Tomorrow’s an extraordinary moment in the rolling year. It’s National Fountain Pen Day in the US and who wouldn’t be tingly with anticipation? The fountain pen traces its beginnings to ancient Egypt, where papyrus reeds were tipped with charcoal and used to write cruel and unfounded things about the Phoenicians who, in fairness, were kinda mouthy. Leonardo da Vinci constructed a primitive fountain pen during the Renaissance, but all he did was craft smutty mash notes to everybody in Vatican City, which was pretty much the norm anyway. Quill pens were used for centuries, but, in 1636, the first recognizable fountain pen was designed by Petrache Poenaru, a Romanian. He combined a reservoir of ink with a metal nib that didn’t need to be recut constantly and he’s been worshiped as “Big Nib” for 387 years. In Death of a Salesman, the object is a symbol of greed, but in 2023, the fountain pen serves many modern purposes. Here are just a few mind-blowing examples.
© 2024 John Oliver
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