Ink For French School Children

[cnjackson]

Hello--I recently read something about how French children--in the middle decades of the 20th century--were required to use J. Herbin Poussiere de Lune or Violette Pensee in their schoolwork. I've bumped into a few more references to this here on FPN but even a google search turns up very little. Does anyone else have any info on this? Like some others here, I find this artifact of history fascinating!

 

Thanks! Chris

[AAAndrew]

I have read the same thing but have no more substantial information than that. I know I read it almost 20 years ago because that's why I bought my bottle of Violette Pensee. I'm curious as to the validity as well because a friend of ours and her daughter are moving to France and it would be fun to get her daughter a nice fountain pen and some French ink that used to be used in the French schools as a going-away present. (I know, giving her French ink as she's leaving for France is like having her take coal to Newcastle, but it's a gesture, not a rational business decision)

 

And who says I'm rational now anyway?

 

So, any of our French community remember this or have other evidence? Are there requirements today for using fountain pens as I've heard there are still in Germany? Just curious.

[Sandy1]

Hi,

 

Hmmm...

 

Somehow I was under the impression that school children were sentenced to years of Waterman Florida Blue (aka Serenity) and that Instructors/Professors has the pleasure of using Waterman Violette (aka Tender Purple) and that ye olde Advocates used Herbin Encre Authentique for legal documents.

 

I hope to learn from other Members with more personal experience.

 

Bye,

S1

[fountainpagan]

No, Poussière de Lune and Violette Pensée was not the requested ink in schools (I don't even know if they had been created yet) -

 

Schools only accepted Violet color ink, regardless the maker.

 

Ink was bought by the students, and preserved, and taken home, on a portable inkwell.

Accidents could happen, so the teacher sold ink, too, for those suffering these accidents..

Many brands made solid ink (Encres Antoine, Brachet, Demouy, Paul Roy...), this was perfect for schools far stationery shops.

 

When inkwells became part of the pupils table, no more portable inkwells. Ink became an institutional obligation (for example, in Paris, the ink supply was made by a supplier after public adjudication). The school provided the ink which costed 10 cents a month to each pupîl - the teacher made the distribution and made sure each pupil paid. Later, the monthly 10 cents fee was reduced to 5 cents

[cnjackson]

I have read the same thing but have no more substantial information than that. I know I read it almost 20 years ago because that's why I bought my bottle of Violette Pensee. I'm curious as to the validity as well because a friend of ours and her daughter are moving to France and it would be fun to get her daughter a nice fountain pen and some French ink that used to be used in the French schools as a going-away present. (I know, giving her French ink as she's leaving for France is like having her take coal to Newcastle, but it's a gesture, not a rational business decision)

 

And who says I'm rational now anyway?

 

So, any of our French community remember this or have other evidence? Are there requirements today for using fountain pens as I've heard there are still in Germany? Just curious.

I know what you are saying--it would be a very nice gift! And I, too, feel drawn to Violette Pensee because of this interesting history. (It's also a beautiful ink.)

 

Chris

[cnjackson]

Hi,

 

Hmmm...

 

Somehow I was under the impression that school children were sentenced to years of Waterman Florida Blue (aka Serenity) and that Instructors/Professors has the pleasure of using Waterman Violette (aka Tender Purple) and that ye olde Advocates used Herbin Encre Authentique for legal documents.

 

I hope to learn from other Members with more personal experience.

 

Bye,

S1

Oh--this is interesting! A sort of hierarchy of inks. I look forward to hearing from some of our French friends here on FPN!

[cnjackson]

No, Poussière de Lune and Violette Pensée was not the requested ink in schools (I don't even know if they had been created yet) -

 

Schools only accepted Violet color ink, regardless the maker.

 

Ink was bought by the students, and preserved, and taken home, on a portable inkwell.

Accidents could happen, so the teacher sold ink, too, for those suffering these accidents..

Many brands made solid ink (Encres Antoine, Brachet, Demouy, Paul Roy...), this was perfect for schools far stationery shops.

 

When inkwells became part of the pupils table, no more portable inkwells. Ink became an institutional obligation (for example, in Paris, the ink supply was made by a supplier after public adjudication). The school provided the ink which costed 10 cents a month to each pupîl - the teacher made the distribution and made sure each pupil paid. Later, the monthly 10 cents fee was reduced to 5 cents

Thank you fountainpagan for this post! This is so interesting! It's fascinating that as the structure of the desks changed, the schools became responsible for supplying the ink. This raises so many questions: what were the portable inkwells like--the ones the children used before the schools supplied the ink?

