Pens

Although simple drawing pens were the most popular tool for engineering drafting, catalogs from the makers of mathematical instruments that appeared around the turn of the 20th century indicate that pens for special purposes were also important in technical drawing. These included: extra-wide pens for making borders; angled pens for drawing curves; double pens and pencils for adding railroads to a drawing; pen handles with serrated wheels that created lines of dots; and tracers and prickers. Makers also modified the design of drawing pens, for instance providing a reservoir for ink or allowing the blades to be opened for easy cleaning.

This page of objects gives a sampling of pens used for engineering drawing. In addition, it illustrates some of the evolution in pen technology from drawing and dip pens to fountain pens to ballpoint pens.

This 4-7/8" steel pen has twin blades whose line thickness is adjusted by a screw. The pen is not marked.
Description
This 4-7/8" steel pen has twin blades whose line thickness is adjusted by a screw. The pen is not marked. Similar ruling pens first appeared in Europe at the beginning of the 18th century.
References: Maya Hambly, Drawing Instruments, 1580–1980 (London: Sotheby's Publications, 1988), 57–58.
Sotheby & Company, Catalogue of a Collection of Scientific Instruments, the Property of the Late Henry Russel Wray, London, 1959 (a copy of the catalogue is in the accession file).
Location
Currently not on view
date made
18th century
ID Number
MA.316935
accession number
228694
catalog number
316935
This 5-7/8" steel, brass, and ivory drawing pen has a spring inside the point to draw the tips of the point together when the screw is tightened to make a narrower line. The point is also jointed, so when the screw is removed, one side of the point may be opened to a 90° angle.
Description
This 5-7/8" steel, brass, and ivory drawing pen has a spring inside the point to draw the tips of the point together when the screw is tightened to make a narrower line. The point is also jointed, so when the screw is removed, one side of the point may be opened to a 90° angle. The handle is marked: STANLEY.
William Ford Stanley (1829–1909) began making mathematical instruments in London in 1853. In his influential 1866 volume on the construction and use of drawing instruments, he called this form of drawing pen a "lifting-nib" or "jointed" pen. It was supposed to be easier to clean than a standard drawing pen. This example was probably made in the late 19th century.
References: William Ford Stanley, Mathematical Drawing and Measuring Instruments 6th ed. (London: E. & F. N. Spon, 1888), 12; T. Potter, "Aids and Accessories," Journal of the Society of Estate Clerks of Works 8, no. 3 (1895): 33–36; David M. Riches, "W. F. Stanley," Mathematical Instruments: A Private Collection, http://www.mathsinstruments.me.uk/page43.html.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
late 19th century
maker
Stanley, William Ford
ID Number
1978.2110.10
accession number
1978.2110
catalog number
336736
This 5-3/4" steel, brass, and ivory drawing pen is marked: ELLIOTT. William Elliott began making mathematical instruments in London in the early 19th century. His sons, Frederick and Charles, joined the firm in 1850.
Description
This 5-3/4" steel, brass, and ivory drawing pen is marked: ELLIOTT. William Elliott began making mathematical instruments in London in the early 19th century. His sons, Frederick and Charles, joined the firm in 1850. They operated as Elliott Brothers after William died in 1853, expanding the range of instruments offered. This pen was probably made in the early 20th century. BAE Systems acquired Elliott Bros. in 1988. Archival materials may be found in the Museum of the History of Science in Oxford.
References: Gloria Clifton, "An Introduction to the History of Elliott Brothers up to 1900," Bulletin of the Scientific Instrument Society 36 (1993): 2–7; H. R. Bristow, "Elliott, Instrument Makers of London. Products, Customers and Development in the 19th Century," Bulletin of the Scientific Instrument Society 36 (1993): 8–11; H. R. Bristow, "Lewisham to Oxford: The Elliott Archive and Instrument Collection," Bulletin of the Scientific Instrument Society 109 (2011): 14–15.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
early 20th century
maker
Elliott Brothers
ID Number
1978.2110.07
accession number
1978.2110
catalog number
336733
This 5-3/8" steel and ivory drawing pen is marked on one side of the pen point: D. R. P. 40967. On the other side, it is marked: BREVETÉES (/) S. G. D. G.
Description
This 5-3/8" steel and ivory drawing pen is marked on one side of the pen point: D. R. P. 40967. On the other side, it is marked: BREVETÉES (/) S. G. D. G. These marks mean that the maker had received German and French patents on the pen after Germany established its unified patent law in 1877. Compare to 1978.2110.08 and 1978.2110.09.
The previous owner collected more than 1,200 hand tools and machine tools and displayed them at his family's building company in Baltimore, Md.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
after 1877
ID Number
1977.1101.0098
accession number
1977.1101
catalog number
1977.1101.0098
This 5-1/16" steel, German silver, and ivory drawing pen has no identifying marks.
Description
This 5-1/16" steel, German silver, and ivory drawing pen has no identifying marks. In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, many makers of mathematical instruments in the United States and Europe sold drawing pens with ivory handles to draftsmen and other people who made engineering and architectural drawings. For instance, Keuffel & Esser and Dietzgen advertised similar pens for $1.80. The screw allowed users to adjust the width of the point and thus the width of a line made by dipping the pen in ink and then writing on paper.
References: Catalog of Eugene Dietzgen Co., 7th ed. (Chicago, 1904), 56; Catalogue of Keuffel & Esser Co., 33rd ed. (New York, 1909), 72.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1900
ID Number
1978.2110.08
accession number
1978.2110
catalog number
336734
This 3-3/4" German silver and ivory drawing pen is missing the decorative bulb that would have been at the top of the handle. As with other ivory-handled drawing pens, the point may be unscrewed from the handle.
Description
This 3-3/4" German silver and ivory drawing pen is missing the decorative bulb that would have been at the top of the handle. As with other ivory-handled drawing pens, the point may be unscrewed from the handle. Pens like this were sold for engineering drawing in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Compare to 1977.0279.01, 1978.2110.07, 1978.2110.08, 1978.2110.10, 1979.0420.01, 1983.0238.01, 1990.0115.01, 1990.0115.02, 309654, 315411, 317925.04, 318491, 323412, 334622, 335300, 335335, 335353, and 335355.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1900
ID Number
1978.2110.09
accession number
1978.2110
catalog number
336735
This 4-3/4" steel, German silver, and metal drawing pen is marked on the tightening screw: SOELLNER (/) GERMANY. Soellner was a 20th-century German manufacturer of drawing instruments.William J.
Description
This 4-3/4" steel, German silver, and metal drawing pen is marked on the tightening screw: SOELLNER (/) GERMANY. Soellner was a 20th-century German manufacturer of drawing instruments.
William J. Ellenberger (1908–2008), who owned this pen, studied electrical and mechanical engineering at The George Washington University between 1925 and 1934. He then worked for the Potomac Electric Power Company and the National Bureau of Standards. During World War II, he served in the U.S. Army Signal Corps. He was a civilian construction management engineer for the army from 1954 to 1968, when he became a private consultant.
Reference: "The GW Engineering Hall of Fame 2006 Inductees," http://www.weas.gwu.edu/ifaf/hall_of_fame_inductees_2006.php.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1900
maker
Soellner
ID Number
1981.0933.24
accession number
1981.0933
catalog number
1981.0933.24
This 5-3/8" steel, German silver, and ebony drawing pen is marked on the blade: E. D.–Co. UNION. A piece missing from the top of the handle may have been intentionally shaved away instead of accidentally broken.As part of its Gem Union product line, the Eugene Dietzgen Co.
Description
This 5-3/8" steel, German silver, and ebony drawing pen is marked on the blade: E. D.–Co. UNION. A piece missing from the top of the handle may have been intentionally shaved away instead of accidentally broken.
As part of its Gem Union product line, the Eugene Dietzgen Co. of Chicago sold similar drawing pens, described as 5-1/2" long, in 1904 as model 502 for $1.20 and in 1926 as model 623 for $4.00. Engineer William J. Ellenberger (1908–2008) owned this pen. For his biography, see 1981.0933.25.
References: Catalog of Eugene Dietzgen Co., 7th ed. (Chicago, 1904), 54; Catalog of Eugene Dietzgen Co., 12th ed. (Chicago, 1926), 61.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
early 20th century
maker
Eugene Dietzgen Company
ID Number
1981.0933.23
accession number
1981.0933
catalog number
1981.0933.23
This 6" aluminum, German silver, and steel drawing pen is marked: CORN.KNUDSEN. Trademarks of two superimposed dividers are on either side of the mark.
Description
This 6" aluminum, German silver, and steel drawing pen is marked: CORN.KNUDSEN. Trademarks of two superimposed dividers are on either side of the mark. In 1838 Cornelius Knudsen founded a firm in Copenhagen, Denmark, that made optical, navigational, and surveying instruments, planimeters, and equipment for telegraphy into the 1930s. This object was received and is stored with a set of drawing instruments, 1985.0909.01. It was owned by Harald Trap Friis (1893–1976), a Danish emigrant who became a prominent radio engineer for Bell Labs.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1920-1958
maker
Knudsen, Cornelius
ID Number
1985.0909.02
accession number
1985.0909
catalog number
1985.0909.02
This 7-1/8" pen has a steel nib, ornate gold-colored metal grip, and ridged white mother-of-pearl handle. The nib is marked: 794 (/) R. ESTERBROOK (/) MODIFIED SL[ANT]. The grip is marked: FAIRCHILD. A wooden case has rounded corners and brass hook-and-eye latches.
Description
This 7-1/8" pen has a steel nib, ornate gold-colored metal grip, and ridged white mother-of-pearl handle. The nib is marked: 794 (/) R. ESTERBROOK (/) MODIFIED SL[ANT]. The grip is marked: FAIRCHILD. A wooden case has rounded corners and brass hook-and-eye latches. The case is covered with black leather and lined with blue paper.
Richard Esterbrook moved from England to the United States in the 1850s and opened a factory to pens in Camden, N.J., around 1860. The company also made pen nibs, probably beginning around 1920, when it expanded into fountain pens. Venus Pen and Pencil, formerly the American Lead Pencil Co., purchased Esterbrook in 1967. Leroy W. Fairchild began making fountain pen nibs in New York City between 1837 and 1843. After the firm experienced bankruptcy, it reorganized in 1897 and began to sell fountain pens. In the 20th century, the company also offered dip pens.
Frank Terlitzky (1885–1962), who owned this pen, emigrated from Russia in 1906 and settled in Baltimore, where he and his wife worked as caterers.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1920-1958 (nibs)
ca 1920-1958 (nib)
ca 1920-1958
maker
Leroy W. Fairchild
Esterbrook Pen Company
ID Number
MA.314804
accession number
210144
catalog number
314804
This 4-5/16" black plastic pen has a metal pocket clip and is marked in script: Pelikan Graphos GERMANY. The end is unscrewed from one side, revealing a metal holder for a pen nib, and screwed to the other side. The tip of the holder is marked: 3.
Description
This 4-5/16" black plastic pen has a metal pocket clip and is marked in script: Pelikan Graphos GERMANY. The end is unscrewed from one side, revealing a metal holder for a pen nib, and screwed to the other side. The tip of the holder is marked: 3. Nineteen different nibs may be attached to the pen. They each are marked: MADE IN GERMANY. They are also marked: Pelikan (/) GRAPHOS (/) GÜNT . . . NER. They are also marked: IMPORTE D'ALLEMAGNE. Each nib is marked with its size; brass inlays indicate the width for seven of the nibs (those for drawing fine lines).
The set is in a wooden bar-lock case covered in black leather and lined with dark blue velvet. The top of the case is marked: Pelikan (/) Graphos. The bottom of the case is marked: MADE IN GERMANY (/) IMPORTE D'ALLEMAGNE.
Carl Hornemann opened a color and ink factory in Hanover, Germany, in 1838. The company began using a pelican as its trademark in 1863 and first offered a fountain pen in 1929. The Graphos was manufactured in the form illustrated by this object between 1934 and 1957. This set was probably made in the early part of this time frame. The nibs were designed for technical drawing and lettering. Rotring took over the Graphos brand in 1978, but Pelikan remains in operation as of 2013.
