This is a trip into the bygone world of Dip -Pens and other antique stationery, seen through heirlooms treasured by our family .
When we see old letters or signature of
ancestors in books they owned , we cannot help admiring the beautiful
handwriting, uniformly curving, looping, linking and ending with flouishes
. Works of Art .
Rigorous training in writing produced perfection no doubt , but a measure of
the success was also due to the writing instruments they used . They used
Dip-Pens , ie. metal nibs attached to long holders , which required frequent
dipping into the ink bottle .
Metal nibs are said to have originated in ancient Egypt where they were made of copper and bronze.
Similar Nibs were known to Classical Romans too . But the inscribed marks made
with those nibs were of , reportedly, inferior quality
compared to that of finely sharpened
reed pens. So the idea did not quite take off in those times .
Metallic nibs were also made during 17th
and 18th-century , but only as Fancy,
handcrafted luxury goods, rarely used . Quills pens, made of goose and crow
feathers , were favoured for practicality and general use .
It was only in 1820 that
factory-manufactured steel nibs took off in a big way , when Joseph Gillot put
up a factory to manufacture thin , well tempered , stainless steel nibs .
This book , published during the Age of Dip Pens, also in the Family library , explains the process of making the nibs.
The word
“Pen”, at that time , denoted what we call
“Nibs” now.
Metal
nibs retain a sharp point longer than the quill which needed frequent sharpening ( by the way, this was a
special skill, using special blades and rich men had a servant solely for
sharpening quills !) Nibs of different kinds could also be attached or removed
from a single holder as needed , whereas many different quills were needed for
different effects. So , definitely the metal nib was a great leap of modernity in writing
instruments and since Industrialisation had set in, the world was ready for
this convenience .
Birmingham , in England, which was the power center of Industrial Revolution with many landmarks to its credit, was the cradle of the pen ( nib)
industry too , with nearly 100 pen factories
by 1850 , providing employment to thousands , including women . More than 50%
of the world output of Nibs came from Birmingham . Other major manufacturing
centers were Germany, Austria , Czechoslovakia and Spain . By the early 20th Cent , however , pen
factories had dwindled drastically and in 1920 , many companies in England came
under the umbrella name of “British Pens Ltd.”
Since India was the biggest Imperial Colony
, it was naturally flooded with these writing instruments from Europe.
Cultivating a beautiful handwriting was considered a mark of a cultured and educated person. Writing was an Art. Pens needed to be diverse , with points of various thickness and shapes in order to achieve those calligraphic differences between personal letters, business letters, courtly letters, mere jottings , signatures etc. Hence, a wide variety of Pens were manufactured .
It was the advent of ballpoint pens that killed off the Nibs
industry . Today only specialised nibs are manufactured for fountain pens and
artistic calligraphy purposes.
Dip Pens are now antiques and quite a few are retained in the Family's collection of Heirlooms .
Each item is inscribed with some mark of identity and
tells a story from a particular phase of the History of the Modern world .
Richard Esterbrook (1812 - 1895
) was born in a Quaker Family in Liskeard County, Cornwall, England.
He
was in the stationery trade
during the time when steel pen nibs were taking over from old fashioned
feather quills . Some people like Gillot and Mitchell had started manufacturing
dip pen nibs in England .
While looking to widen his business
prospects, Esterbrook had realized that
there were no steel pen manufacturers in the United States at that time and the opportunity was irresistible .
With
five craftsmen , Esterbrook came
to the United States in 1856 and in 1858, after initial struggles , he establishesd his company Esterbrook Steel Pen
Manufacturing Company, with a factory in
Camden, New Jersey and later shifted to New York . In 1896 , a manufacturing
unit was started in Birmingham , England too. ( Esterbrook nibs were sold with the
name of place of origin, England or USA, stamped on them .)
The top pf the box carries the Founder's portrait and year of establishment .The bottom is printed with signature of Esterbrook to show authenticity . On the side is the wholesale dealer's name.
In its time , Esterbrook’s pen Company was
one of the largest pen manufacturers in the world.
