Let's do this.
Part 1 - Wooden pencils
Part 2 - Fountain pens
Part 3 - Mechanical pencils
A story:
When NASA first started sending up astronauts, they quickly discovered that ballpoint pens would not work in zero gravity. To combat the problem, NASA scientists spent a decade and $12 billion to develop a pen that writes in zero gravity, upside down, underwater, on almost any surface, and at temperatures ranging from below freezing to 300 degrees Celsius.
The Russians used a pencil.
It's a great story if you are both anti-government and pro-communism (a rare combination!), but like all great stories - Noah's Ark, Santa Claus, the Moon Landing, my romantic conquests (or conquest, if you're counting. Why are people always counting?) - it's not exactly true. Both the US and the Soviets started out using pencils. However, you may recall that graphite is a good electrical conductor - exactly the kind of thing you don't want floating around in a spaceship. Grease pencils were a nice option, as they let you draw on windows, or draw penises on a sleeping astronaut's face, but they're all smudgy (the pencils, not penises, per se).
Suck it, Tea Party. NASA is awesome.
Ballpoint Pens - cheap, reliable, not prone to smudging or leaking - are the most commonly used writing implements in the world.
It should surprise absolutely no one that an American gets credit for inventing the ballpoint pen. Cheap, practical, sort of shitty, easy to mass produce - throw in "freedom" and the ballpoint pen is everything we love about being American. Leather tanner John J. Loud was issued a patent for the ballpoint pen in 1888. It sucked.
The modern ballpoint pen was patented in 1938 by the Hungarian-born Bíró brothers. The key was pairing the ball mechanism with a viscous ink. In much of the world, a ballpoint pen is still known as a "Biro," whereas in the US, they're commonly referred to as "JJ LOUDs." I made up that last part, but please start calling them that.
Marcel Bich purchased the patent for the Biro in 1945. Bich shortened his last name to Bic (possibly because that terminal h made it look just a tad German for the post-WWII world) and his company went on to be world leaders in DISPOSABLE TAT - lighters, shitty razors, pens, you name it.
Several companies ripped off the Bíró patent during the 40s, saturating the market with ballpoint pens. These were sold at a premium price. The first commercially successful ballpoint in the US, the Reynolds Rocket, sold for $9.75 in 1946 (around $120 in modern fun money) at Gimbels department store.
The classic Bic Cristal, the best selling writing implement in the world, and a classic piece of industrial design, was developed in 1950.
Bic struggled until a successful advertising campaign in the 1960s and a shift in the market to cheaper and cheaper pens helped propel them to massive popularity.
You can spend as much as you want on ballpoints these days. It's basically impossible to go to any kind of conference, orientation, bank, brothel, whatever, without being given free pens. Or you can get the same thing in solid platinum from Tiffany's. Sky's the limit!
Your Ballpoint Pen Questions Answered!
1.) What's the difference between a ballpoint and a rollerball pen? That sounds like the same thing...
Right on. A ballpoint uses an oil-based ink, whereas a rollerball has a water-based, fountain pen-y ink (although FP ink tends to be dye-based, whereas rollerballs use a pigment-based ink) specifically formulated to poison left-handed people as they smear it all over the goddamn page.
The boundary seems to have blurred a fair amount with waterproof gel inks (which still use water as a carrier solvent for the pigments) being used in rollerball and ballpoint pens. I think the general rule of thumb is that rollerball pens are pointier.
2.) Are there erasable ballpoint pens?
Yes.
3.) could you expand?
No.
(some people love 'em, but I've never been a huge fan)
4.) Despite your exquisite taste and refined manners, do you, Bagels, ever reach for a Bic Cristal?
Sure. I'm spinning one around as I write this. If nothing else, you need a ballpoint pen to sign the occasional check. Also, Mrs. Bagels is notorious for losing pens, so I keep a bunch around for her.
I'm looking around my Fortress of Calligratude and I have a pretty good collection of rollerball and ballpoint pens tucked in with the paint brushes, pencils, colored pencils, etc etc.
I definitely prefer rollerball pens over ballpoints. You get better ink saturation with less pressure and without the bleed through you often get with fountain pens. I just can't write for shit with a ballpoint - the feel is all wrong The gel ink Pilot G2 is frankly a pretty great pen. For some reason, the green ones tend to suck. Anyone else experienced this?
Even with ballpoint pens, I find that some are just better than others. I like the Papermate InkJoy - it skips less and writes more smoothly than a Bic Cristal.
Also, if it has a kitty on it, I'll buy it.
5.) Can you use ballpoint pens to make amazing art?
Here's a photograph:
And here is a version drawn using ballpoint pens:
Wikipedia on ballpoint pen artwork.
The article points out that ballpoint pen inks aren't quite the premium qualities that say, fountain pen inks are. You can buy a Noodler's ink that is both water resistant and resistant to laser pulses. On the other hand, ballpoint pen inks can have a variable sensitivity to UV light, making the artwork a bit harder to preserve.
I'll round up some pen recommendations as they roll in. Please let me know what pens you like to use (with links to places to buy them, if you'd be so kind)!
Thanks for reading, and be sure to check out parts 1-3 for more refined ways to record your deepest, most provocative thoughts:
Part 1 - Wooden pencils
Part 2 - Fountain pens
Part 3 - Mechanical pencils
A story:
When NASA first started sending up astronauts, they quickly discovered that ballpoint pens would not work in zero gravity. To combat the problem, NASA scientists spent a decade and $12 billion to develop a pen that writes in zero gravity, upside down, underwater, on almost any surface, and at temperatures ranging from below freezing to 300 degrees Celsius.
