Fountain Pen Day
Elegant instruments of ink, a blend of art and writing, allowing thoughts to flow gracefully onto the canvas of paper.
Celebrate the craftsmanship and nostalgia of fountain pens to drive premium stationery sales and engage writing enthusiasts during the first Friday of November.
- The art of handwriting: why fountain pens are making a comeback in the digital age
- Collector's spotlight: showcase limited-edition and luxury fountain pen designs
- Gift guide: premium fountain pens for the discerning writer
- Behind the nib: the craftsmanship and history of fountain pen manufacturing
The tools used for writing have gone through some massive changes throughout history. To begin with, it was chisels used to mark stone, a bit of papyrus reed to mark out the shapes of cuneiform, or bits of charcoal used to mark words on pieces of Birch Bark or bits of leaf.
Eventually, the ink was created, using various types of plant matter, animals, and eventually iron and extract of Oak galls. Ink required a new tool, and that tool was initially the dip quill pen, a bit of feather (usual goose) with a carefully cut nib to draw up the ink and transfer it to paper.
This was such an amazing innovation that it stayed with us for a goodly long while, but ultimately a new creation was needed that didn’t require constant dipping, and that didn’t require constant recutting of the nib.
So it was that the fountain pen came to exist in 1636, combining a wonderful reservoir of ink with a metal nib that didn’t require being recut constantly. The world of writing was changed forever, and it took 300 years for an innovation to come along that overshadowed it.
Overshadowed, but not eliminated, the fountain pen is still the writing utensil of choice for those who prefer a more traditional, elegant, and beautiful method of writing. It also has the benefit of producing a cleaner and more consistent line. Fountain Pen Day honors this writing utensil with the long, and ongoing, history.