Famous people's pens

[Tom Aquinas]

I don't pretend to know what Adolf Hitler wrote with at one or another time of his life. But I do know there isn't any substantial contradiction between saying he wrote with a Simplo or that he wrote with a Montblanc. The company we now know as Montblanc began by manufacturing Simplo pens.

 

 

The Simplo was a popular pen in Europe. The many that still survive are testimony they were a good product.

[Freddy]

Link to the Pens of JFK

http://www.fountainp...sident-kennedy/

 

Addendum:

 

Historical context early 1960s..re Diplomat.. not

on anybody's radar in North America..Parker..Sheaffer..

Esterbrook...was..And there is ample primary source

to show what they used..ie President{s}.... .

 

Fred

 

Boo Ga Loo Down Broadway ~ S. Cropper ~

[Freddy]

The Dreaded Double Post..

 

Why?

 

Don't know why?

 

Stuff happens..and almost don't count..

 

Fred

 

 

Edited March 18, 2013 by Freddy

[MikeForester]

The Royal Society of Literature has retired Charles Dickens' quill pen and replaced it with T.S. Eliot's fountain pen. There were short pieces about it in the Guardian and the Telegraph, but neither said what kind of pen it is. The Telegraph has a picture here:

 

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/books/booknews/9939931/T.S.-Eliots-fountain-pen-replaces-Dickenss-quill-at-the-Royal-Society-of-Literature.html

 

Looks like it might be a Waterman's but the lever tab is not clear enough to be sure. And none of the "reporters" who got the press release thought it worthwhile finding out, either.

[DashRiprock]

I'd love to know what Christopher Hitchens wrote with - anyone know?

[Unky]

I don't pretend to know what Adolf Hitler wrote with at one or another time of his life. But I do know there isn't any substantial contradiction between saying he wrote with a Simplo or that he wrote with a Montblanc. The company we now know as Montblanc began by manufacturing Simplo pens.

I did not know Simplo and Montblanc were essentially the same company. Glad you shared, I enjoy learning this kind of information.

[arrow king]

I was just trolling this thread as it overlaps with others. I found the JFK information interesting. It is well known by those who focus on bill signing pens that JFK ordered for his tenure Esterbrook dip pens with 9668 (General Writing) nibs. They had a black barrel and clear plastic taper that was embossed with "The President The White House". They came in plain brown cardboard pen boxes.(The white boxes once sold in the JFK Library are not the same). I have two such pens and the provenance. Both were first presented to Senator Denis Chavez (NM). One for the signing of the Navajo Irrigation Project, June 13, 1962, the other The Federal Aid Highway Act, June 28, 1961. And of course, the photographs that go with them, along with annotated boxes and a typed letter for one. Similar, but of a different size, pens were used by Johnson. The model is quite common and was sold with the Dip-Less Fountain Well Esterbrook No.444, I have one in front of me. The historic pens are mounted with the original ink still on them. The JFK Library site has Photos of a number of signings and there is a book out on presidential signings. Indeed they recently recovered the original pen block seen in many of the photos.

 

I too, have the habit of pausing and studying old or historical movies to check out the pen

[Penne Stilografiche]

I'm pretty sure Judge Judy uses a sterling Montblanc Ballpoint, you see glimpses of it during her show.

[cdvd]

I think that the person in the picture is Charlie Chaplain, who famously played a tramp in the movies.

[2GreyCats]

Anyone know what C.S. Lewis wrote with?

[Penne Stilografiche]

Anyone know what C.S. Lewis wrote with?

I'd assume he'd write with a writing utensil... :roflmho:

In reality he used a no-name dip pen.

[ToasterPastry]

The Royal Society of Literature has retired Charles Dickens' quill pen and replaced it with T.S. Eliot's fountain pen. There were short pieces about it in the Guardian and the Telegraph, but neither said what kind of pen it is. The Telegraph has a picture here:

 

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/books/booknews/9939931/T.S.-Eliots-fountain-pen-replaces-Dickenss-quill-at-the-Royal-Society-of-Literature.html

 

Looks like it might be a Waterman's but the lever tab is not clear enough to be sure. And none of the "reporters" who got the press release thought it worthwhile finding out, either.

 

 

It is a Waterman 16 PSF.

[rwilsonedn]

On the New York Times site today there is an article on a lost (now recovered) last novel by Pearl S. Buck. A photo of the manuscript, which would have been written about 1971-2, suggests to me that it was written with a broad-nibbed fountain pen. Anyone have any idea what her weapon of choice was?

ron

[Bigeddie]

I'd love to know what Christopher Hitchens wrote with - anyone know?

 

Me too! Although the images that I have seen so far from his apartment in Washington (here and much later here) indicate that it might well be a laptop.

 

I remember something at the end of 'Mortalitly' about him writing in hospital towards the end, I'll look it up later.

[OcalaFlGuy]

I may have already posted this in this thread,I donna recall.

 

Here is a note signed by Retired Supreme Court Justice David Souter. I would presume it's signed by the usual black Estie J he normally uses.

 

Bruce in Ocala, FL

[GabrielleDuVent]

In regards to Hitler and MB, I read somewhere that since MB was owned by a Jew, Hitler would have never used it. Not sure how much of it's true, though.

 

Oh well. His loss.

[lockesly]

In "Ike: Countdown to D-Day", Tom Selleck, who portrays Eisenhower is shown writing with a dark blue Parker 51. If this was the case it would be the cedar blue 51 vacumatic. The makers of this film must have been trying to be as historically accurate as possible, because Ike did use a P 51 apparently, although I have no idea what colour it was.

[pencils+pens]

Donald Duck, his fountain pen, ink and blotter doing his income taxes. The New Spirit 1943 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=00u6qUelp6c

 

If you don't want to watch the intro, the pens are at 2:55.

[dorothynotgale]

Neil Gaiman was caught using a TWSBI to sign books.

 

Gaiman (my all-time favorite writer, and the person whose autograph I would have tattooed on me if I could get it) has quite a collection. He apparently uses a different color ink every day, to see how much he's writing.

 

He wrote Anansi Boys with a vintage Waterman Ideal.

 

Possibly apocryphal, but I've heard from some sources that he carefully selects a brand-new pen for each new novel, and writes only with that until it's finished. He then doesn't use that pen for anything else. From what I've read on his blog, though, this seems unlikely.

[thedeacon]

Stephen King used an FP to write Dreamcatcher. I know he used a typewriter and moved to computers as technology changed, but this novel was the first after he was hit by a car. Here's an excerpt from the Author's Note:

 

"One final note. This book was written with the world's finest word processor, a Waterman cartridge fountain pen. To write the first draft of such a long book by hand put me in touch with the language as I haven't been in years. I even wrote one night (during a power outage) by candlelight. One rarely finds such opportunities in the twenty-first century, and they are to be savored."-Stephen King

 

Alas, I don't know which Waterman. I can't find the answer.