The Russians used a pencil.
It's a great story if you are both anti-government and pro-communism (a rare combination!), but like all great stories - Noah's Ark, Santa Claus, the Moon Landing, my romantic conquests (or conquest, if you're counting. Why are people always counting?) - it's not exactly true. Both the US and the Soviets started out using pencils. However, you may recall that graphite is a good electrical conductor - exactly the kind of thing you don't want floating around in a spaceship. Grease pencils were a nice option, as they let you draw on windows, or draw penises on a sleeping astronaut's face, but they're all smudgy (the pencils, not penises, per se).
The famous pressurized (ballpoint pens are gravity fed) "Fisher Space Pen" was developed privately by Paul Fisher in 1965. He asked NASA to try it out and they eventually ordered 400, at $6 a pop. The pen is still a favorite of writing enthusiasts and proved a very profitable product for Fisher.
Suck it, Tea Party. NASA is awesome.
(Fisher, not Fischer)
Ballpoint Pens - cheap, reliable, not prone to smudging or leaking - are the most commonly used writing implements in the world.
It should surprise absolutely no one that an American gets credit for inventing the ballpoint pen. Cheap, practical, sort of shitty, easy to mass produce - throw in "freedom" and the ballpoint pen is everything we love about being American. Leather tanner John J. Loud was issued a patent for the ballpoint pen in 1888. It sucked.
The modern ballpoint pen was patented in 1938 by the Hungarian-born Bíró brothers. The key was pairing the ball mechanism with a viscous ink. In much of the world, a ballpoint pen is still known as a "Biro," whereas in the US, they're commonly referred to as "JJ LOUDs." I made up that last part, but please start calling them that.
Marcel Bich purchased the patent for the Biro in 1945. Bich shortened his last name to Bic (possibly because that terminal h made it look just a tad German for the post-WWII world) and his company went on to be world leaders in DISPOSABLE TAT - lighters, shitty razors, pens, you name it.
Several companies ripped off the Bíró patent during the 40s, saturating the market with ballpoint pens. These were sold at a premium price. The first commercially successful ballpoint in the US, the Reynolds Rocket, sold for $9.75 in 1946 (around $120 in modern fun money) at Gimbels department store.
[Movie buffs may recognize Gimbels from Miracle on 34th Street, where they played the bad guy trying to kill Santa (it's been a while since I've watched it). Who can forget Santa telling a doe-eyed child, "Ho ho ho! We don't carry that toy! Why don't you TAKE YOUR SORRY $@#! TO GIMBELS YOU PIECE OF %^$&! I SWEAR TO GOD I WILL CHOKE A $#%^ING ELF! SO SICK OF THIS $#^%!" Great movie!].
What in the...?
The classic Bic Cristal, the best selling writing implement in the world, and a classic piece of industrial design, was developed in 1950.
Bic struggled until a successful advertising campaign in the 1960s and a shift in the market to cheaper and cheaper pens helped propel them to massive popularity.
You can spend as much as you want on ballpoints these days. It's basically impossible to go to any kind of conference, orientation, bank, brothel, whatever, without being given free pens. Or you can get the same thing in solid platinum from Tiffany's. Sky's the limit!
Your Ballpoint Pen Questions Answered!
1.) What's the difference between a ballpoint and a rollerball pen? That sounds like the same thing...
Right on. A ballpoint uses an oil-based ink, whereas a rollerball has a water-based, fountain pen-y ink (although FP ink tends to be dye-based, whereas rollerballs use a pigment-based ink) specifically formulated to poison left-handed people as they smear it all over the goddamn page.
The boundary seems to have blurred a fair amount with waterproof gel inks (which still use water as a carrier solvent for the pigments) being used in rollerball and ballpoint pens. I think the general rule of thumb is that rollerball pens are pointier.
2.) Are there erasable ballpoint pens?
Yes.
3.) could you expand?
No.
(some people love 'em, but I've never been a huge fan)
4.) Despite your exquisite taste and refined manners, do you, Bagels, ever reach for a Bic Cristal?
Sure. I'm spinning one around as I write this. If nothing else, you need a ballpoint pen to sign the occasional check. Also, Mrs. Bagels is notorious for losing pens, so I keep a bunch around for her.
I'm looking around my Fortress of Calligratude and I have a pretty good collection of rollerball and ballpoint pens tucked in with the paint brushes, pencils, colored pencils, etc etc.
I definitely prefer rollerball pens over ballpoints. You get better ink saturation with less pressure and without the bleed through you often get with fountain pens. I just can't write for shit with a ballpoint - the feel is all wrong The gel ink Pilot G2 is frankly a pretty great pen. For some reason, the green ones tend to suck. Anyone else experienced this?
Even with ballpoint pens, I find that some are just better than others. I like the Papermate InkJoy - it skips less and writes more smoothly than a Bic Cristal.
Also, if it has a kitty on it, I'll buy it.
5.) Can you use ballpoint pens to make amazing art?
Here's a photograph:
And here is a version drawn using ballpoint pens:
Wikipedia on ballpoint pen artwork.
The article points out that ballpoint pen inks aren't quite the premium qualities that say, fountain pen inks are. You can buy a Noodler's ink that is both water resistant and resistant to laser pulses. On the other hand, ballpoint pen inks can have a variable sensitivity to UV light, making the artwork a bit harder to preserve.
I'll round up some pen recommendations as they roll in. Please let me know what pens you like to use (with links to places to buy them, if you'd be so kind)!
Thanks for reading, and be sure to check out parts 1-3 for more refined ways to record your deepest, most provocative thoughts: