Pen and Ink

Last night, a friend and myself were talking about our schooldays in the 50s, whilst we were reminiscing, we got talking about pens and ink, I remember at school we were still using them in the early 60s. Nibs, now, when they were new, we were told to suck on them, maybe this removed some protective film I don't know, anyone else remember those days, not forgetting the blotting paper of course.

I still use a fountain pen.

My hubby's handwriting has a tendency to look like a G.Ps
signature..he was told to always use a fountain pen.

I remember the first time I used a scratch pen, my sheet was covered in blots. It always made me wonder how in days of ole they managed to write such long parchment letters that were quite readable. I love writing with a quality fountain pen though.

My secondary education was at Wigan Grammar School, at a time when the use of fountain pens was mandatory.

As a left hander, and with a writing style that saw me smudge everything I had just written I was left with 2 options:-

1. I could use blotting paper after literally every word and find myself taking twice as long as others to take notes from the blackboard. Or

2. Incur the wrath (and sometimes the cane) and use a ballpoint pen that would allow me to keep up with the writing speeds of the rest of the class.

Being the obstinate git that I have always been I chose option 2.

Eventually the teachers got sick of arguing with me over the issue and let me get on with it.

Happy days.

Phil,
What years were you at WGS? I left in 1966 but my brother was three years behind me.

remember it well nibs from the post office across the road were 1/2d each

Bill

I started in 1966.

Dougie, Nana Crompton, she was such a love... I still have the last card she sent me..

Re the nibs and ink, I always had more ink on my fingers, than I did on the paper..I hated those things.. Loved fountain pens...

We also had the option of using a fountain pen, the stipulation was that we had to use ink, I remember some, or most of the fountain pens, had a rubber tube, you'd put it in the inkwell and by capillary action, the ink was sucked into the tube when you pressed a small lever on the side of the fountain pen.

To this day, I can't understand why this was the case of having to use ink in school when more practical instruments were available, back in about 1956, I had what was often called a "Biro" in those days, named after Laszlo Biro, the inventor.

However I digress, secondary school didn't pose any problems with writing implements, as long as you got on with it, it was the junior school that was more insistant on the use of ink.

jouell, forgot you would see this thread remember we had one phone box in the front garden of the post office for all the village in them days, cost 2d to use the phone I remember taking pop bottles back to the shop to get 2d so we could use it

I do remember dougie. I don't remember the phone number, but I used to give it to friends and a time and date so they could call me, didn't always work out though, if someone else was using the phone . How times have changed

Another writing implement that many folks have probably never heard of these days is the copying pencil[/url]" I first came across one of these whilst visiting my grandfather when I was about five years old, it was about two inches long which suggested that it'd been well used. These pencils, when dipped in water produced a purple die, sometimes called indelible ink.

Seeing mention of telephone boxes on thread concerning pen and ink reminded me of something.

Do you recall the pre-STD telephone boxes?

You put your four pennies (the latest tariff) in first, and they enabled connection of the dial and receiver.

If the party you were calling answered you pressed BUTTON A. This connected your microphone, and until you did this the person whom you had called could not hear you. It also released your money into the coin storage.

If you had not succeeded with your requirement, you could press BUTTON B, and get your four pennies back.

The returned coins fell into a receptacle into which you could insert your fingers to retrieve the coins.

By the 1950's, you would find three small holes in the base of the said receptacle. This was because in previous years kids had learned the trick of filling this receptacle with ink. The person pressing BUTTON B would usually abandon their four pence, rather than get their fingers covered in ink. The perpetrator would tour around the 'fixed' boxes collecting all the inky pennies!

I still use the school type of removable nib (quite a selection of calligraphy nibs available) in a pen holder for Christmas cards. Not the drab coloured ink though, gold, silver and sparkling ink.

With a fountain pen, you can write for extended periods without fatigue compared to ballpoint. I still use them, and have quite a few