 

I'm also very curious: why did the school children need to use a purple or violet ink?

 

And fountainpagan--did you experience these requirements as a child?

 

Thank you!

 

Chris

[fountainpagan]

These were made by Guyot, for exemple:

 

http://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/800x600q90/673/9TZYnu.jpg

These by AB - the model was invented by them, and registered - these were the ones most schools used

http://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/800x600q90/538/eLP0lV.jpg

http://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/800x600q90/540/DByGeC.jpg

http://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/800x600q90/540/wRVueU.jpg

http://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/800x600q90/538/DcbSpF.jpg

 

[LeonW]

Thanks for a very interesting thread. Would also like to know why the specific colour, or is it a French thing?

[cnjackson]

Wow fountainpagan--these inkwells are fascinating. Did you use inkwells like these?

 

Also--do you by any chance know why purple and lavender were required for school children?

[jmccarty3]

For some reason I thought I read somewhere that it was Bleu Myosotis, but my memory ain't what it used to be.

[fountainpagan]

No cnjackson, I didn't. I went to school in Lisbon - Portugal. Despite my age, I started directly with a fountain pen, whereas some french friends, my age, learned with a dip pen.

 

I couldn't say why violet, really. I can only supose it has to do either with the religious simbolism attached to the color, or because black and blue were used by the administration.

 

I forgot another ink brand ETUIFOND - made by J. Herbin (did this violette ink become Violette Pensée, later?)

Edited July 10, 2015 by fountainpagan

[box_camera]

I have also heard that purple ink was required in French schools, although not that it had to be any particular brand. Maybe it's a holdover from Napoleon, didn't he favor purple because of its royal connotations? I live in south Louisiana, purple is one of the Mardi Gras colors (along with green and gold) and a lot of institutions use it to suggest our connection to France. For instance, LSU's colors are purple and gold.

 

I just bought a mini bottle of Violette Pensée, so this is a timely subject for me!

[fountainpagan]

That is also a very plausible hypothesis, box_camera

[cnjackson]

I have also heard that purple ink was required in French schools, although not that it had to be any particular brand. Maybe it's a holdover from Napoleon, didn't he favor purple because of its royal connotations? I live in south Louisiana, purple is one of the Mardi Gras colors (along with green and gold) and a lot of institutions use it to suggest our connection to France. For instance, LSU's colors are purple and gold.

 

I just bought a mini bottle of Violette Pensée, so this is a timely subject for me!

This is an interesting hypothesis--thanks box_camera!

[cnjackson]

No cnjackson, I didn't. I went to school in Lisbon - Portugal. Despite my age, I started directly with a fountain pen, whereas some french friends, my age, learned with a dip pen.

 

I couldn't say why violet, really. I can only supose it has to do either with the religious simbolism attached to the color, or because black and blue were used by the administration.

 

I forgot another ink brand ETUIFOND - made by J. Herbin (did this violette ink become Violette Pensée, later?)

Thanks for this addition. It's funny--the long and the short of this is that I want to get a bottle of a nice purple/lavender ink to use. Maybe I'll look up some of the brands you mentioned.

 

(I also just looked up Teresa Carneiro--amazing work! I look forward to learning more!)

[tinkerteacher]

I didn't go to a French school per say, but I did go to a Catholic school in southern Africa run by Jesuits, French and French Colonial Jesuits mostly, in the late '70s. There was a kind of 'cold war' at the school between the old school French priests and nuns who insisted we write with purple inks and the younger, non-French priests and nuns who allowed us (encouraged us in some subversive cases) to use more 'modern' colours like blue and black.

 

The purple school ink I used was made by Pilot, however, if I recall correctly.

 

Also, interestly, one of the monseigneurs who insisted we use purple ink was Vietnamese. I suppose the Vietnamese schools also used purple ink when they were part of the French colonial empire.

[tinkerteacher]

Ah, here is that old post with the links to the academic sources:

 

https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/topic/83222-french-school-ink/

[Frank C]

This is another interesting topic. Whenever I run into people educated in France they almost always admire my fountain pens. Now I have a better understanding of why they like them.

[lgsoltek]

For some reason I thought I read somewhere that it was Bleu Myosotis, but my memory ain't what it used to be.

 

That's what I've read too, Bleu Myosotis.