References: Pelikan, "History," http://www.pelikan.com/pulse/Pulsar/en_US.Pelikan.timelineInitView.136400./history; Annina and Andreas Schenk, "Pelikan Graphos," http://www.kalligraphie.com/909-0-Pelikan-Graphos.html.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1934-1957
maker
Pelikan
ID Number
1989.0305.02
accession number
1989.0305
catalog number
1989.0305.02
This 5-3/8" steel, German silver, and black plastic drawing pen is marked on its adjusting screw: 0 | 2 | 4 | 6 |8.The donor, Sebastian J. Tralongo (1928–2007), served in the U.S. Navy during World War II and then worked for the Vitro Corporation in Rockville, Md., for 35 years.
Description
This 5-3/8" steel, German silver, and black plastic drawing pen is marked on its adjusting screw: 0 | 2 | 4 | 6 |8.
The donor, Sebastian J. Tralongo (1928–2007), served in the U.S. Navy during World War II and then worked for the Vitro Corporation in Rockville, Md., for 35 years. He patented a device for signaling from deeply submerged submarines. This pen was received with several other drawing instruments in a wooden box, 1984.1071.13.
References: "Tralongo, Sebastian James 'Subby'," Hartford Courant, May 26, 2007; Sebastian J. Tralongo, "Submarine Signal Device" (U.S. Patent 2,989,024 issued June 20, 1961); "Vitro Corp. – Company Profile," http://www.referenceforbusiness.com/history2/25/Vitro-Corp.html.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
mid 20th century
ID Number
1984.1071.07
accession number
1984.1071
catalog number
1984.1071.07
This 5-1/4" steel and wood drawing pen is painted black on its handle. The object was received with several other drawing instruments in a wooden box, 1984.1071.13. The donor, Sebastian J. Tralongo (1928–2007), served in the U.S.
Description
This 5-1/4" steel and wood drawing pen is painted black on its handle. The object was received with several other drawing instruments in a wooden box, 1984.1071.13. The donor, Sebastian J. Tralongo (1928–2007), served in the U.S. Navy during World War II and then worked for the Vitro Corporation in Rockville, Md., for 35 years. He patented a device for signaling from deeply submerged submarines.
References: "Tralongo, Sebastian James 'Subby'," Hartford Courant, May 26, 2007; Sebastian J. Tralongo, "Submarine Signal Device" (U.S. Patent 2,989,024 issued June 20, 1961); "Vitro Corp. – Company Profile," http://www.referenceforbusiness.com/history2/25/Vitro-Corp.html.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
mid 20th century
ID Number
1984.1071.08
accession number
1984.1071
catalog number
1984.1071.08
This 6" gray plastic ballpoint click pen has eleven round holes on the side that reveal a rotating multiplication table. The first hole shows a number between 1 and 10. The other holes show multiples of that number from 1 to 10. Clicking the pen rotates the table.
Description
This 6" gray plastic ballpoint click pen has eleven round holes on the side that reveal a rotating multiplication table. The first hole shows a number between 1 and 10. The other holes show multiples of that number from 1 to 10. Clicking the pen rotates the table. The pen's metal pocket clip is marked: MOD (/) DEP (/) COMPUTER. This pen was found in the Museum collections in the 1980s.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
late 20th century
ID Number
1993.3058.02
catalog number
1993.3058.02
nonaccession number
1993.3058
This 6-1/2" black plastic ballpoint stick pen has a white eraser and is marked: CECIL SMITH – THE CUBE MUSEUM (/) BOX 2826-329 QURAY, PH 1-303-245-6734 (/) GRAND JUNCTION, COLO. 81502 USA.Rubik's Cube enthusiast Cecil Smith (b.
Description
This 6-1/2" black plastic ballpoint stick pen has a white eraser and is marked: CECIL SMITH – THE CUBE MUSEUM (/) BOX 2826-329 QURAY, PH 1-303-245-6734 (/) GRAND JUNCTION, COLO. 81502 USA.
Rubik's Cube enthusiast Cecil Smith (b. 1929) operated the Cube Museum in western Colorado from 1988 to 1991, in part to demonstrate the thousands of patterns that could be formed with this mathematical game. This pen advertised the facility. After the museum closed, he donated a few items from his collection of nearly 5,000 cubes to the Smithsonian.
Reference: Cecil Smith, "Cubeology's Pretty Patterns," http://rubikscube2.com/id1.html.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1988-1991
ID Number
2006.3041.13.3
catalog number
2006.3041.13.3
nonaccession number
2006.3041

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