Remember in the olden days,
when you didn’t have
a laptop
or an ipad and you had to write
things down on paper –
with a pen?
Seems so very long ago,
doesn’t it…
(Ok,
A little exaggeration…)
Let’s head back
to 1888…
Meet John Loud,
American leather tanner.
He patented the first
roller-ball-tip
pen.
Inside the pen was ink,
which was applied
through the roller ball.
(If you’re
not sure
what I am talking about…
have a close look at a pen…)
Funny thing –
the pen
was never produced!
The 350 similar
designs
(over 30 years)
were never produced either!
What?
The
problem…
the ink.
Too thin – it leaked.
Too thick – it didn’t come out.
50 years after Loud’s patent,
two Hungarian brothers
stepped up.
Their names were Ladislas
and
Georg Biro and it was
the year 1935.
They showed their improved model
to the
president of Argentina,
who convinced them to set up
factory in Argentina,
where they would be able
to sell their pens.
By 1943 the factory was ready.
But…
Big Problem!
Big Flop!
The ink was still fussy
and the pens had to be
held
straight up to even
think about working!
Back to the drawing board!
Their new, improved version
began selling in
Argentina
a year later…
but before long,
the men were broke.
American pilots,
in Argentina during the war,
liked the pens –
which worked at high altitudes!
The
Eberhard Faber Company
paid the Biro brothers
BIG dollars to take over
the
production of the pen.
These EFC guys later sold
the idea to the Eversharp
Company.
Even still…
the same old problems still existed.
By now, many of the patents
were out of date
and
the ideas could be used.
One man who
made pens
from the old patents
was Milton Reynolds.
In a weird twist,
he made
money
from the old designs.
By the mid 1940’s
several companies bragged
that their design was the best.
The
market was hotting up…
but, really…
the same old problems
still existed!
(Who knew it was so complex!)
Let’s jump to 1949,
and a company named
Papermate
hits the market
with its pen…
Of course, sales skyrocketed
and the pen was soon
selling
in the hundreds of millions!
Another man to make
mountains of money
from the pen was Marcel Bich,
a Frenchman.
He hated that the pens
were so expensive
and yet,
so unreliable.
By 1952,
his design hit the market
My goodness!
Using laptops and ipads
seems easier!
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