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Presidents, Head of States, Writers and other Artists writing instruments


Anne-Sophie

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There might be a topic like this one, somewhere, but I can't find it.  Mods, move that topic, if you wish.

 

Watching educational tv, I saw U.S Presidents writing instruments.

 

Johnson: single pen holder with silver ferule, double pen holder with his initials on an oblong plaque, on the base, between the two pen holders. (black and white film)

 

Regan: Special Edition Parker 75, gold nib. (color film)

 

Rossevelt (FDR) Red dip pen holder, in a color photo from his house turned museum, lots of Esterbrooks eight balls dip pen holders in the middle of his cabinet meeting (black and white film)

 

Lorraine Hansberry reenactment supposed to take place in the early 60's used a black fountain pen with flat top cap and three metal dots on the body. Red fountain pen with silver round cap.

 

 

 

 

Is it fair for an intelligent and family oriented mammal to be separated from his/her family and spend his/her life starved in a concrete jail?

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"President Lyndon B. Johnson used this ceremonial pen to sign the Voting Rights Act of 1965 into law on August 6, 1965. This ceremonial pen was given to journalist Ethel L. Payne (1911-1991) in recognition for her civil rights activism." From the Smithsonian webpage.

 

Below is the picture of the pen in a nice presentation box.

 

https://www.si.edu/object/ceremonial-pen-given-ethel-payne:acm_1991.0076.0105?page=3&edan_q=fountain pens&destination=/search/collection-images&searchResults=1&id=acm_1991.0076.0105

 

 

The same kind of dip pen was used a year earlier. 

Details below from the Smithsonian webpage.

 

'Pen used by Lyndon B. Johnson to sign the 1964 Civil Rights Act. 

Created by

Esterbrook Pen Company, American, 1947 - 1967

Used by

President Lyndon Baines Johnson, American, 1908 - 1973

Description

An Esterbrook pen with an Esterbrook 2668 nib. The pen has a black plastic grip and a clear plastic body, with [THE PRESIDENT- THE WHITE HOUSE] printed in white ink. [ESTERBROOK] and [MADE IN U.S.A.] are imprinted on the black pen grip. Type reading: [ESTERBROOK / 2668 / MADE IN USA] is imprinted on the nib. The pen was one of the pens President Lyndon B. Johnson used to sign the 1964 Civil Rights Act."

 

The page has detailed pictures.

https://www.si.edu/object/pen-used-lyndon-b-johnson-sign-1964-civil-rights-act:nmaahc_2012.147ab?page=3&edan_q=fountain pens&destination=/search/collection-images&searchResults=1&id=nmaahc_2012.147ab

 

When signing bills, the dip pens were kept nib up, in a wooden stand, with an inkwell at the center. 

 

http://www.lbjlibrary.net/collections/photo-archive.html

 

use keyword pen, the picture is the one of the first 50, reference 

A1056-30A

 

They were distributed, to the people around the desk, after the bill was signed., when the camera were there. Before people left, they were probably offered the plain Esterbrooks box.

 

Usually the camera is too far to see how the bill is signed.

 

 

 

 

Is it fair for an intelligent and family oriented mammal to be separated from his/her family and spend his/her life starved in a concrete jail?

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I've read that JFK had an Esterbrook.

The Queen of England supposedly uses Parker 51s.

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

"It's very nice, but frankly, when I signed that list for a P-51, what I had in mind was a fountain pen."

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58 minutes ago, inkstainedruth said:

I've read that JFK had an Esterbrook.

The Queen of England supposedly uses Parker 51s.

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

 

Ruth, I need to visit all the online sources of U.S Presidential Libraries, Historical Figures as well as Writers and Artists Historical Houses or Museums.  

 

This way, I will probably find the pictures of each person's favorite writing instrument(s).

 

 

Because of the pandemic, no visits are allowed and the staff, most probably, are busy inventorying, photographing and digitizing items so that more of their information online.

 

 

 

Is it fair for an intelligent and family oriented mammal to be separated from his/her family and spend his/her life starved in a concrete jail?

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Pen used to sign the Woman Suffrage Joint Resolution, 1919

 

If you zoom in the pictures, you'll find out it is a gold Waterman Ideal ring top.

 

"This gold fountain pen was used by both Vice President Thomas Marshall and Speaker of the House Frederick Gillett on June 4, 1919 to sign the Joint Resolution of Congress recommending a constitutional amendment extending the right of suffrage to women. The amendment was ratified in August of 1920."