The nibs were made of Sheffield Steel and Brass , with gold
plating where required by the design .
At the height of its popularity in 1920s ,
the company was producing 600 ,000 pen
nibs a day , exported all over the world ( colonies)
In 1930s , the company started making
fountain pens as the world had moved on and dip -pens were obsolete .
In 1972
, the Company ceased its operations and was takenover / absorbed into
another stationery manufacturing company .
Esterbrook Co. was a respected Brand Name
and its fountain pens were used by Presidents
John F. Kennedy and Lyndon B. Johnson to sign legislations.
The famous Disney artist Carl Barks was a
devoted user of Esterbrook pens. His famous Donald Duck comic-books were drawn
and inked with these pens .
The “314 Relief”model ( found on this box) , first produced in 1883,
was in production for a long time and widely advertised as
"Relief - Flexible, medium stub. For
social correspondence and manuscript writing. Brass finish. Gold plated. As the
name implies, it is a relief to write with this pen. Action smooth like old
fashioned quill. Not made of steel. Not affected by ink.”
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Perry and Co Ltd was the largest dip pen
manufacturer of the time in England .
James Perry , a school master , was very
disappointed with the kind of pens he was getting in the market and decided to
make his own . He made nibs , by hand , according to his needs and finding them
much better than existing ones, he decided to get into large scale production .
That was in 1824 .
By the 1880s , Perry was a name to reckon
with .
The company changed hands a few times and
also ventured into making other products , notably bicycle chains and
accesories .
It became defunct in 1961.
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George W Hughes( GW Hughes ) was a metallurgist
who set up nib manufacturing in Birmingham in 1840 . The Company lasted till
1960. Hughes nibs were considered high
quality , fine pointed , for closely written texts.
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Hinks, Wells and Co ,started around 1836 by
John Hinks and George Wells , was one of
the larger manufacturers of dip pens in England . They were one of the first in
Industrial England to adopt 9 Hour Work schedule . John Hinks is also known to
have paid for his entire workforce to go on a sightseeing trip to London !
The company was famous for it's 'J' pen,
which was finished in blue or black,
with the 'J' embossed.
They later diversified into fountain pens,
typewriters, pen clips and stationary items.
Hinks Wells Co was known for its Lettering
and Artist pens .
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Leonardt Ltd. (formerly D. Leonardt &
Co.) was founded in 1856 by Diedrich
Leonardt to manufacture dip pens. They had a large export market in South
America and Eastern Europe, and produced pens for the King of Italy. The Co .
Patented the ‘Ballpointed ’ ( the nib with
rounded tip ) and also a design named "Automatic Wonder Pen"- an
early variety of fountain pen in 1871.
Though almost all nib manufacturers closed
down when the Birmingham boom burst, ,
Leonardt & Co survived and have
remained in the industry although the company stopped producing nibs. They now
make of metal components for stationery goods.
This heirloom “ Ballpointed” nib is made of
nickle , according to their brochure.
——————-
William Mitchell started making
pen nibs with his brother John Mitchell in the early 1820s and established his own business in 1825 . The
Company became one of the leading nib
manufacturers , famous for lettering pens.
100 years later, the Company merged with Hinks, Wells & Co
, Perry’s and other nib manufacturers to form “British Pens “.
The William Mitchell brand is still around making art Calligraphy products .
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MODELS
Apparently, pen manufacturers vied with one another to innovate and bring out different Models of nibs regularly.
The names on some of the models found in our family's collection are :
"Relief" "Red Ink" and "New Metal"
"Silver Wing , "Ballpointed" and "Pansy"
"Celtic" , "No.88M" and "Selected"
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Other items making up the antique stationery collection are :
PEN STAND
Wrought Iron Pen : Artistically made pen stands added a lot of beauty, 'atmosphere' and inspiration to a writing desk. There are a variety of Stands in the collection. This wrought iron sample holds eight pens.
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PAPERCLIP
Macniven and Cameron Ltd. ( later :
Waverley Cameron Ltd.) was a printing and stationery company in Edinburgh, Scotland. The company was best
known for its pen nibs, named “Waverley" nib which was unusual for having
an upturned point, which made the ink
flow more smoothly on the paper. The "Waverley" was named in honour of the
Waverley novels written by Sir Walter Scott .
