Ballpoint Pen

For centuries quill pens were the only alternative to decent writing, yet with the Industrial Revolution new types of materials appeared and new technologies were developed, all this combination of factors lead to the creation of the first modern pens like the fountain pen and its successor the ballpoint pen. Fountain pens ruled for more than a century, from the first part of the 19th century when they were introduced in mass production until their decay in the early 1950s. It is true that fountain pens still exist and are used by some of their great fans, but the percentage is pretty low when compared to the ratings ballpoint pen models get. Fountain pens are no longer fashionable with the average user, they are generally used for elitist purposes and in very close circles, they have left the floor to the ballpoint pen.

The problem with ballpoint pen models is that if used by small children they influence their handwriting skills. Despite resistance to change, the Hungarian ballpoint pen, for instance, encountered an incredible success on the market eliminating all fountain pen competition in a matter of years. Bmrs Laszls Jszsef Biro was the inventor of the ballpoint pen; while working in a typography he noticed that the ink used on papers dried much faster than the normal ink used for writing. Bmrs Laszls Jszsef Biro was a brilliant mind, as he is also the recognized inventor of a reliable automatic gearbox bought by Ford Motor Company later in 1938. When the war started, he and his brother who was a chemist fled to Argentina, together they created a new patent in 1943 and successfully returned to the ballpoint pen industry.

The biggest advantage of ballpoint pen models produced by Bmrs Laszls Jszsef Biro and his brother was that they could write for a year without refilling. After the war was over the battle for the writing market was ready to begin as cheaper and cheaper ball-points were produced. In the first years after the 50s, competition was hard, Parker and Eversharp were the most serious competitors. But by the 1960s Eversharp disappeared from the market being absorbed by Parker. In 1985 Laszlo Biro died and left a flourishing business on the writing tools market. At present, ballpoint pens are the most commonly used writing items, and there is no competition for them so far. They are easy to write with, reliable with no leaking or other problems specific to fountain pens, they are cheap and easy to find. In a nutshell, the ballpoint pen is the absolute winner of the writing industry.