Everyday writers in the 1960's

[yubaprof]

I was in high school in California from 1960-64. I remember there was only one teacher who used a fountain pen and all the others had converted to ballpoints. As for students, I think very few used pens and instead relied on pencils. I recall John F. Kennedy used a Parker ballpoint (Jotter?) in the 1960 presidential debates (Kennedy v. Nixon) and made sure that the camera picked up on it. The message was that he was modern and Nixon was not. I began using a cheap Sheaffer - from the Rx in town - during my senior year, copying that solo teacher. I have used an FP ever since, although I have moved on from that plastic throw away Sheaffer.

[Karmachanic]

5 hours ago, yubaprof said:

I recall John F. Kennedy used a Parker ballpoint

 

In 1963 Kennedy lent his MB 149 to Chancellor Adenauer in Berlin.

[yubaprof]

7 hours ago, Karmachanic said:

 

In 1963 Kennedy lent his MB 149 to Chancellor Adenauer in Berlin.

Yes, that's right, but in the debates with Nixon he used a ballpoint. Was the MB 149 Kennedy's everyday carry or was it a diplomatic gesture for that particular occasion? I think the latter.

[saperry4890]

On 5/21/2024 at 7:12 AM, welch said:

 

Almost none. The Sheaffer school pen was about $1, Parker released the P-45 in 1960, and it was $4.98. 

Ok

I am sort of wondering it was just made up price since it was just a TV sitcom. It was mentioned by one of the child characters said something about it to his friend because gifts for a teacher. The cost of the gift probably couldn't be over a certain amount like a $1.00 or so.

[pen lady]

At my Secondary school in England in the Mid-60's I used an Osmiroid and a Platignum that was styled like a P61.  I remember going to the bank with my Mum and the teller giving her some blotting paper for her signature, but she had used one of those ''new-fangled'' ballpoints!

[Karmachanic]

Kurt Vonnegut was probably an everyday writer in the 60s

[welch]

9 hours ago, saperry4890 said:

Ok

I am sort of wondering it was just made up price since it was just a TV sitcom. It was mentioned by one of the child characters said something about it to his friend because gifts for a teacher. The cost of the gift probably couldn't be over a certain amount like a $1.00 or so.

 

Must have been a made-up price. The $4.98 Parker 45 replaced, more or less, the $5 Parker Super 21, their school pen and economy pen of the 1950s. The ballpoint P=45 was about $1.98, so the Jotter must have been about that price. 

 

There must have been end-of-the-line Wearevers and Esties in the 1960s. I don't remember them from way back when, but I've seen late-model Esterbrooks and bought a couple on Ebay. They were certainly better than $1 pens.

 

(Around 1970, I was using a .50 Bic Clic, with .25 blue refill, on lousy report paper that our research project required. That's just to give a sense of what things cost at the end of the 1960s)

[inkstainedruth]

7 hours ago, Karmachanic said:

Kurt Vonnegut was probably an everyday writer in the 60s

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

[saperry4890]

On 5/28/2024 at 10:36 AM, welch said:

 

Must have been a made-up price. The $4.98 Parker 45 replaced, more or less, the $5 Parker Super 21, their school pen and economy pen of the 1950s. The ballpoint P=45 was about $1.98, so the Jotter must have been about that price. 

 

There must have been end-of-the-line Wearevers and Esties in the 1960s. I don't remember them from way back when, but I've seen late-model Esterbrooks and bought a couple on Ebay. They were certainly better than $1 pens.

 

(Around 1970, I was using a .50 Bic Clic, with .25 blue refill, on lousy report paper that our research project required. That's just to give a sense of what things cost at the end of the 1960s)

It was stated that it was a fountain pen not a ballpoint and the price was $0.59 in the aired in 1960. It was like just a plot point. 

[jchch1950]

My elder brother had a Parker 21, I received as a gift a Parker 45 for my  12 birthday. That was in the early 60's. I remember Esterbrook and Wearever fountain pens.