http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/getwriting/A948530

Interesting, but discouraging in some respects...

Thanks Arthur!

Very well written, good sources and extremely interesting article.

Hi,
thank you for posting it,

It's an interesting article but I have a doubt about the button filler chronology, I thinked it was created by Parker in 1916, after the coming of the lever filling of Sheaffers, but here the 1905 is indicated in the title of the section and the 1913 in the text. So what's the right date?

Thank you.

Simone

Yes, wasn't the button filler Parker's response to Sheaffer's lever filler?

Thank you for posting this link!

I always read that Waterman was a French company. This article states Waterman was started as an American company and later sold to Bic in France. Isn't Bic a German company? Can anyone confirm?

This is what I know about this, I hope that someone with more direct knowledge could complete these info, or correct any error.

Waterman was an american company. The original comany went out of business in 1954, but the french branch, named Jif-Waterman was doing fine as an independent company. The assets of the american company (and its plant) went to BIC in 1959, and 1971 Jif-Waterman, still going well, bought form BIC the Waterman brand name, and became S.A. Waterman

So now Waterman is a french company, but it was created in 1883 by Lewis Edson Waterman in New York, being one of the most prominent brand at least until 1930.


Regards
Simone

Sorry, folks, but that article is so full of mistakes and misinformation that newbies should be warned off at all costs. Dates are wrong, chronologies are wrong, inventions are misattributed, names are misspelled (including "Sheaffer"!), and it goes on and on.

There is plenty of reliable info about fountain pen and their history in print and online. There is no excuse for such a horrible mishmash of myths, misreadings, and outright mistakes.

How old is the article? Parker 75 was discontinued quite a long time ago...

At the top of the page, it says "Created: 28th January 2003".

Thanks for the link! This is a very nice summary.

Apparently L.E. Waterman was "ailing" but still in business in 1955, and was sold to Bic in 1958:

Mightier than the Pencil

I thought that they stayed in business until they were sold, but I don't have anything to confirm that.

-- Brian

The US-based Waterman was ailing during that period; however, its French subsidiary was not. Eventually, the US and UK arms of Waterman were absorbed into French subsidiary, which was later sold to Bic.

Ah, then it's a mistake. The 75 was discontinued during the 90's (I think 1996, but I'm not sure and I'm too lazy to open Richard's website).