Course:HIST104/BIC Ball Point Pen

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Bic Cristal. Picture courtesy of here

A ballpoint pen is a modern writing instrument. The pen has a tiny ball made of brass, steel or tungsten carbide at its tip to disperse ink. Like fountain pens, ballpoint pens have liquid ink reservoirs in them so that they do not need to be dipped into ink externally. Ballpoint pens are more convenient than earlier pens such as reed, quill and fountain pens because they draw lines more evenly, have quick drying ink, and they do not require cleansing after use.[1] Because ballpoint pens are convenient and inexpensive, they are not only one of the most commonly used modern writing instruments, but also are frequently been given out as free gift for advertising.


History of Writing Implements

Picture courtesy of here

Early Tools

Rock drawings dating back to 35,000 years B.C. were mostly done by dipping fingers and palms in "[...] natural dyes made from clays mixed with animal fat," however flintstones were used to make engravings when the events being recorded were monumental.[2]

The first true handwriting emerged in Mesopotamia during the convergence of the Tigris and Euphrates rivers, or the era of the Civilisation of the Great Rivers, where the writing style referred to as cuneiform was developed by the Sumerians circa 3,000 B.C.[3][4] This form of writing, which required tablets of wet clay and a split reed that "[...] gave the strokes a characteristic cuneiform (wedge-shaped) appearance," spread to societies within the Ancient Near East and the Middle East and formed the basis of their languages.[5] During the same period, hieroglyphics emerged in the Nile valley, which introduced the use of a reed brush and dyes made from soot, cinnabar, or minium on papyrus.[6][7] Findings by archaeologists suggest that these reed brushes resemble modern fountain pens: ink was poured in from the top and into a reservoir, allowing for it to seep down towards the sharp tip of the reed brush.[8]

Quill and Metal pens

The first evidence of the quill pen was found in Ravenna, Italy, where a mosaic dedicated to the San Vitale church prior to 547 A.D. shows St Matthew with both quill and reed pens writing his Gospel.[9] During the Dark Ages to the nineteenth century, almost every record written on the growth of European civilization was written using quill pens made out of goose, swan, crow, turkey or duck feather.[10][11] Quill pens were much easier to cut to a finer point and were more flexible, thus lasting longer than reed pens.[12][13] By the end of the nineteenth century, quill pens were in such high demand in England that "[...] millions of geese were farmed exclusively for their feathers" and were imported to North America by Hudson's Bay Company.[14]

John Fust and Peter Schoeiffer wrote in their book published in 1465 of a reed-styled pen made out of metal, giving the first evidence of metal pens.[15] However, because they were inflexible and easily corroded by the acidity of the ink, steel nib pens only replaced the quill pens by the nineteenth century when flexible steel was produced and ink was less acidic.[16][17] The emergence of the dip pen followed in 1840, where its use was favored in Britain until the early 1950's.[18]

Reservoir Pens

While quill pens became the most dominant writing equipment in many parts of the world, Arab countries were not allowed to use animal parts for practical purposes and therefore during the tenth century Caliph Al-Múizz presented the first concept of a reservoir pen, as described in the book known as Kitab al-Majalis wa'l Musa'irat.[19][20] The earliest English reference to a fountain pen is found in Samuel Pepys' Diary written on August 5, 1663, where he wrote of a silver pen which carried ink.[21] The earliest fountain pens were made by Louis XIV's instrument maker named Nicholas Bion around the year 1690, where the pen was made of a tubular metal reservoir that leads to a quill nib.[22] The first functioning fountain pen, where ink was regularly supplied to the tip, was made by the American company Waterman in 1883 and patented in 1884.[23] To see the patent click here.

