Fountain Pens In Movies And Tv

[ParramattaPaul]

51 minutes ago, taimdala said:

 

 

I mutter Russian swears to myself often enough that I haven't yet forgotten them. 😉

 

I wouldn't mind picking up a few in Catonese and German. Just trying to cover my bases! 

 

 

I've been told that 'Du ganz!' Is not a compliment in German.  I could be wrong.

[Tashi_Tsering]

On 10/25/2025 at 8:05 AM, taimdala said:

 

It's funny what Russian does regarding spelling vs. pronunciation.

 

Its (transliterated) spelling: spacibo

But it's not pronounced "spah-see-bo".

It's pronounced "spah-see-bah".

 

Words spelled with the "o" at the end are sometimes pronounced as if the "o" is an "ah".

 

Not sure why. 

 

Some of their consonants change their sounds depending on their position in the word and the letter preceding them or after them.

 

For instance, their f and g sounds swap one for the other and I can't keep straight which does the switch and when.

 

 

Pronunciation varies by region: in Moscow, an unstressed "o" is almost always pronounced as an "ah" even drawn out. In eastern regions, the "oh" sound is pronounced more clearly. For example, in Moscow "корова" (cow, the first “o” is unstressed) is pronounced as "kah-roh-vah", in Vologda as "koh-roh-vah". 
 

There's even a name for it — "akat'" (акать) and "okat'" (окать) — meaning pronounce “o” with an "a" and an "o". 
 

Nowadays, thanks to the media, the difference in pronunciation is not so noticeable and most people speak closer to the Moscow pronunciation, but the difference still remains.

[taimdala]

7 minutes ago, Tashi_Tsering said:

Pronunciation varies by region: in Moscow, an unstressed "o" is almost always pronounced as an "ah" even drawn out. In eastern regions, the "oh" sound is pronounced more clearly. For example, in Moscow "корова" (cow, the first “o” is unstressed) is pronounced as "kah-roh-vah", in Vologda as "koh-roh-vah". 
 

There's even a name for it — "akat'" (акать) and "okat'" (окать) — meaning pronounce “o” with an "a" and an "o"

 OH THAT'S SO COOL!!!

[Armo]

I just switched on the TV in time to see Alistair Sims try to steal Ian Carmichael's pen (School for Scoundrels - 1960). A Parker 51 no less.

[inkstainedruth]

Well, that would be a pen ANYONE would want to steal! 

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

[boilermaker1975]

Early in the second episode of The Gold, the character Edwin Cooper hands the character Gordon Perry a fountain pen to sign a document but I could not tell what the pen was.

[boilermaker1975]

In Murder Before Evensong season 1 episode 5, Daniel is writing his sermon with a fountain pen that runs out of ink, and he opens it to refill it from a bottle. Daniel has been getting threatening notes, and he notices the new one is blue and the old one is black. He realizes the note writer must be using Registrar ink, which  is Diamine? I do not know what fountain pen he is using, but it has a red barrel and he says it was his father’s.

[Armo]

I first thought it may have been a Sheaffer Imperial II but have changed my mind. It does look annoyingly familiar however.

[boilermaker1975]

7 hours ago, Armo said:

I first thought it may have been a Sheaffer Imperial II but have changed my mind. It does look annoyingly familiar however.

 

Here are some photos of it

[Mr.Rene]

1 minute ago, boilermaker1975 said:

 

Here are some photos of it

Greetings!

It is clearly a Parker Jotter ..

Regards.

[boilermaker1975]

1 hour ago, Mr.Rene said:

Greetings!

It is clearly a Parker Jotter ..

Regards.

 

@Mr.Rene Thanks!

[rodia77]

So, this is it. This is the moment where, while watching a film, I start paying attention to the props from my hobby areas. And taking screenshots. This is where I know I'm lost and beyond hope.

  

On 6/22/2012 at 11:06 AM, gizmoe said:

In the movie Dances With Wolves, there are a couple of scenes where you see Kevin Costner with a dip pen and a bottle of ink, writing in his journal.

 

On 3/5/2017 at 2:41 PM, MRose said:

Dances With Wolves with Kevin Costner when writing his diary.

http://i124.photobucket.com/albums/p29/emeraldqueen1/dancewithwolves_zpswcdte3jc.jpg

 

 

And also Major Fambrough's quill earlier on:

[inkstainedruth]

Last night I was watching my two favorite "Christmas movies" and noticed that in the original version of Miracle on 34th Street (the one with Edmund Gwenn, and a VERY young Natalie Wood) that someone (don't remember who offhand) in IIRC one of the Macy's staff offices, was using a pen with the holder/base on their desk).  I had never noticed that before, but of course the film is old enough that of course EVERYONE would have been using fountain pens back then (the film originally came out in 1947).

The other "Christmas movie", BTW was the original animated version of The Grinch Who Stole Christmas, with the narration by Boris Karloff....   Sadly, I did a quick search but was NOT able to find an airing of my husband's favorite "Christmas movie": The Lion in Winter (the original one starring Peter O'Toole and Katherine Hepburn).  At some point, I'd like to see the remake, starring Glenn Close and Patrick Stewart, but haven't seen it listed in the schedule as of yet (and also getting really cranky at FIOS and their feud with the company that owns the local NBC affiliate -- they've spent the better part of a week pointing fingers at each other, and I'm about ready to start pointing fingers at BOTH companies.  And to the FCC and the FTC AND the Consumer Divisions of EVERY US state in which they do business....  Because I don't care WHO is at fault (other than, IMO, it's BOTH companies).

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

[AAAndrew]

On 12/20/2025 at 8:37 AM, rodia77 said:

So, this is it. This is the moment where, while watching a film, I start paying attention to the props from my hobby areas. And taking screenshots. This is where I know I'm lost and beyond hope.

  

 

And also Major Fambrough's quill earlier on:

 

 

The quill looks like a turkey quill, which would have been fairly accurate for a locally-sourced and made quill. Nothing terribly exciting. 

 

The pen above, on the other hand, is surprisingly accurate for the time. Plain, straight wooden holders with steel ferrules were imported by the myriad from UK and France and used all over the US in the mid-late 19th-century.  It's very similar to the pen, seen below, displayed at the Appomattox Courthouse museum as the pen used to sign the final surrender of Lee's forces. 

 

 

 

 

That's the best photo I could get. While I couldn't see any details of the nib, I recognized the holder immediately as they continued to make this style for many years. Here's a much more recent example (early 20th-c). 

 

 

 

 

Another example, below, is the pen used by Abraham Lincoln to sign the first of the Emancipation Proclamations, the one freeing enslaved people in Washington, DC. (there were three EPs, one for Washington DC, one for the Territories and one for the States.) This one is known as the Hampton Sydney Pen of Liberty. It is on display at Hampton Sydney University in Virginia. 

 

 

 

So, whichever prop person responsible for getting a dip pen to use in the movie either did very careful homework, or got lucky. Either way, good job!

[rodia77]

That's a lot of very interesting info, @AAAndrew, and it makes taking such screenshots worthwhile, cheers!

[inkstainedruth]

@AAAndrew I had no idea that there were three DIFFERENT Emancipation Proclamations made -- or signed.  

Boy, the stuff I learn on FPN just never ceases to amaze me!  

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

[Misfit]

In the reality show The Traitors, the traitors use a fountain pen to sign the “you’re dead” parchment with wax seal. 
 

But this has been posted about already. The person who writes with it is a leftie.