It is hardly appropriate to say that nowadays, ballpoint pens, which have long supplanted their feather predecessors, have become as much an integral part of everyday life as any other achievement of modern civilization. Each person, regardless of his occupation, periodically uses them, not even assuming that the history of ballpoint pens may contain elements of a real detective story. But let's not get ahead of ourselves and talk about everything in order.
Just like all ingenious
The principle of operation of a ballpoint pen is known to everyone, and is so simple that it does not require any additional explanations. It is well known that it consists of a plastic tube filled with pasty ink, which is transferred to the paper using a ball placed on the end of the rod.
That's all! What could be easier? Perhaps only a wheel, however, mankind spent millennia on its invention. In this case, everything happened much faster, but it took a lot of imagination and creative thinking to create a well-known pen for us from designers.
The idea that dawned on John Laud
The name of the person who invented the ballpoint pen is known to many - this is John Laud, an American amateur inventor from the state of Massachusetts (photo above). In 1888, it occurred to him to create a design that was very reminiscent of a modern ball deodorant, in which special inks were supplied through a thick rod, which differed from ordinary ones in high viscosity. In October of that year, he patented his invention, while establishing commercial production of the first ballpoint pens.
In a competitive environment
The novelty was liked by the Americans and began to rapidly conquer the market, bringing its creator a fair income, but even more a headache. The fact is that over the next thirty years, many entrepreneurs tried to kill his profitable business by patenting their own designs, but each time unsuccessfully. Without a secret known only to ballpoint pen inventor John Laud, they produced goods that were unable to withstand market competition.
Their rods constantly leaked, clogged, and the ball simply fell out after a short use. In order to penetrate the commercial secrets of Laud, they repeatedly tried to bribe his employees, and also sent their own agents to the enterprise. The inventor had to constantly repel the onslaught of unscrupulous competitors until they were convinced of the futility of their efforts and left him alone.
Idea born in print shop
The next stage in the history of the creation of ballpoint pens dates back to the mid 30-ies of the XX century and is associated with the names of two Hungarians of the Biro brothers, one of whom - Laszlo (his photo above) - was a journalist, and the other - Georg - a chemist. Both of them were people gifted with a creative mindset. By the nature of his studies, Laszlo had to write a lot, and, using ordinary fountain pens, he was constantly forced to take care not to smudge the fresh text. Anyone who has come across this understands the full extent of the inconvenience.
And then one day, being in the printing house and watching how almost dry newspaper sheets appeared from the rotary machine, he thought about whether it is impossible to use quick-drying ink or their improved substitute for writing. Laszlo shared his thoughts with his brother, who, as mentioned above, was a chemist and could approach the problem more professionally.
Development of Hungarian immigrants
Georg took the idea enthusiastically, and, joining forces, the brothers began to develop their own design of a ballpoint pen. The history of their invention is closely related to the events that swept Europe in the late 30s. The Second World War began, in which the Hungarian government, as you know, took the side of the Third Reich. In this regard, Laszlo, who repeatedly spoke out with anti-fascist articles, was forced to hastily leave the country and emigrate first to Paris, and after his occupation by the Nazis to Spain and, finally, to Argentina. There in 1940 Georg joined him.
By this time, the brothers had already created and patented a prototype of an improved ballpoint pen, very similar to those used today around the world. Laszlo designed it, and the composition of a viscous quick-drying paste was developed by Georg. It only remained to establish the commercial production of a new product, but this required considerable funds, which the brothers did not have. Fortunately, their Argentine friend Juan Maine came to the rescue, becoming an investor in the project.
In June 1942, ballpoint pens marked with the Birome trademark first appeared on the shelves of Buenos Aires and some other Argentinean cities, which was derived from the names of the owners of the company they founded - Biro and Maine. It is characteristic that even today, after more than seven decades, in Argentina it is customary to call ballpoint pens “biroms”, just as the names of their inventors inherited such attributes of the modern world as “diapers” and “jeeps”.
The success of an entrepreneurial American
The history of ballpoint pens was further developed directly in the United States, where a novelty imported from Argentina confidently replaced the previous model developed by John Laud from the shelves. It began with the fact that in 1943, a small American businessman Milton Reynolds accidentally acquired a Beer pen during a business trip to Buenos Aires, which was very popular in Argentina but completely unknown in his homeland. Having appreciated its merits and figured out what benefits could be gained if you did not restrict yourself with the scope of the law, upon returning home, he patented someone else's invention under his name and, finding investors, proceeded to mass production.
We must pay tribute to Reynolds - in his adventure, he showed an extraordinary business acumen. After an advertising campaign conducted by him on an unprecedented scale even for America, the first batch of 10 thousand pens was sold out within a few hours, and caused such a stir that in New York alone to restore order near the largest Gimbels department store, more than fifty were involved police officers. The self-styled inventor supplied his brainchild with the Reynolds Rocket brand.
In search of justice
The further history of ballpoint pens is very reminiscent of the script of an exciting Hollywood action movie. As overseas journalists later wrote, the Biro brothers, stunned by the insolence of Reynolds, who had arrogated their invention, sued him, but he already managed to get so rich that he plunged into silence even the vaunted American Themis.
Having made sure that justice could not be achieved through legal means, and the income due to them was literally slipping under his nose, Laszlo and Georg turned to the help of the famous goat nostra, the omnipotent Italian mafia that freely felt on the American continent.
Lucky Reynolds
A series of spectacular-looking, but absolutely futile attempts on their offender followed. Bullets turned his cars into a sieve, but only after he was hiding in the office door, and the restaurants did not explode before Reynolds had time to dine and get out. As all the same journalists later claimed, the answer to such phenomenal luck was simple: being at the sight of the mafia, a cunning businessman bribed her godfathers, and those who received hefty sums from both warring parties played a double game.
The new brand that has replaced the famous Parker pens
In 1950, another American entrepreneur, Marcel Bic, seized the ballpoint pen manufacturing initiative. However, unlike his dashing compatriot, he legally bought the patent from the Biro brothers and, having the necessary funds, began mass production. He led the business so competently and successfully that he soon began to sell annually up to 40 million copies of products, even ahead of the concern that produced the world-famous Parker pens.
In 1965, Marcel Bic finally secured the title of the sole leader in the production of this type of product. As you know, the 60s were marked by the exacerbation of the Cold War, caused by attempts by America and the Soviet Union to achieve primacy in the creation of nuclear weapons. The topic was widely heard, and the entrepreneurial Beek took advantage of this for commercial purposes. Calling his products "atomic pens", he ensured its popularity around the world.
Space handles
The last major improvement in ballpoint pens was the development of American engineer Paul Fisher. In 1966, he managed to improve the design so much that the handles began to work flawlessly even in zero gravity. If his invention did not have practical significance for ordinary earthly inhabitants, then the “space pen” was simply priceless as an advertisement.