Ballpoint Pens

The first concept of a pen that contained a rotating ball held in a socket, which relied on gravity for supplying the ink to flow down to the point, came from a leather worker John J. Loud who then patented this ballpoint pen in 1888.[24] These pens featured ink that did not smudge or skip and dries quickly.[25] However, ballpoint pens became widely used after the introduction of the Biro pens that solved "[...] clogging, leakage, and ink distribution" problems that were common in most ballpoint pens at the time, created by the Biro brothers in 1938.[26] It slowly expanded its market in the US and Britain "[...] after relocating to Argentina in 1940," but its proliferation did not begin until ten years after.[27]

BIC Ballpoint Pens

The Beginning of BIC

Marcel Bich and his friend Edouard Buffard were manufacturers at a factory which produces parts for fountain pens in a town near Paris.[28] One day in 1945, when Bich was pushing a wheelbarrow, he realized that a ball is like a multi-faceted wheel that would be able to deliver ink.[29] Bich then acquired the Biro patents in 1950 for "[...] a non-disposable pen with a rotating ball" while improving the process of manufacturing ballpoint pens.[30][31] Soon after in France, December 1950, Bich launched the BIC ballpoint pens, namely the BIC Cristal, which were of high quality and affordable to the public.[32] Subsequently, BIC expanded and continues to expand to other parts of the world:

BIC Logo. Picture courtesy of here
1953 - 1957 : Austria, Belgium, Netherlands, Spain and Switzerland
1954 : Italy
1956 : Brazil
1957 : England, Ireland, Australia, New Zealand and South Africa
1958 : North America
1959 : Scandinavia
1960 : Middle East and Africa
1965 : Japan and Mexico
1995 : Eastern and Central Europe
1997 : Asia
2006 : Turkey
2009 : India (through Cello Group)[33]

BIC Cristal

The ballpoint pen that made the BIC brand famous is called the BIC Cristal. These pens were first sold in America in the year 1959 for 19 cents a pen, which has increased 622% by 2009.[34] The pens are hexagonally designed so that they do not roll off when placed on a table, and the barrel of these pens have vents or holes to equalize the pressures within and outside of the pen so that there will be no ink leakages.[35] The caps of the BIC Cristal pens also have vents not only to prevent leakage of ink, but also to comply with safety regulations - it allows for air to pass through in the case of accidental swallowing of the caps by children.[36] In order to preserve the longevity of the ink, which can write for approximately 2 km, the pens need not be stored with the point down but the points must be protected with the caps.[37]

How the Parts are Made

After the tungsten carbide balls are placed in an oven to become almost as hard as diamonds, they are made into perfect spheres by placing them in between two flat surfaces and they are then inserted in the point and the point support.[38] BIC has its own production machines to make molds for the plastic parts of their ballpoint pens and to centrifuge the cartridges, and also to assemble these parts together into BIC ballpoint pens.[39] Before these pens leave the factory, qualities such as writing performance are inspected to ensure optimum writing quality with each pen packaged.

Connecting the World

Hand drawn picture with a BIC ballpoint pen by Juan Francisco Casas. Picture courtesy of here

With 57 BIC ballpoint pens sold every second, it's no surprise that BIC has sold its 100 billionth pen in September 2005.[40] And since its start in France, BIC has gone through globalization to become the most used brand of ballpoint pens in many countries around the world by advertising its ballpoint pens as affordable and dependable.[41]

Art

BIC ballpoint pens are not only used for their primary intended use of writing, they are also used by artists to create life-like drawings. Spanish artist Juan Francisco Casas draws portraits of human subjects using BIC ballpoint pens and his works often sell-out during exhibitions.[42] BIC also created a YouTube account called "ChallengeBiC" which features James Mylne during the recreation of the famous painting The Girl with the Pearl Earring by Johannes Vermeer using a single BIC Cristal. To see the clip, click here.

BIC ballpoint pens were also used in artistic competitions. The winners, who were from Italy, of the Macef Award in 2008 created Din-Ink, where they created utensils out of the lids of BIC Cristals.[43] A duo from America used the barrel of BIC Cristal as a vase for a daisy, while Spanish artists created a chandeliers out of BIC Cristals and paperclips.[44]

These ballpoint pens can also be used for arts and crafts for children. For example, by using wrapping paper, beads and double-sided tapes, BIC ballpoint pens can be designed.[45] When parents provide their instructions on making art with BIC pens on the internet, anyone with access to these websites will be able to try these with their children and in this way, BIC ballpoint pens are connecting people all over the world.

