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Important Fountain Pen Companies -- A Fascinating History

These fountain pen companies all share some common traits. First of all they are not new companies, many having been founded over 100 years ago. In addition, the vintage fountain pens they manufactured are prized by collectors because of their quality and beauty. Here is a brief history of some of the companies that have made major contributions to the fountain pen industry.

W. A. Sheaffer Pen Company -- Sheaffer is one of the better known names in pens. The company was founded in 1912, but the story of the Sheaffer pen starts five years earlier, in 1907.

At this point in the history of the fountain pen, the way you got ink into the pen was to take an eye dropper and load it a drop at a time into the ink reservoir. Everyone, including Walter Sheaffer, felt like this was an extremely messy way to do it. He started looking at other possibilities and knew there must be a better way to fill a fountain pen.

Sheaffer conducted many experiments and finally discovered that by using a small pump lever he could design a better way to refill a fountain pen. In 1908 the U.S. Patent Office granted Sheaffer a patent on his invention. Now it was possible to use ink directly from the bottle and refill a fountain pen without the issues associated with the older method.

Pelikan -- Since 1838 (170 years!) the Pelikan company has been in business. Gunther Wagner bought the original factory in 1871 when it was first just an ink and paint operation. Wagner's family crest was used as the inspiration for the logo and the name.

The Pelikan pen company invented a new, highly reliable fountain pen refilling system. It used a small piston and they called it a "differential plunger". With this new invention they manufactured their first fountain pen in the year 1929. Top quality workmanship and nibs that are written in by hand after shaping and polishing are hallmarks of their operation.

Parker -- The Parker Pen Company is another fountain pen business that can be said to have been started in response to a complaint. As a teacher in how to operate a telegraph machine, George Parker watched as his students had problems with their fountain pens. They would complain about the quality of the writing instruments. It just so happened that Parker was also selling fountain pens for a different company at the time. He knew first hand that fountain pens frequently sent too much ink to the nib of the pen and other times did not send enough.

Parker was able to improve the flow of the ink, solving his students problems, and for the next 30 years worked on fountain pen designs. He also designed a lever type filling system.

Montblanc -- Some of the best known pens, and one of the best known names in fountain pens, is Montblanc of Germany. Since 1908 they have been manufacturing pens that are prized by vintage fountain pen collectors. Some people accuse them of letting their quality slip and just focusing on the marketing efforts. While it is true they have branched into other luxury markets such as eye wear and fragrances, Montblanc vintage fountain pens are still highly desired by collectors of antique fountain pens.

Although the internet has become a vast marketplace, official Montblanc dealers are not permitted to sell using the web. The Montblanc company says that there are fake pens being sold and this is the reason they do not permit it. There are those who believe it is only a marketing ploy to keep their retail prices high.

Waterman -- Waterman fountain pens are some of the best pens ever made. The company was started in the USA by Louis Waterman although today the pens are made in Paris, France. His primary contribution to the fountain pen was the development of an ink feed that would direct the ink down the back of the nib and deposit it on the paper, an invention that he patented in 1884.

Many people claim they write almost perfectly every time they are used. Because of this reliability the Waterman name is one of the most familiar and easily recognized names in the fountain pen manufacturing business. The company was a small scale operation until sales expanded after World War I.

Omas -- Each pen that comes from the Omas factory is hand made. The fountain pens are thought by many to be among the finest luxury fountain pens created. Each pen can take up to 100 days to be made, and attention is paid to the finest details, so it is no wonder that their vintage fountain pens are so highly regarded. The nibs of their pens produce a high quality of calligraphy because they are extremely flexible. Established in 1925 in Italy, Omas set their expectation of extremely high standards at the point when the business was founded.

Different vintage fountain pen collectors prefer one brand over the other, but one thing for sure, many of these companies will still be around for the next 100 years. They have a long, proud tradition of fountain pen manufacturing, and they all have interesting stories surrounding the pens they created.

Article Source: http://www.articleadventure.com

Sara Bondia has wide ranging interests and enjoys researching information on vintage fountain pens, and purchasing and selling on eBay. For more information on acquiring vintage fountain pens and for some incredible bargains on fountain pens, visit her Vintage Fountain Pens website.

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