Penmanship manual page from 1884

[Hagbard Celine]

Howdy!

 

I thought this might be of general interest. The image is of the first page of Ames' Guide to Self-Instruction in Practical and Artistic Penmanship by Daniel T. Ames (1884). I didn't realize that Gillott's 303 nibs went back that far; I have used several of them in Frankenpens, they work very well. I'll have to see if I can find a Spencerian #14, I've used a number of Spencerian nibs but not that one.

     --HC

[txomsy]

Thanks, it certainly is interesting.

[AAAndrew]

I should first point out that I am more of a specialist in US steel pens, but Gillott was the most popular British pen makers in the US.

 

Joseph Gillott first started making steel pens in the very end of the 1820s, but it wasn't until the 1830s that he really took off. Gillott 303s were popular from the 1840s. The earliest mention I've found is from 1847 from a stationer in Bangor, Maine. Another ad from 1850 mentions that the 303 was so well known and popular by 1850 that people were copying them. This copying continued at least until 1872 when Esterbrook was sued by Gillott for copying their 303 and 404. Esterbrook lost the lawsuit and had to rename those pens the 333 and 444.  The 303 was one of the most popular pens for school children. You would start with the 404 School pen, and then graduate to the 303. 

 

Ad from Bangor Daily Whig and Courier, Bangor, Maine, 15 Jul 1847, Thu, Page 3

 

As an illustration how popular Gillott was in the US, here's a small section from a recent article I wrote on how steel pens were made. 

 

Quote

 

Over the rest of the [19th] century, an interest in how steel pens were made spawned periodic reports of pen factory tours published in books and magazines in the UK and US. The Joseph Gillott factory seemed to be a particular favorite for tourists and journalists to visit while in Birmingham. Elihu Burritt, American consul general in Birmingham, mentions in his 1868 book about the region that the Gillott factory is a standard stop for American tourists “from their childhood associations with his pens.”  We can find many references to Gillott being a familiar name for children attending a US school from the 1840’s -70’s, but none so effusive as Consul Burritt’s.

 

“In ten-thousand school houses scattered over the American continent between the two oceans, a million children are as familiarly acquainted with Joseph Gillott as with Noah Webster. The primer of the one and the pen of the other – twin pioneers of civilization – are making the tour of the western hemisphere together, and leaving behind them a wave and wake of light.”

 

 

---

Elihu Burritt, Walks in the Black Country and its Green Border Lands, London: S. Low, Son and Marston, 1868, p. 118

[Bristol24]

This is an aspect of pen history that I have not explored at all.  Thank you for enlightening me.

 

Cliff

[Hagbard Celine]

Bristol24: you are most welcome.

 

AAAndrew: wow, thanks for the deep dive into 303 history. Very interesting. I love the 303s, I’ve used them in a number of my Frankenpens.