Advertisements

An assortment of pens taken from Hotels across North America

Many businesses often give out BIC ballpoint pens as a form of advertising. Printed with a company's name, they provide an inexpensive way of getting noticed by customers.[46] By offering free disposable pens, customers will take them and use them, each time noticing the logo on the side of the pen. When the pen is lent or borrowed, the person who borrows the pen is exposed to the message as well and because pens can be left behind and picked up by another person, pens have the potential to travel the world, making this a very effective mean of advertising.[47]

In the beginning of the YouTube clip previously mentioned, the pen that the artist used was displayed with its brand name facing the camera and showing that the ink cartridge is full. At the end of the clip, the pen was shown, again with its brand name facing the camera, with its ink cartridge empty. BIC strategically advertised their ballpoint pens by capturing the viewers' attention through the drawing process while showcasing that the ink quantity and quality were sufficient for a large-scale illustration.

References

  1. ↑ "How Ballpoint Pens Work," Howstuffworks [1] Accessed July 29, 2010
  2. ↑ Giovanna D'Amia, Giorgio Dragoni, Giuseppe Fichera, Alessandra Ferretti, Hazel Juvenal-Smith, Armando Petrucci, Augusto Piccinini and Anna Ronchi, Fountain Pens: History and Design, ed. Giorgio Dragoni and Giuseppe Fichera (Milan: Illustrated Books, 1997), 9
  3. ↑ Ibid.
  4. ↑ Alexander Crum Ewing, The Fountain Pen: A Collector's Companion (London: The Apple Press, 1997), 8
  5. ↑ Ibid., 8-9
  6. ↑ D'Amia, 10
  7. ↑ Ewing, 10-11
  8. ↑ D'Amia, 10
  9. ↑ Ewing, 12
  10. ↑ Ibid., 11-12
  11. ↑ Jim Marshall, Miller's Pens & Writing Equipment: A Collector's Guide (Great Britain: Octopus Publishing Group Ltd, 1999), 8
  12. ↑ D'Amia, 12
  13. ↑ Marshall, 8
  14. ↑ Ewing, 13
  15. ↑ Ibid., 16
  16. ↑ Ibid.
  17. ↑ Marshall, 10
  18. ↑ Ibid., 12
  19. ↑ D'Amia, 12
  20. ↑ Ewing, 19
  21. ↑ Ibid., 20
  22. ↑ Marshall, 16
  23. ↑ Ibid.
  24. ↑ Edward Kiersh, Collecting Pens (USA: House of Collectibles, 2006), 74
  25. ↑ Ibid.
  26. ↑ "reinventing the bic pen," [2] Accessed 25 July 2010
  27. ↑ Ibid.
  28. ↑ "BIC World - History," BIC [3] Accessed 23 July 2010
  29. ↑ "Inspired by Wheelbarrow, BIC Sells 100 Billionth Pen," redOrbit [4] Accessed July 29, 2010
  30. ↑ Ibid.
  31. ↑ "One of history's most prolific inventions," Gizmag [5] Accessed on July 29, 2010
  32. ↑ Ibid.
  33. ↑ Ibid.
  34. ↑ "Press Releases," BIC World [6] Accessed on July 26, 2010
  35. ↑ "FAQ," BIC World [7] Accessed July 26, 2010
  36. ↑ Ibid.
  37. ↑ Ibid.
  38. ↑ "How it's Manufactured - Stationery," BIC World [8] Accessed on July 26, 2010
  39. ↑ Ibid.
  40. ↑ "Inspired by Wheelbarrow, BIC Sells 100 Billionth Pen," redOrbit [9]
  41. ↑ Ibid.
  42. ↑ "25 Photorealistic Pictures Drawn with a BIC Pen," Bored Panda [10] Accessed July 29, 2010
  43. ↑ "reinventing the bic pen," Designboom [11]
  44. ↑ Ibid.
  45. ↑ "Beaded BIC Pen Craft," Parents Connect [12] Accessed July 29, 2010
  46. ↑ "Three Benefits of Promotional Pens in Advertising," Ezine Articles [13] Accessed July 29, 2010
  47. ↑ "How an Object Can Travel the World That Cost You Ten Cents," Ezine Articles [14] Accessed July 29, 2010

External Links

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