Before the introduction of modern

metals, reed, bamboo, and large bird

feathers were the staple materials

of . These pens were

cheap to make, but it took skill and

ust who invented the metal is lost to history. American, practice to cut and shape them English, French, and German mechanics each claim to have invented the metal dip pen nib. They seem to be claiming second place, though. In February, 1933, the Paper-Zeitung of Vienna wrote: “There are grounds for into serviceable dip pens. They also the belief that the first was in existence about 4000 B. C. During the course of excavatings in Egypt in 1929, a hollow stem in the form and size of a lead was found. didn’t last very long, so it is At the lower end, a piece of copper was fastened, similar to a modern steel pen nib.”

understandable that both writers By L. Michael Fultz With help from John Foley, Henry Bore, and others

The history of the making of steel dip pen nibs is cloudy too. In 1890 Henry Bore pub- and inventors sought better pens lished The Story of the Invention of Steel Pens (Ref. 1), in which he wrote: “In Paris, France, in 1884, a pamphlet was published on the subject of the steel pen and the writer says: ‘The by experimenting with better invention of the metallic pen is due to a French Mechanic — Arnoux — who lived in the eighteenth century, who made as far back as 1750 a number of metallic pens as a curiosity. This invention did not have any immediate result in France but spread to England, and materials. became, in , about 1830, a very prosperous industry.’” John Foley wrote in his self published book, An Interesting History, Gold Pens: Who Invented Them, When, and Where (Ref. 2): “In the year 1805, Mr. Wise, an Englishman, made the first steel pen.” About the American invention of metal nibs, Mr. Bore writes: “There appeared in the Boston Mechanic, August, 1835, the following notice: ‘The inventor of steel pens, says

4 WINTER 2005

THE PENNANT A History of Making Metal Pen Nibs

J 1880. odd & Bard nibs, T Mabie,

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THE PENNANT 6 WINTER 2005

THE PENNANT the Journal of Commerce, was an They softened the and reeds; American and a well-known resident worse, they rusted or ate away the steel of our city (New York), Mr. Peregrine John Foley, in his combination in nibs made from that material at an Williamson. In the year 1800, Mr. W., History of Pen Making and Catalog, alarming rate so that the life of a steel then a working jeweler, at Baltimore, published in New York in 1875, nib might be measured in days or even gives us a step by step account of while attending an evening school, hours. Gold is practically immune to his process of making a gold nib: finding some difficulty in making attack by acids. The making of a nib- a pen to suit him, made one of 1 Fine gold is mixed with small amounts of silver and shaped piece of gold is simple: just cut copper to form an appropriate alloy, then melted in a steel. It would not write well, however, it out from a sheet of the metal with furnace, and cast into a bar about 0.5 inches thick, for want of flexibility. After a while he 1.5 inches wide, and 20.0 inches long. a jeweler’s saw. Even a slit to improve made an additional slit on each side flow and retention can be cut with 2 that bar is rolled between steel rollers until its length of the main one, and the pens were is increased to a ribbon perhaps 10 times the origi- such a saw. The problem is that gold, so much improved that Mr. W. was nal and the thickness of the ribbon is only about even alloyed to fairly low karat, is called to make them in such num- 1/32nd of an inch. very, very soft, and writing materials bers as to eventually occupy his whole 3 using a press and dies, nib blanks are stamped from like paper are very abrasive. Untipped Tthe gHold riEbbon .PROCESS time, and that of a journeyman…. gold nibs wore away quickly, and lines The English borrowed the invention 4 a burring machine grinds a recess in the end of the nib written with them rapidly grew wider. blank to receive the iridium pellet. and some who first engaged in the Early mechanics realized that the solu- iridium pellets are hand selected, picked up with a business realized immense fortunes.’” 5 tion was to tip the gold nib with some small brush dipped in borax solution, and placed on the Whatever the merits of his claims, recess in the nib blank. very hard substance. Peregrine Williamson of Baltimore, 6 the iridium pellet is sweated (soldered) to the gold using In England, experiments were made Maryland, received a United States a gas burner and flame. in tipping gold nibs with minute dia- Patent on November 22, 1809, for a 7 the gold blank is rolled to stretch it to its final length, monds and rubies set in tiny gold set- metallic writing pen. great care being taken not to run the iridium through tings. These nibs were said to write well Bore, however, gives most of the the rollers, the machinery being designed with a recess at first, but the settings quickly wore to protect the point. credit for the invention of the metal- down and the stones fell out. A hard the nib blank is now hammered on a small, curved anvil lic pen to the English inventors, John 8 metal seemed the obvious solution for so as to increase its hardness and flexibility. Mitchell, Joseph Gillott, and Josiah tipping the gold nibs, but what metal and 9 the outline of the hammered blank is trimmed to final Mason. He credits them not so much size and shape in dies with a press. how to attach it to the points? for their invention of the steel pen but John Isaac Hawkins is generally 0 a screw stamping press is used to emboss the name rather for their invention and devel- and other lettering into the gold nib blank. given credit, at least in English speak- opment of the machinery to make ¡ in a screw press, the nib is rounded or curved length- ing countries, with the idea of using such steel pens quickly and cheaply. wise from its earlier flat form. iridium and other very hard platinum Bore writes: “the balance of testimony Ô the iridium point is now slit with a copper disk coated family metals to tip nibs. Hawkins was tends to prove that steel pens were with powdered diamond. an American living in England. He first made by tools, worked by a screw £ the rest of the nib is slit in a special slitting lathe with a began his process of attempting to press, about the beginning of the steel saw. tip gold nibs with metal by interview- third decade (of the 19th century).” ¢ the nib is burnished, that is, the tines are hammered to ing several of the leading chemists in bring them close together and close the gap left by the In 1858, Richard founded the country. Professor Wollaston, a slitting saw. the United States Steel Pen Works in noted expert at Oxford University, ˆ the two tips of the point are now set even with each Camden, New Jersey, but he did not other. suggested using platinum family met- claim priority, only to make a superior § the nibs are ground so that the slit is even, the points als. Hawkins eventually obtained a product at a good price. are smooth and the nib is made fit for writing. small sample of native iridium pellets The saga of the invention of the ¶ the top of nib is polished, made bright, but the under- which had been mined in the Ural gold dip pen nib is as cloudy as the side of the nib is slightly roughed with a scotch stone Mountains of Russia. It was expen- invention of the steel nib. Why gold? so that the ink will cling to it. sive, but proved very effective after Just to have a shiny tip to one’s writing Finally, the nibs are inspected, graded, tested, and he learned the tricks of soldering it in stick? Well, no. Early (and some offered for sale. place then slitting the ball of iridium current ones) are extremely acidic. and the gold nib together.