The Company , which in its later years manufactured Paper Clips, called “Waverly Clips" , closed down in 1964 .
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PENCILS
Faber-Castell is one of the world's largest
and oldest manufacturers of pens, pencils, other office stationery and Art
supplies , luxury writing instruments and leather goods. It is Headquartered in
Stein, Germany .
A.W. Faber, the original name of the
company, is the oldest company brand in the USA.
The immensely wealthy Noble family were
made Barons of Faber in the Kingdom of Bavaria in 1881. ( now, a State in Germany)
Founded in 1761 , the Company , AW Faber
Bleystiftwerke( = “Pencil
works”)
made pencils. The Founder’s granddaughter married a Count of the Castell-Rudenhausen of N.Bavaria, in 1898. From them originates the new
company name, Faber-Castell.
This red and blue pencil carrying the “AW
Faber” name is pre-1898.
There are also non branded lead pencils , "Made in Bavaria" .
This is a Copying pencil made by George Rowney & Co. (Founded in 1783). The Company which was selling perfumes and wigs initially, started dealing in paints and Art materials in the 1800s . The Company later diversified into printing and publishing and is still in business .
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INKWELL
Inkwells can be great collectibles . The desk bound ones are in cutglass , porcelain and steel.
"The Traveling Inkwell" : This Design seems to have been in vogue in
Victorian times . Glass bottle with
decorative brass top of tight fitting lid , encased in leather, colour
coded ( black and red , according to the ink ) . Made in Austria .
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INKSTICKS
Ink sticks or Ink Cakes are a type of solid
ink (India ink) used traditionally in several East Asian cultures for
calligraphy and brush painting. Inksticks are made mainly of soot or lampblack
, carbon from charred pinesticks and animal glue or resin . the inkstick was
ground against an inkstone with a small quantity of water to produce liquid ink .
India ink was first invented in China,
three millenia ago . But it was the English who gave it the name Indian ink .
Indian ink, was also called Chinese Ink ! The sticks or cakes consist of specially prepared lampblack, or carbon black,
mixed with a gum or resin .
For commercial use , a binding agent was
also added to liquid Indian Ink , making it waterproof and permanent .
During Victorian times, regular liquid inks were also made from iron rust, tree gall etc.
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SEALING WAX
Sealing wax is a sealing material used on
paper and parchment envelopes , string
or wire knots on parcels which is
difficult to separate without breaking . So it assures the receiver that the
consignment was not tampered with before delivery. The sender's identity is
usually stamped on it .
Sealing wax was made of primarily , Shellac
( or Laquer , araku ) , certain resins, chalk and colouring matter ( red
lead for Red ) . Other mineral colours
were also used for green , blue etc . Shellac is a resin secreted by the Lac
Bug , a native insect of India and Thailand.
Sealing wax was generally sold in the form of sticks. The stick was held to a flame and when its end
started melting and dripping , applied to the closed flap of the envelope and
stamped . It hardened very quickly .
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Postal Essentials
People, back then, wrote long letters, some running into sheaves ! The household needed to be well stocked in envelopes and postage stamps .
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LETTER OPENERS
Letters were not torn open in random fashion. It was a genteeel process, using letter openers !
Letter openers came in a wide variety of materials and embellishments.
Featured here is a Brass Letter-Opener with mosaic work handle .
Mosaic is the art of creating a coherent
design using small bits of colored stone, glass or glazed ceramics . The small
bits are called tesserae . They can be irregular in shape or cut according to
need and fixed into the base shape ( seen here in the reverse) with plaster or glue .
Only the word “ Souvenir” is inscribed on
this , so country of origin not known .
All stationery went into a chest of drawers or a roll top writing table . But there were times one also needed to carry pens and stamps and clips to set up a writing space anywhere !
SARKAR : A house steward , a genius whose whole study is to handle money and to keep household accounts. KIDMUDGAR : Served meals and waited at table . 
