Ball Points get very little love here. but this is too good to not read

[jzuzphreek]

http://www.todayifoundout.com/index.php/2014/08/origin-ballpoint-pen/

To the pen geek hiding deep down inside each of you, I DARE you to not be interested by this article!

 

[Cynomys]

I remember the early ballpoint pens of the 1950s. The ink they used was oil based and the seal wasn't perfect. Before you used the pen, you had to wipe off the little oil glob which formed on the end. A little piece of scrap paper worked for that purpose, or you could wipe it on your trousers. If you didn't, the glob was deposited on the paper and smeared badly.

 

[nymtber]

Good article! I used to use "gel" roller ball pens, then moved on to even fancier roller ball pens in college...

I still prefer mechanical pencils. I hate pens. I tend to write neater with pencil, too!

 

[celestino]

Great article!

 

[Slivovitz]

For those interested in more ballpoint history, I recommend Ballpoint, by Moldova and Evans. Fountain pens are nicer to write with under conditions that permit it, but the ballpoint is a wonderful invention in its way, and there are interesting human stories behind most such.

That linked article was interesting, too. I knew, of course, that the myth of NASA spending millions to develop the Space Pen was just that, a myth. I'd never read, though, just how frugal they got when buying them from Fisher. Of course, as the article points out, the advertising value must have been worth selling a few hundred pens at a discount.

 

[BSAGuy]

That's an interesting article. Thanks for sharing.

 

[TheVez2]

I remember the early ballpoint pens of the 1950s. The ink they used was oil based and the seal wasn't perfect. Before you used the pen, you had to wipe off the little oil glob which formed on the end. A little piece of scrap paper worked for that purpose, or you could wipe it on your trousers. If you didn't, the glob was deposited on the paper and smeared badly.

The 50s? That happened to me in the 80s and 90s when I'd use a ball point pen in school.

 

[DougK]

Every cadet I knew in ROTC bought a Space Pen as soon as they could after their first field exercise. There is simply no better, more reliable pen for writing in the field. I'm surprised they never became standard-issue items.