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THE PENNANT 8 WINTER 2005

THE PENNANT In 1834 Hawkins made and sold several nibs. However, manufacture to gold nibs. Randell’s system proved effec- he soon found that the supply of iridium was unreliable tive and profitable. With modifications and technical and, even when available, expensive. He continued to improvements, it remains in use today. make nibs as the market and materials were available but The making of fountain pen nibs continued in the found the business less than rewarding. In 1835 Hawkins same vein. Early fountain pen nibs, such as those used sold his process, list of customers, suppliers, and the few by Newell Prince and Paul Wirt, lack breather holes special tools to Aaron Porter Cleveland who was financed and are identical to dip pen nibs. Later, when Lewis by New Yorker Simeon Hyde. Charles Cleveland, an Waterman perfected the underfeed, a breather hole was American minister, arranged the sale. Hawkins retained punched in the nib to aid the flow of return air into the or perhaps reacquired the rights to make and sell iridium ink chamber. pointed nibs in England and was to pay a small royalty By no imaginings should the reader conclude that the on the nibs he made and sold in England. It is reported making of gold nibs was or is an easy and trouble free pro- that Cleveland paid Hawkins £300 for the rights and the cess. At each step, skilled hand labor was required. While process. the replacement of The Reverend this hand labor has C l e v e l a n d h a d The making of gold nibs greatly reduced H a w k i n s t r a i n the price of mod- his brother in the ern gold nibs, it p r o c e s s . A a r o n by hand was…not an especially is also responsible Cleveland returned for the loss of flex- to the United States ibility in nibs and to instruct Simeon profitable enterprise in the early also in the gen- Hyde’s agents in eral unevenness of the nib making quality and perfor- system. Cleveland days. Worse, each worker trained mance in modern and Hyde arranged nibs. Modern nibs, with Levi Brown, a almost exclusively, Detroit jeweler, to was almost certain are produced and learn the Hawkins’ ground by auto- system and make mated machinery, nibs as a business. to become a competitor… and are very rarely Somewhat later, hand ground, hand I s a a c H a w k i n s set, write tested, moved to New Jersey and also helped train workers in or even inspected. Cheaper, certainly; better, no way. the making of gold nibs. Special thanks to John Mottishaw for lending his orig- Brown trained several workers, including George inal Foley book. For a somewhat different view of Levi Barney, the Bard brothers, and John Foley. In 1840 Levi Brown’s role in the development of gold nibs, please see Brown relocated to Brooklyn, New York and established Jack Leone’s article, “The Invention And Perfection Of both jewelry and gold nib manufacturing businesses The Gold Nib,” beginning on page 10. ! there. The making of gold nibs by hand was, perhaps, not an especially profitable enterprise in these early All rights reserved by the author. days. Worse, each worker trained was almost certain to References: become a competitor, if not now then some day, since 1. Henry Bore, The Story of the Invention of Steel Pens, the process was becoming public knowledge and could (London, New York: Ivison, Blakeman and Company, 1890); not be patented nor otherwise protected. John Foley’s 2. John Foley, An Interesting History, Gold Pens: Who steps in making a gold nib are described in the accom- Invented Them, When, and Where, (New York: self pub- panying sidebar. lished, 18 75); Among Levi Brown’s workers was John Randell, also 3. Beulah G. Groehn, Before the Ball Point Pen (pamphlet of Brooklyn, who applied the techniques of machine published by the Detroit Historical Museum, circa 1960).

