When Did Ball Points Replace Real Pens In Schools?

[Charles Skinner]

I know that, at some point, when I was in school in a small Southern town, in the late 1940's and early 1950's, I know that in some classes I had to use a real fountain pen for important "papers." I might have had an Esterbrook back in those days, but am not sure.

 

My question is, ---- when do you think that ball point pens REPLACED real pens in schools and in society as a whole?

 

As far as "cultural changes" go, this was a major shift, in my opinion. What are your thoughts on when this change "came to pass?"

 

C. S.

[pen tom]

I was a student starting in about 1957. First in a small Wisconsin town then from 1960, in Milwaukee. I don't think that we ever used fountain pens. We used pencils, then pall point pens. So fountain pen use must have been before the late 50s.

[pen tom]

...thats BALL point pens... (not pall)

[USMCMom]

I'm originally from the west coast ... Bay Area, California. Elementary school was in the mid 50's. We never used fountain pens that I remember at that time. Middle school or Junior High, as it was called, never had fountain pens at that time, either.

[RonLyke]

Mid 50s on Long Island. Pencils through 3rd grade, then dip pens, with the old in-the-desk ink wells that the teacher filled from a big bottle. Fountain pens after that, then ball points, much to the chagrin of my 5th grade teacher, if I recall.

[WaskiSquirrel]

Ball points are real pens.

 

But as for the rest, ballpoints are less messy, less fussy, easier to refill and replace, and hardier with youthful hands. It doesn't surprise me that they took over as a preferred writing instrument. And, I would guess that this happened fairly quickly after they were introduced after the Second World War, mostly during the 1950s when they proliferated and became widely available.

 

Remember, they were invented because Mr. Biro (the inventor) wanted a fast-drying ink like that used in newspaper printing. The early ones had issues either with ink or the ball, so the designs didn't become good until the mid 1950s.

[AJ50]

When I started school in the mid 1950s we all used pencils. In the late 1950s we were taught how to use dip pens but not fountain pens and indeed fountain pens were looked on as elitist and were not permitted. When parents complained about not allowing fountain pens (the parents who could afford fountain pens) they were finally allowed followed quickly by ball pens.

[pen lady]

I was in senior school in England starting in 1961. We had ink dip pens (with relief nibs) in Form 1, then we were allowed to use fountain pens after that. Rough work could be done in ballpoint or pencil, but anything handed in had to be in ink. I still have my old Osmiroid and Platignum pens. I remember my Dad bought me a P61 and I HATED it, like writing with a nail. I have no idea what happened to it, but I wouldn't mind it now.

 

BTW I have recently bought a Sheaffer b/p stamped General Motors Training Program - 1951 that's based on the Craftsman Balance. It really needs one of Pendimonium's "widgets" but I've done a work-around with a Parker refill, a bit of masking tape and an old p/b spring. As someone else said on these pages, if I have to use a b/p at least make it a cool old one.

Edited November 4, 2014 by pen lady

[ISW_Kaputnik]

We moved around quite a bit after I was born in New York. My first school was in Natchitoches, Louisiana in 1963; we moved to Illinois in 1965 and settled there for the rest of my childhood. I don't recall that we ever used fountain pens in school. In fact, I don't have any memory of seeing anyone with a fountain pen. I was aware that they existed, and had heard that they would leak if you weren't careful; I even recall seeing cartridge types in office supply stores, but nobody that I knew used them.

[Hangglidernerd]

In the late 70's at my school,it was sort of an unwritten rule that pencil was acceptable through 6th grade for most work and then 7th (junior high) required ink.The new,cheap erasable ink pens had just come out and they DOMINATED my freshman junior high class.I was the one freak who also had a fountain pen in my binder....one of those cheap clear red cartridge ones sold everywhere in a blister pack.....I got an 8 year old hooked on fountain pens a few years ago with a preppy and then a kind gift of pen parts and pieces from a FPN member allowed me to restore and give her a Parker 21.She's the one rational girl in her school not using some hideous hot pink glitter pen.

[arrScott]

I was a student starting in about 1957. First in a small Wisconsin town then from 1960, in Milwaukee. I don't think that we ever used fountain pens. We used pencils, then pall point pens. So fountain pen use must have been before the late 50s.

 

I was in school from the late 1970s until the early 1990s, and this matches my experience. Fountain pens were never a presence in my schooling, not even on teachers' desks. But then neither were ballpoint pens, at least not until high school. Even then, my parents questioned my supposed need for ink pens rather than pencils at school-supply shopping time.

 

Were fountain pens ever common in American schools generally? I suspect not. But even if they briefly were, they were not "replaced" by ballpoint pens. They were "replaced" by pencils. Which had been widely used in public schools before fountain pens. At higher levels, pencils were replaced by ballpoint pens. Though just try to take a standardized test, such as a college-entrance exam, with a ballpoint or fountain pen. I dare you.

