Let's Have A Good Laugh....

[tempo]

I was writing this in "What Chinese Pens Are You Using Today?"

 

But I thought it deserve its own topic....

 

So here it is:

 

 

 

----------

 

 

In China now,

 

 

Fun fact:

 

 

Duke pen is calling themselves "Duke Germany"

 

 

They made up a religious-story-like story about the founder of the Duke pen company went all over Europe in the early 90s to search for pen making secrets for the greater glory of China (yes, they actually said that )

 

 

Did he found it? :hmm1:

 

 

Well of course he did.

 

 

He find out, there is a thing called the "duke pen".

 

 

First made in 1803 by "Duke" Frederick Augustus. The Duke used this pen to make people sign the Treaty of the Confederation of the Rhine, thus making the pen famous. (yeah right, this is totally true :ltcapd: )

 

 

Confederation of the Rhine. A confederation of client states of the First French Empire. It was formed initially from 16 German states by Napoleon after he defeated Austria's Francis II and Russia's Alexander I in the Battle of Austerlitz. The Treaty of Pressburg, in effect, led to the creation of the Confederation of the Rhine. It lasted from 1806 to 1813.

 

The members of the confederation were German princes (Fürsten) from the Holy Roman Empire. They were later joined by 19 others, all together ruling a total of over 15 million subjects providing a significant strategic advantage to the French Empire on its eastern front.

 

 

This Treaty then historically started the German Capitalist development. (What the...... :bonk: )

 

 

From then on, the duke pen is the pen, for all European royal families. Only a very very few numbers got into civilian hands.

 

By which time the "duke pen" is the synonym of class.

 

 

............go on,

 

So, after this guy discover "duke pen", which is 100% German, he decided to buy the pen brand from its German owner, a person called Peter Mark (anybody know him :ltcapd: ).

 

 

Finally in 1988, the duke pen is introduced to China in the name of ShangHai Golden-Crown Gold-Pen Company. (I live in China 1980-2002, never heard of them Chinese people only know Hero and Parker, and the Japanese brand Zebra, Mitsubishi)

 

 

 

 

Anyway, hope you LOLed at this story~~~ HO HO HO~~~ Merry Christmas~~~~~

 

 

:lol:

[rochester21]

:roflmho:

 

This must be the first "fountain pen fairy tale" i ever hear(read).

And i really have to ready it multiple times, because after the first read i understand that the brand was bought over from a german duke called Peter Mark by a unknown individual who traveled all over the globe in search of the perfect pen, and all this for the greater glory of the chinese people ??!

Edited December 4, 2012 by rochester21

[mirosc]

Bbeing a historian and being from Germany I can only wonder about this extraordinary stupidity.

It seems the story of Duke Pen has emerged from a Puke Den.

 

Anyway it was good for a nice little laugh. Thank you!

[iamchum]

Lol, well... whatever sells haha. To be honest, I have had to deal with a few marketing firms in China, Shanghai specifically, and they just, seriously, come up with the most hair brained ideas. Not at all sophisticated, just plain blunt "this is awesome because blergh" may or may not be true. Seems like another one of them... That being said. I do like my Duke pens (I heard a rumour on here, however, that steadler was involved in their foundation, so the whole German part may not be so far from truth, although... the whole discovery thing might be a bit far fetched)

[RuffRydas]

That's the reason I'll never buy a Duke pen, the constant attempts to associate themselves with an European origin when they're obviously a Chinese company is insulting. I'll stick with Heros who aren't ashamed to display the "Made in China" label on their pens.

[RMN]

Well, Friedrich August I von Sachsen did play a role in the Rheinbund, which was at the time warring with Napoleon Bonaparte.

 

So that part is not fictitious. Possibly the good Duke had cut himself a nice goose feather to sign some treaty in that time? Who knows?

 

 

The story is not so bad, if you compare it to the hullabaloo many pen producers write about the inspiration for their various pens.

 

 

And in communist China everything is for the greater good, just as it was under Soviet rule in Russia (and in may other states.)

 

 

D.ick

[XiaoMG]

As another said, quite a lot of companies come up with ridiculous nonsense in their marketing. Reading marketing from Pilot and Sailor, even if I want very badly to like their products, is a constant turn-off. I hate the conflict and try to avoid it by just ignoring the marketing.

 

 

[mallymal1]

:roflmho: :roflmho: :roflmho: :roflmho: :roflmho: :roflmho: :roflmho:

 

 

[BrandonA]

Bbeing a historian and being from Germany I can only wonder about this extraordinary stupidity.

It seems the story of Duke Pen has emerged from a Puke Den.

 

Anyway it was good for a nice little laugh. Thank you!

 

Nice spoonerism.

[Sasha Royale]

Don't be too hard on them. How would I do the GEICO geco commercial in print

format alone ? It's a good effort.

 

However, the hysterical historical truth is that Marco Polo's friend,

Payne Ian Diaz, brought the first fountain pen to China in 1247 AD. It was

an eyedropper fill.

 

Edited December 5, 2012 by Sasha Royale

[Seele]

Duke's spin doctors hadn't even got out of the paddling pool, compared to those in the watch business!

[alexander_k]

By sheer coincidence, I've just returned from the Orient where I had been searching for pen-making secrets. I was lucky to meet the last emperor of Shangri-La who on his deathbed bequeathed me the famous pen that never runs out of bulletproof ink (don't forget he was a warrior) that takes the colour you wish, with a nib that varies in width and flexibility by the movement of your eyes. As soon I have mastered the mental processes required for these adjustments, I'll write the definite manual and launch the pen on the international market. In the meantime you may be contacted by my associate, an African prince and former prime minister, who's taking care of the finances through crowdfunding.

[Namo]

Nice story, when you remember it is made up for the Chinese market. And it's true that many brands tells story that are at least as silly (or fairy) as this one. Just have a look at the Waterman site. I love Waterman pens, but really, their stuff really is

[RuffRydas]

Duke's spin doctors hadn't even got out of the paddling pool, compared to those in the watch business!

 

Don't even get me started on the Germasisan watch brands...

[inkstainedruth]

This has been quite an entertaining read all around; the Marco Polo stuff actually had me going for a second or two, until I mentally sounded out the other guy's name and then I was like, oh, yeah, RIGHT.... :roflmho: (Not my fault -- I have a splitting headache at the moment, so I'm being a bit "thick" as our UK FPN friends would say....)

That's MY story and I'm sticking to it.

Of course, quoting a very old Robert Klein comedy routine about writing term papers in high school: "Get a bigger shovel...."

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

[wspohn]

The Duke pen was owned by a German aristocrat?

 

So they are telling us that they now produce the Duke of Earl...?