A Biro from the 1950's

[vans4444]

I thought this might be of interest even though it is a ballpoint.

 

http://i700.photobucket.com/albums/ww3/vans4444/Pens/Biro1.jpg

 

It has Biro stamped on the clip and the barrel along with “Biro, The Miles Martin Pen Co Ltd England”. It also has a patent number. I assume it was made I the late 1940’s early 1950’s.

 

Here is an interesting link for anyone interested in the history.

 

What I found interesting is the Miles Martin factory was I Reading, my home town and employed 700 people and I never new anything about it.

 

The plastic is very brittle and the screw thread holding the barrel to the section is broken, but it does hols together.

 

The design is interesting. It is obviously modelled on fountain pens of the time. Was it new technology following the style of older technology? Or perhaps it was simply the best design?

 

http://i700.photobucket.com/albums/ww3/vans4444/Pens/Biro2.jpg

 

http://i700.photobucket.com/albums/ww3/vans4444/Pens/Biro3.jpg

[penguina]

Yes. Heres an excerpt on these pens. One that seems to by pass fountain pen almost totally:

 

"Speaking of Cavemen, the history of writing pen way back in 3000 BC when they were manufactured from rods of bamboo and reeds. The origin of the word "pen" is derived from the Latin word "penna" meaning of feathers. Early civilizations feathers widely used in civilizations, including their use as writing instruments at the beginning. The best feathers to use for the pens are large birds, like a swan or goose. The pen has started to develop the instrument we know today when LE Waterman invented the venerable pen. He then developed a little further when Laszlo Biro bearings incorporated in the design and invented the ballpoint pen in 1944. The next step in the evolution of the felt pen was invented by a Tokyo company shutdown in 1960."

http://www.thefreelibrary.com/History+of+Writing+Pens-a01073961057

 

Perhaps this inspiration comes from the fact that the biro was so successful that they gobbled up the Waterman pen Company in America, and the Mabie Todd (Swan & blackbird) pen company.

http://www.gizmag.com/go/4496/

 

In a symbolic gesture, they then shut down the great Mabie Todd factory producing such great quality fountain pens .

 

"Biro purchased a controlling block of the shares in 1952 and renamed the firm Biro-Swan. New models were introduced as were ball pens of Biro design but the post war decline in fountain pen sales everywhere doomed the enterprise and Biro-Swan was closed about 1960."

http://members.multimania.co.uk/andrewbrooks86/mabie-todd_swan.htm

 

But the Biros kept marching on

Edited April 23, 2010 by penguina