When we think about it, most of us will have a favourite type of pen or pencil that we always go back to or can’t write without. But how much do we actually know about the writing instruments we use or how they originated? With that thought pressed in our minds, it is time to go on a journey of enlightenment as we supply you with an arsenal of facts and figures that you can use to impress fellow pen lovers around the world.
First, the humble pencil:
Did you know…
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The pencil was invented in 1594 England, when a large graphite deposit was found in Borrowdale, Cumbria
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The term ‘lead pencil’ was coined incorrectly because of the way graphite looked and acted like lead
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The oldest surviving pencil dates from the 17th century
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The word pencil comes from the Latin Penicillus, which translates as ‘little tail’
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Thomas Edison had his pencils specially made thicker than the standard versions available
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The average pencil can write up to 45,000 words
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A pencil will write in zero gravity, upside down, and under water!
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French pencil boosters include Nicolas-Jacques Conté, who patented a clay-and-graphite manufacturing process in 1795; Bernard Lassimone, who patented the first pencil sharpener in 1828; and Therry des Estwaux, who invented an improved mechanical sharpener in 1847.
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French researchers also hit on the idea of using caoutchouc, a vegetable gum now known as rubber, to erase pencil marks. Until then, writers removed mistakes with bread crumbs.
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The largest pencil in the world reaches 76ft and was created by Ashrita Furman. The second largest belongs to Faber-Castell and is located in Malaysia
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The longest pencil in the world belongs to Staedtler and measures 225.2 metres long
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More than 2 billion pencils are used in the United States every year, and most of them have erasers! However, most pencils sold in Europe do not have erasers!
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Around one million pencils are used annually on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange
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There are around 14 billion pencils manufactured worldwide every year.
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One tree makes around 300,000 pencils
And now the pen:
Did you know…
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The word pen comes from the Latin Pinna, meaning feather. A reference to the feathers that were used to make quill pens
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The phrase ‘The pen is mightier than the sword’ was coined in 1839 by English author, Edward Bulwer-Lytton for his play Richelieu, Or the conspiracy
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America’s Declaration of Independence was written using an eagle feather quill pen
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Quill pens were used to write the Magna Carta
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The term “pen-knife” originated from the special knife that was used to sharpen the quill before writing.
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Thomas Jefferson (1743-1826), the US President, had a flock of geese specially bred to meet his vast need for quills - he wrote nearly 20,000 letters in his lifetime!
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The first fountain pen was invented by L. E. Waterman in 1883
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It is called a “fountain pen” because the nib receives a continuous flow of ink from the reservoir or cartridge – which acts as the “fountain.”
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In 1831, John Jacob Parker claimed the copyright for the original self-filling fountain pen
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The ballpoint pen was invented in 1938 by Hungarian journalist Laszlo Jozsef Biro
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In World War II, pilots used ballpoint pens because they do not leak at high altitudes.
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Ernest Hemingway wrote his famous novel "For whom the bell tolls" with a Parker pen.
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Parker introduced its first ballpoint pen, called the "Jotter" to the market in 1954, superior to both the Reynolds versions. Because the "Jotter" wrote 5 times longer, annual sales came to USD 3.5 million.
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When Parker Pens marketed their ballpoint pens in Mexico, the headline of their advertisement was supposed to read, "It won't leak in your pocket and embarrass you." But when the agency mistakenly used the Spanish word "embarazar", thinking it meant, "embarrass", the translated advertisement read as "It won't leak in your pocket and make you pregnant."
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The most expensive pen ever made is the Diamante by Aurora estimated at US$1.3 million. While the second most expensive pen is the Mystery Masterpiece fountain pen by Montblanc and Van Cleef & Arpels, costing a cool US$730,000
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There are 5 main kinds of pens used worldwide; ballpoint, fountain, soft-tip. rolling-ball and specialty pens.
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Apparently, when offered a new pen to test out, 97% of people will write their own name (Do you do this? Worth trying out on someone to see if it is true?)