National Museum of American History

 

 

https://www.si.edu/object/pen-used-sign-woman-suffrage-joint-resolution-1919:nmah_1096540?page=3&edan_q=fountain pens&destination=/search/collection-images&searchResults=1&id=nmah_1096540

 

 

Is it fair for an intelligent and family oriented mammal to be separated from his/her family and spend his/her life starved in a concrete jail?

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As of today, there are no close up pictures of Presidents LGB or Regan Oval Office desks, in their respective Presidential Libraries.

 

However, the FDR presidential Library has close up of desk pens and ink stands.

https://fdr.artifacts.archives.gov/search/pens/objects/images?page=1

 

And a close up of a study desk with an ink stand and pen, which looks a lot like the one above

 

https://fdr.artifacts.archives.gov/objects/23578/study-desk?ctx=5172258cb322e14e90320b8fc3d02683de8efc59&idx=202

 

Is it fair for an intelligent and family oriented mammal to be separated from his/her family and spend his/her life starved in a concrete jail?

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1 hour ago, Anne-Sophie said:

Pen used to sign the Woman Suffrage Joint Resolution, 1919

 

If you zoom in the pictures, you'll find out it is a gold Waterman Ideal ring top.

 

"This gold fountain pen was used by both Vice President Thomas Marshall and Speaker of the House Frederick Gillett on June 4, 1919 to sign the Joint Resolution of Congress recommending a constitutional amendment extending the right of suffrage to women. The amendment was ratified in August of 1920."

National Museum of American History

 

 

https://www.si.edu/object/pen-used-sign-woman-suffrage-joint-resolution-1919:nmah_1096540?page=3&edan_q=fountain pens&destination=/search/collection-images&searchResults=1&id=nmah_1096540

 

 

That's pretty cool!  Thanks for posting the link.  
Hopefully museums will open back up sooner or later.  Not sure if our Smithsonian membership is still valid....

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

"It's very nice, but frankly, when I signed that list for a P-51, what I had in mind was a fountain pen."

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I read that Obama writes the first draft of his books by hand.  He uses a fine point uniball and legal pads.

http://mark.intervex.net/fpn/images/PostcardExchange_sm.png
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On 1/14/2021 at 8:35 PM, Matthew Lee 1959 said:

I read that Obama writes the first draft of his books by hand.  He uses a fine point uniball and legal pads.

 

When he opens his presidential library, It will be interesting to see the pens he used during his terms and also the handwritten drafts of his books and speeches.

Is it fair for an intelligent and family oriented mammal to be separated from his/her family and spend his/her life starved in a concrete jail?

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I understand Sharpies are en vogue of late.

And I didn't have the heart to tell her why.
And there wasn't a part of me that didn't want to say goodbye.

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On 1/14/2021 at 8:25 PM, inkstainedruth said:

The Queen of England supposedly uses Parker 51s.

 

There's no such person as the Queen of England.

Lined paper makes a prison of the page.

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Have seen two signatures of a former US president on non-official documents. IIRC, one was with a felt tip, the other ballpoint. It comes to mind from a discussion of whether he used an auto-signer. Can't recall the name of the device, but it "stores" the signature on a huge disk, and operates sort of like a pantograph, moving an attached pen. IIRC, we concluded he didn't, and signed them with whatever pen he had in his pocket at the moment.

 

That raises the question of whether there's an "official" presidential pen. Maybe some presidents preferred one pen and used it, but isn't it common to give away pens to document signers when there's a ceremony? And what's on a president's desk may or may not be the pen he uses. It could be, but who knows?

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I visited the Clinton library, since it is in my state, and there were several pens on display, however I believe they were just gifts rather than pens that he regularly used.

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I have a couple of the pictured Waterman Philias.  I wouldn't have thought that it was in the league of gifts for the president.  Nice pens though, good writers.

 

Looking for a black SJ Transitional Esterbrook Pen. (It's smaller than an sj)

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14 hours ago, Antenociticus said:

 

There's no such person as the Queen of England.

Okay fine.  There's the Queen of the United Kingdom (and also of Commonwealth countries such as Canada), who's also titular head of the Church of England.  And she still uses Parker 51s, by all accounts.

Happy now?

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

"It's very nice, but frankly, when I signed that list for a P-51, what I had in mind was a fountain pen."

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6 hours ago, inkstainedruth said:

Okay fine.  There's the Queen of the United Kingdom (and also of Commonwealth countries such as Canada), who's also titular head of the Church of England.  And she still uses Parker 51s, by all accounts.

