Ballpoint Pen: The Tools That Changed the History of Human Writing -Md Sazzadul Islam

Despite the influence of electronic devices, it is difficult to imagine a day without a pen today. However, this was not the case even before World War II in the last century, when pens were still a luxury item. Due to the high cost of both the materials used to make the pens and the ink, it was difficult to imagine that anyone would have two or four pens on their desk unless it was influential.

Ballpoint pens have changed this scenario; the mobility of people writing has increased; the mobility of pens has increased; today’s pencils travel miles in the pocket. At the beginning of the last century, as the use of ink began to decline, the only pen other than the pencil was the fountain pen. Over time, the fountain pen has lost its place to the ballpoint pen and is now a symbol of elegance and sophistication.

Paper Perfectionism: The Compatibility Conundrum

Since fountain pens use liquid ink that takes time to dry, the paper needs to be a bit thicker to write on. After writing again, if the hand rubs somehow, the ink spreads. Another difficulty is that, due to the use of liquid ink, it has to be held a little bit. Those who are used to using this pen say to hold it at an angle of 40–55 degrees to the plane. Many call it the ‘Sweet Spot of Fountain Pen’. This angle may vary slightly according to the pen, ink, and hand structure, but to maintain the continuity of the ink, it should be held slightly. If you have time, calligraphy can be done very well with this pen as a hobby. But as the Earth’s motion increased, the fountain pen began to fall out of orbit. Many people started using pencils instead of fountain pens to write faster. However, pencil writing tends to blur after a long time, so many people have thought of alternative pens to fountain pens to write on paper quickly and for a long time.

The Luminous World of Ballpoints

John Loud filed the first patent for a ballpoint pen in 1888. This American lawyer was quite comfortable working on the details of the parts as well as the practice of law. He had a knack for opening and disassembling machines. Due to being a lawyer, he has used a fountain pen for a long time. The ink is stuck to the paper, and he saw that there was a problem with its design when he repeatedly opened the ink refill. Also, he wanted to create a pen that could easily write on wood, paper, or leather.

The ballpoint pen we use today has a small steel ball that rotates on the head. As you continue to write on the paper, this rotating ball comes into contact with the ink and can eject the ink itself repeatedly. This design was originally by John Loud. But this design has another great use; the ‘roll-on deodorant’ we use is also inspired by this design, with liquid deodorant instead of ink on the back of the ball. In the case of a pen, the fluid will be behind the rotating steel ball, but the steel ball and socket will be sized to prevent the ink from spilling back out. This design will also reduce ink consumption. Laud’s patent showed his pen to be a slightly improved version of the fountain pen, the ink in which was liquid like a fountain pen. So it was difficult to write on leather or wood but on ordinary, thin paper. Since it is not possible to write on thin paper or in the everyday work of common people, this patent gradually lost its economic importance. However, many have worked to improve this design. In 1930, an Austrian-Argentine journalist named Lazlo Biro began researching ballpoint pens. He used to constantly use the fountain pen for the sake of journalism, and like Loud, he also wanted to solve its problems.

The Change of Perspective

He realised that if the same liquid ink was used in the ballpoint pen, it would not matter. Writing is a little easier, but the same thick paper has to be used, and the ink will spread. That is, the most important component of the pen, the ink, needs to be changed a little. Incidentally, Lazlo Biro’s brother was a dentist and chemist. After talking with his brother, he understood that the ink should be made a little thicker. In other words, if we combine the chemicals, the viscosity of the ink should increase.

The question of viscosity can be easily understood by taking the example of water and honey. Water spreads easily on a glass plate, but honey does not spread easily. The reason why honey does not spread even when it is liquid is its degree of viscosity. The higher the viscosity, the lower the degree of dispersion. Lazlo and his brother started thinking about increasing the viscosity of pen ink.

Various types of glue were mixed with ink to test its viscosity. Ink that is too sticky tends to clump up without coming out of the pen nib, and if kept for too long, it smudges. So the pioneering work on viscosity by Lazlo Biro and his brother later became a major regulator of the ballpoint pen industry. In a Biro pen, the adhesive ink will be placed in a tube, and from the tube, gravity will gradually deposit it near the nib of the pen. And the ball will roll on the paper like a wheel on the outside; the wheel will come into contact with the ink as it spins. Since the slightly sticky ink will dry quickly even on thin paper, it is less likely to rub off. The entire pen package of Lazlo Biro and his dentist brother was different from Laud’s. So Biro took out a new patent for his work in 1938.

