The history of pen

      According to statistics put forth by the U.S. Writing Instrument Manufacturers Association in 2005, retractable ball point pens were the most popular writing utensil with 26%. Standard ball point pens took second with 14%. There is no doubt that the pen is an extremely important part of modern day society. The pen has had an important role in the past as well, with a history dating back to the Egyptians.


      Around 3000 BC, scribes from ancient Egypt were the first people to write on paper. Back then, reed brushes were used to write on papyrus scrolls. The reed pen was used for awhile, but slowly began to be replaced around the 7th century by the quill pen. This is the type of pen that was used to write the Dead Sea Scrolls. It was introduced to Europe in 700 AD, and stayed in use for a long time. The constitution of the United States was signed using a quill wholesale pen in 1787.

      In the early 19th century, the quill pen was replaced with the metal dip pen, which contained a steel nib to hold ink. It started to be mass produced in 1822 and within 30 years, it came into generalized use. The dip pen had to be constantly dipped in ink, however, people considered this very inconvenient. They wanted a pen with a reservoir of ink, which brought about the fountain pen. Widespread use of the fountain pen did not occur until the 1870s.

      Improvements continued to be made to the fountain pen over the years, adding better ways of controlling ink flow and faster and cleaner ways to fill it. Once the pen was made reliable, fashion took over and new designs started being made as well.

      More modern day pens were created a few years after this. In 1943, the ballpoint wholesale pen went into commercial production, followed by the felt tip pen in the 1960s. The roller ball pen was introduced in the 1980s and is one of the smoother pens available.

      It is clear that pens have been important writing instruments throughout history. Constantly reworked and reinvented, the pen has come a long way from being made of reeds or feathers. Pens have offered a more permanent method of record keeping for thousands of years, and will continue to do so in the years to come.