Happy now?

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

 

I would refer to her as the Queen of England, her full title is several lines long and then people get into silly arguments who say that she is not Queen Elizabeth the Second because when Queen Elizabeth the First was around we had our own King , so Queen of England is fine by me.

 

I understand that she does use at least one Parker 51 for personal correspondence and Parker makes her own unique colour.

 

Conway Stewart said that they would like to present her with a pen, she said thank you very much but nothing fancy, sounds like me!

 

There was a TV news clipping of the signing of an important document some years ago, the book to be signed and MB pens were on the desk as the people sat down, one of the dignatories looked at a pen, admired it and then took it, closely followed by the cameras.

 

I saw a MB 149 on ebay that was being sold by the estate of George Michael, it had been presented by Sony Records and looked new, sold for about the same as any regular 149. the pen had supporting documentation. No jokes please about another english queen.

 

I had a Parker 51 that was alledgedly owned or at least used by Che Guevera, I gave it to Parkerduofold.

 

George V and V1 used to give Wyvern pen sets to all the staff at Windsor and Sandringham every Christmas. I had one of these boxed sets and gave it to sumgaikid as a thank you, I don't think he posts here any more.

 

In terms of artists it looks like David Hockney has an MB,

 

large.hockney_studio_drawing.jpg.a3a3e80f79d46a5143e61514e1eee2ef.jpg

 

 

 

 

A favourite artist of mine is William Spencer Bagdatopoulos, I was lucky enough to find his fountain pen, which is a no name German button filler.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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While following the news coverage of the President Biden's inauguration, my attention was drawn to the most essential thing; the pens. :) There are many photos of President Biden signing his first executive orders, but has anyone identified the pen he is using? 

 

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-55738746

 

I think many previous US Presidents have used the Cross Century or Cross Townsend pens, but at some point President Trump switched to the Sharpie pen. Just wondering, if the White House is back with the Cross pens?

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On 1/16/2021 at 5:33 AM, pearlfox said:

I understand Sharpies are en vogue of late.

Jeremy uses a sharpie.

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On 1/14/2021 at 2:23 PM, Anne-Sophie said:

"President Lyndon B. Johnson used this ceremonial pen to sign the Voting Rights Act of 1965 into law on August 6, 1965. This ceremonial pen was given to journalist Ethel L. Payne (1911-1991) in recognition for her civil rights activism." From the Smithsonian webpage.

 

Below is the picture of the pen in a nice presentation box.

 

https://www.si.edu/object/ceremonial-pen-given-ethel-payne:acm_1991.0076.0105?page=3&edan_q=fountain pens&destination=/search/collection-images&searchResults=1&id=acm_1991.0076.0105

 

 

The same kind of dip pen was used a year earlier. 

Details below from the Smithsonian webpage.

 

'Pen used by Lyndon B. Johnson to sign the 1964 Civil Rights Act. 

Created by

Esterbrook Pen Company, American, 1947 - 1967

Used by

President Lyndon Baines Johnson, American, 1908 - 1973

Description

An Esterbrook pen with an Esterbrook 2668 nib. The pen has a black plastic grip and a clear plastic body, with [THE PRESIDENT- THE WHITE HOUSE] printed in white ink. [ESTERBROOK] and [MADE IN U.S.A.] are imprinted on the black pen grip. Type reading: [ESTERBROOK / 2668 / MADE IN USA] is imprinted on the nib. The pen was one of the pens President Lyndon B. Johnson used to sign the 1964 Civil Rights Act."

 

The page has detailed pictures.

https://www.si.edu/object/pen-used-lyndon-b-johnson-sign-1964-civil-rights-act:nmaahc_2012.147ab?page=3&edan_q=fountain pens&destination=/search/collection-images&searchResults=1&id=nmaahc_2012.147ab

 

When signing bills, the dip pens were kept nib up, in a wooden stand, with an inkwell at the center. 

 

http://www.lbjlibrary.net/collections/photo-archive.html

 

use keyword pen, the picture is the one of the first 50, reference 

A1056-30A

 

They were distributed, to the people around the desk, after the bill was signed., when the camera were there. Before people left, they were probably offered the plain Esterbrooks box.

 

Usually the camera is too far to see how the bill is signed.

 

 

 

 

Thanks!  I purchased one of these Esterbrooks from the Johnson era.  If I remember correctly it was his library that sold them.  

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