Europe’s War

Despite taking a patent in 1938, the two brothers were unable to start mass production of this pen. Lazlo Biro and his brother fled to Argentina in 1941 after being persecuted in their home country for being Jewish. There he launched a ballpoint pen called ‘Birom’. The pen caught the attention of Britain’s Royal Air Force, where the ‘Birom’ began to replace the pencil at higher altitudes where fountain pens were useless. Thirty thousand copies were ordered by the Royal Air Force for this pen. During World War II and after, these ballpoint pens became very popular. Lazlo Biro’s patent underwent a few changes, some in the shape of the pen and some in the ink. So there is less need to worry about this patent than about how to get the pen to people easily and cheaply. In 1945, American businessman Milton Reynolds decided to sell this ballpoint pen in the United States. In newspapers, the pen was advertised. Long lines can be seen in front of the shops to buy a new pen for twelve and a half dollars. If we take the twelve and a half dollars of that time as today, it will stand at one hundred and eighty dollars; that is, by spending this money, more than a thousand pens can be bought today.

Revolutionary Changes Unfolded

The earliest ballpoint pens didn’t really come out of the shadow of the fountain pen very much. Initially, it was made as a competitor, and since the price of the pen was also high, one of the advantages of the pen to people was its durability. Hence, the use of metallic materials was more common in making durable pens. In their advertisement, Reynolds used to say that anyone could write anywhere without refilling for two years. A fountain pen is a useful solution to avoid the hassle of refilling it again and again. Gradually, more famous fountain pen manufacturing companies, including ‘Parker’, also entered the ballpoint pen market. Since pens are long-lasting, buying a pen means buying refills for a long time. Therefore, in the middle of the fifties, it was seen that people no longer buy pens but buy refills; that is, a new crisis appeared in the market for pen companies. When French-Italian businessman Marcel Bick observed the pen market for a long time, he realised that even though pens were becoming a necessity for the common man, he could not replace them frequently due to their high price. Much like today’s smartphones, many spend a lot of money burning a smartphone until it breaks; the pen was much the same back then.

In many cases, the pen is also expressing nobility. Marcel Bick started working on this idea: if the pen can be made cheaper and its useful life is limited, then the pen market will change. In the fifties and sixties, the use of cheap plastic materials made pens more readily available, and glass, metal, or wooden pens began to disappear from the market.

Almost all pen companies around the world have turned to plastic, following the pen made by Bick. Bick’s crystal clear plastic pen ‘Cristal’ is considered to be one of the most commercially successful pens in the history of the world. By 2006, the pen had sold more than 100 billion copies worldwide. Interestingly, being transparent, the ink of this pen can be seen before it runs out, and as the ink runs down, the mind is tempted to buy a new pen. Instead of buying pen refills, buying a new pen or a whole pack of pens has become part of the culture. By the 1970s, a plastic ballpoint pen cost less than a pencil.

Ballpoint pen prices have dropped so much that famous brands have lost their hegemony in various countries. As the pen became more commonplace, the company’s name on it became less important. Especially in developing countries, reputable companies have lost market share to local pen manufacturing companies. Therefore, it has become difficult to dominate the pen market alone, so the famous companies are walking on the old path, trying to make a new luxury product for the pen.

A New Era of Dynamism

When fountain pens were used, people’s writing styles were different; it was very common to join one letter to another to maintain the flow of the writing. This style of writing was called the ‘Palmer Method’, and it was done slowly. Many people learned this type of writing in elite schools or at home with tutors. A fountain pen’s ink requires it to grip the paper in such a way that this patchy writing is naturally inspired. And the institutions used to cast this purity in writing as an aristocracy. However, with the arrival of ballpoint pens in Europe and America, the current of writing began to flow in the opposite direction. There is absolutely no need to angle the nib of the ballpoint to the notebook page, but one can use it like a fountain pen if desired. You can lift the pen and start writing from any angle; that is, the freedom of using the pen increases a little. As a result, the nobility of a few styles in writing is created, and all kinds of styles are created. Ballpoint pens are an example of how a great invention can change an entire society when it becomes available to the common man.

A New Problem with Discarded Pens

The huge pen market around the world and its massive use have given rise to several problems. Billions of cheap pens that can’t be refilled are creating huge amounts of waste. Around 100 billion ballpoint pens end up in landfills worldwide each year, and the majority of plastic waste ends up in the ocean. There, the plastic of the pen, like others, breaks down under heat and pressure, giving birth to harmful microplastic particles’. These microplastic particles are extremely harmful to humans and marine ecosystems. Bick uses up to 74 percent recycled plastic to make their pens. Many large companies are doing this to increase their brand value, but most companies don’t want to get to the root of the problem. That is, using recycled plastic to make pens that have to be thrown away as waste after a full week of use. Therefore, environmentalists and researchers say that it is important for consumers to be aware. For a long time, we have been used to throwing away pens after use or buying dozens of pens at once. It is important to avoid that habit and use refillable pens. In the current pen market, pens have a short lifespan, and refills are hard to find. So it is difficult to think that the refill will come to the market soon if the common consumers do not press. So reusable pens can be a small conscious step to reduce global warming if millions of people around the world can start this change with their own pens.