only choice for writing for over 1000 years!