Famous Pens

[Greg]

As a fallout from the CS forum I wonder if there are any pics of pens used in political signing rituals etc that we can find out about.

 

Here's the pen used in the Treaty of Versailles in 1919 by Lloyd George, the French and American presidents.

 

It looks to be highly decorated gold or silver clad, perhpas of French origin (seeing as it was in France.)

 

Any others? I'm sure Parkers have supplied pens for american presidents to use in the past on certain state occasions.

 

 

 

Greg

[JimStrutton]

If I recall, most of the WWII peace treaties were signed with Parkers.

 

Jim

[Armchop]

:meow:

I was watching GWB signing something the other day when I was watching the news :ph34r:

 

Then it occurred to me that some top notch pen company produces these as one only editions to be only used once :blink:

 

do the head of state thhn get to keep them as offical momentos?

Do they then end up in a drawer or get given to some lowly relative?

Or does some official or the caterer or cleaner pick them up and the end of the day and take home?

 

I've wondered too

 

Armchop

[sleek_lover]

There are a couple that come to mind...

 

Gen. Douglas McArthur signed the papers stopping hostilites with Japan at the end of WW2 with a Parker 51, if I remember correctly...

 

Mark Twain was a user of and a spokesperson for the Conklin Crescent Filler...stating, if I remember what I read once, that its design saved him from cursing because it did not roll off the desk. (I DID NOT HEAR IT FIRST HAND, regardless of what you have heard.)

 

JFK had Esterbrooks in the Oval Office, I believe.

 

Somewhere there is a display with the pen that Sig Freud used. I am told also there is a display that features a pen that Carl Jung used. Jung's pen, somewhat larger, has led to speculation on the genesis of several psychological theories.

 

If anyone cares, Oprah has made some fountain pen part of her OPRAH'S FAVORITE THINGS. I don't, although I do have a Phillip Stein watch...it is pretty cool.

 

Bill

[rattybad1]

Somewhere there is a display with the pen that Sig Freud used. I am told also there is a display that features a pen that Carl Jung used. Jung's pen, somewhat larger, has led to speculation on the genesis of several psychological theories.

:roflmho:

[Johnny Appleseed]

We have had several threads here about pens used by famous people.

 

Here is a rundown on McArthur signing the treaty at the end of WWII in the Pacific. He used two desk pens (not sure of make) and his Wife's Duofold.

 

Douglas MacArthur's Duofold, or how I failed as a detective

 

Mark Twain used several pens over the years. He is reported to have thrown a Prince Protean (1860s) pen out the window, to have used a McKinnon Stylographic pen in the 1870s, and then switched to a Wirt and later Conklin crescent fountain pen. He endorsed both the Wirt and the Conklin and was featured in Conklin advertising.

 

Ron Dutcher has done an enormous amount of research on Mark Twains fountain pens, which can be found - The Pens of Mark Twain

 

He also is working on a project to document the pens used by various US presidents:

 

Presidential Pens

 

Personally I when these threads came up, I could never think of a politician I admired enough to want their pen. Then I realized there was one - one of the most important political figures alive during my childhood. As a young child I met him in 1976 and have his autograph stuck away in my files somewhere.

 

I want Fishbait's pen!

 

- John

[Bradley]

Former Secretary of State Dean Acheson signed documents with a Sheaffer, I have read. And Eisenhower used a Parker "51" at the end of WWII. I have posted a similar thread about the Queen's pen, but I'm not sure where I posted it!

[Bradley]

Aha! My thread about the Queen's pen is in the Parker forum, should you be interested.

[georges zaslavsky]

Mitterand used a Le Man 100 and Adenauer used a 149 that he lent to Kennedy as far as I can remember.

[mike1]

It's my understanding that Eisenhower was a fan and user of Parker 51's.

[WilliamK]

:meow:

I was watching GWB signing something the other day when I was watching the news :ph34r:

 

Then it occurred to me that some top notch pen company produces these as one only editions to be only used once :blink:

 

do the head of state thhn get to keep them as offical momentos?

Do they then end up in a drawer or get given to some lowly relative?

Or does some official or the caterer or cleaner pick them up and the end of the day and take home?

 

I've wondered too

 

Armchop

The way I understand it, when the President signs a bill into law that's of historic import, he uses alot of pens. Each letter of his name is signed with a different pen. Those pens are then given away to people who had something to do with the bill, or other important government figures.

 

The pens are paid for by the President's respective party organization.

 

Not sure if this happens for every bill, or just the really big ones.

 

Those pens that President Bush was using were really pretty.

[Col]

The way I understand it, when the President signs a bill into law that's of historic import, he uses alot of pens. Each letter of his name is signed with a different pen.

That must mean his signature is composed of distinct letters - does he join them up?

 

---

Col

[Bradley]

Yes, I've often wondered about this, too, Col. I would love to see a signature written in this manner.

[Col]

I've attached Dubya's signature below. Unless you count the disjointed 'B' as two characters, that's only four pens to be given away. The Republicans must be short of funds.