[Abner C. Kemp]

My Dad went to a catholic school in the early 60's and was forced to use a fountain pen while learning proper penmanship. As a lefty he remembers smearing ink on his worksheet and being forced to rewrite it again and again.

[The Blue Knight]

I was educated a British public school from what I remember when I moved from pencil to pen we started off with berol hand writing pens and once we had mastered them we were allowed to use our own pens. I think we weren't allowed to use biros however rollerballs were allowed or fountain pens. about 2/3 of the class used fountain pen. This was early 2000's.

 

I had checkered history with pens using fountain pens for a few months and then going back to rollerballs and gel pens and cyclically rotating every term.

Edited November 4, 2014 by The Blue Knight

[Koyote]

Ballpoint pens are real pens.

 

As far as "cultural changes" go, I think the transition from FPs to BPs was pretty minor -- just a blip, really, unless a good argument persuades me otherwise. After all, they are just slightly different ways of accomplishing the same task.

[Kataphract]

My Dad went to a catholic school in the early 60's and was forced to use a fountain pen while learning proper penmanship. As a lefty he remembers smearing ink on his worksheet and being forced to rewrite it again and again.

 

In fifth grade fountain pens were required (ahhhh, those Catholic nuns!). I escaped to public school right after the fourth grade, but my older brother had to use them for two years. So that was still going in the mid 60s. Wasn't required to use a pen until junior high, and then they let you use what you wanted to, which was generally not the inky mess that fountain pens were. Of course, ball point pens in college were usually banned in art classes, until my illustration professor said he didn't care what you used since he had animated an entire film with Bic ballpoints.

[CaseyK]

The part of the writing instrument that gets dipped in the ink is the pen. Only dip pens and fountain pens are considered real pens according to purists. Ball points are ball points and don't have pens. Of course common usage of the word has changed the meaning.

 

However I was in school when the ball point was first required instead of fountain pens. That was in 1952 in the large midwest city where I grew up. I remember because it was the year I was going to get a fountain pen and didn't.

Edited November 4, 2014 by CaseyK

[Koyote]

The part of the writing instrument that gets dipped in the ink is the pen. Only dip pens and fountain pens are considered real pens according to purists. Ball points are ball points and don't have pens.

 

However I was in school when the ball point was required. That was in 1952 in the large midwest city were I grew up.

 

The part of the writing instrument that gets dipped in the ink is the nib.

 

Ballpoint is short for ballpoint pen.

 

Personal preferences and snobbery don't change reality.

[Zookie]

I think that it was with the introduction of the BIC line in the 1950s that ballpoints finally took over.

Besides, the BIC Crystals made great pea shooters when the innards were removed

[Abner C. Kemp]

In fifth grade fountain pens were required (ahhhh, those Catholic nuns!). I escaped to public school right after the fourth grade, but my older brother had to use them for two years. So that was still going in the mid 60s. Wasn't required to use a pen until junior high, and then they let you use what you wanted to, which was generally not the inky mess that fountain pens were. Of course, ball point pens in college were usually banned in art classes, until my illustration professor said he didn't care what you used since he had animated an entire film with Bic ballpoints.

 

Yes, he and his mother have some very funny stories (well in hindsight). Apparently the school pens the kids bought had a tendency to skip and the ink took forever to dry on the paper so as a lefty my father's workbook exercises would be half smeared and half scribbles where the pen had stopped working. One especially persnickety nun forced him to stay after school and rewrite the exercises until his middle finger started to bleed from gripping the pen. Amazing to think he was the one who got me started in this wonderful obsession!!

 

 

The part of the writing instrument that gets dipped in the ink is the nib.

 

Ballpoint is short for ballpoint pen.

 

Personal preferences and snobbery don't change reality.

 

+1

[CaseyK]

 

The part of the writing instrument that gets dipped in the ink is the nib.

 

Ballpoint is short for ballpoint pen.

 

Personal preferences and snobbery don't change reality.

Personal preference has nothing to do with it and it isn't snobbery. If you know your history, you should be aware that the nib was originally called the pen, not the whole instrument. As late as the 60's Sheaffer would only refer to fountain pens as pens. A ball point was just a ball point, felt tips as felt tips. They referred to ink delivery systems by the part that transferred the ink to the paper. Also if you read the rest of my post you'd see that I conceded that common usage now refers to the whole writing instrument as a pen and by transfer that includes ball points. The term nib came into usage to distinguish that part after people started calling other writing instruments pens too.

 

edited to correct spelling

Edited November 4, 2014 by CaseyK