Fountain Pens In Movies And Tv

[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. 

[rodia77]

I see it mentioned here and here, but hey, visuals are important! 

 

Finding Neverland:

 

 

 

 

 

[Misfit]

A fountain pen is used in episode two of Death and Other Things. The cap has a long clip, that seems to start at the top of the pen. And the nib reminds me of an Esterbrook Falcon nib. 

[Misfit]

I took these photos awhile ago when I was binging Homicide: Life on the Street. In the photos, Detective Crosetti is working on a crossword puzzle with a fountain pen. 
 

 

[Scribs]

I hope it's a dry writer, like a Platinum... I can't tell what it might be from the shots though.

[Misfit]

@Scribs I should probably try to look at that episode again to see if I can read what is on that pen. 

[Scribs]

4 minutes ago, Misfit said:

@Scribs I should probably try to look at that episode again to see if I can read what is on that pen. 

 

Only if you're really burning to find out! It can be just as much fun to pick up one of your pens and write a line or two instead 😉

[Misfit]

Just now, Scribs said:

 

Only if you're really burning to find out! It can be just as much fun to pick up one of your pens and write a line or two instead 😉

The pen looks kind of low price to me. And I do write a page a day. Plus I have a notebook and pen dedicated to the Merriam-Webster app word of the day. I write down their word, and how it applies or doesn’t apply to my experiences. 

[Scribs]

The last thing I wanted to suggest is that you don't use your pens!!!! I was more reminding myself that using pens is sometimes more enjoyable than geeking out over models and makes from a distance.

 

ETA: And I too love looking up words, reminding myself of their various meanings, and learning new ones in the process. 🙂

[Misfit]

No worries @Scribs I understood what you meant. I’m glad I’m finally using some of the notebooks I’ve bought and bought. I have a pen a day that I usually pick the night before.