WINTER 2005 9

THE PENNANT THE INVENTION AND PERFECTION T h e G e o r g e S h e p p a r d a n d J o h n H o l l a n d S t o r y OF THE GOLD NIB by J.G. Leone

This story starts in 1840 in Detroit, Nibs” elsewhere in this issue for another view Michigan, a frontier fur-trading town on the role of Levi Brown and others in the of 5000 inhabitants. The new steel pens invention of gold nibs.) arriving from England intrigued a local The gold pen business prospered gunsmith, George W. Sheppard. (What and Sheppard soon moved it to larger we now refer to as ‘nibs’ were called quarters at Sixth and Walnut Streets. ‘pens’ at that time.) The steel pens Many needed supplies were purchased were an improvement over the quills at the nearby Armstrong’s Drug of Mother Goose, but left much to be Store. It was in this shop that our next desired. They were crudely made; they important development occurred.

corroded in both ink and the open air, JOHN HOLLAND JOINS THE and they were expensive because they had COMPANY to be replaced often. In 1845, John Holland and his fam- THE FIRST GOLD PENS ily emigrated from the area known as George Sheppard decided to make a pen “Holy Ground:” County Cork, Ireland. from gold instead of steel. A Detroit jew- They settled in Cincinnati where John’s eler named Levi Brown supplied the gold, and John Holland father found work as a bricklayer. After a brief Sheppard experimented with solving two major stint in public schools, John Holland became a problems: tempering the gold for a combination of clerk at Armstrong’s Drug Store. In the summer of strength and flexibility, and tipping the point so the friction of 1853, fifteen-year-old John caught the attention of George writing would not ruin it. Sheppard. John soon was employed as an apprentice pen maker at Sheppard eventually solved both problems and crafted the first a salary of $3.00 per week. durable gold pen. He realized that his handiwork would require a Holland was a quick learner. By 1858, he had become a master larger market than Detroit. The first railroad line had just been craftsman and had acquired a one-third partnership in Sheppard’s completed between Lake Erie and Cincinnati, so Sheppard used gold pen company. it to leave Detroit and find his fortune in Cincinnati, a city of In 1859, John Holland made his first fountain pen, as he saw 50,000 and the largest city in the West. the appeal that such an instrument would have. However, the In 1841, above a barber shop on Main Street, between Seventh holders for the pens had to be made of non-corrosive materials & Eight Streets, George Sheppard founded the first gold pen fac- such as solid gold, which was cost prohibitive. tory in the world. In 1861, John’s brother, Timothy Holland, also became a master (Author’s Note: In 1916, John Holland made the claim that George pen maker at the factory. The gold pen business continued to thrive. Sheppard invented the gold nib and built the first factory for producing However, the tensions of the approaching Civil War weighed them. See L. M. Fultz’s article, “The History of Making Metal Pen heavily on George Sheppard’s mind. He was convinced that the

10 WINTER 2005

THE PENNANT