The history of the writing pen. Evolution from stone to modern ballpoint pen. Ballpoint pen and its history

The history of the pen begins with the history of mankind. Primitive people painted on the walls of caves with a sharpened stone. Even before our era, the Babylonians squeezed out cuneiform with a stone - the first letter on wet clay. In ancient Greece, people wrote on wax-rubbed tablets using a stylus - a sharpened copper or bone stick.

The predecessor of all types of pen is the brush. In China, it was made from camel or rat wool and dipped in ink. The oldest ink recipe contained pine tar soot, lamp oil, and donkey skin gelatin.

And in Europe they came up with ink that does not fade for centuries. They were made from iron salts and ink nuts, painful growths that appear on the leaves of trees due to the activity of certain insects.

They began to use ink in ancient Rome. The first handle was made of bamboo or reed stem. One end of it was cut off sharply, at an angle - and that's it! The pen could be dipped in ink and written.

Only in the 8th century AD did people figure out that a reed could be replaced with a bird's feather. The nib is easier to grip and lasts longer.

But it is very difficult to prepare it for writing. In the spring, one of the five outer feathers must be plucked from a strong young goose, and it is obligatory from the left wing (if you take a feather from the right wing, you will obstruct what is written when you write). Then the feather must be burned in hot sand so that it becomes dry and hard. Then sharpen the tip with a penknife.

It took a lot of feathers! In the 18th century, 27 million feathers were sent from Russia to England alone per year!

Throughout the 19th century, inventors designed a pen that would not have to be dipped in an inkwell all the time. In 1884, a fountain pen appeared. The holding case contained a reservoir of ink. From it, ink flowed down three grooves to the nib under the nib. A round air hole was cut out in the steel nib so that ink could flow there and the pen wrote without blots.

In 1938, Hungarian journalist Ladislo Biro noticed that the ink used in newspapers dries quickly and does not flow. "Why not write with this ink?" he thought. But thick ink did not come out of an ordinary fountain pen!

And then Biro came up with a tube pen with a tiny ball at the tip of the rod. As we move across the paper, we rotate the ball, and it grabs the ink, leaving a mark on the paper. This is how the ballpoint pen appeared. A pen like this can leave a trail 6 kilometers long!

The most popular ink color in the world is black. Then comes blue, red and green. And the gel pen can write in a wide variety of ink colors - even silver and gold!

The history of writing pens goes back more than 6,000 years. During this long period of human development, there has also been a significant modernization of writing devices.

Writing instruments from different centuries

In the distant past, people used to draw on rocks. Later, to depict symbols, stones were replaced with bones or wooden sticks. Around 3000 BC. NS. with the advent of writing and papyrus, thin reed brushes began to be used as writing devices.

In the subsequent long period from 1300 BC NS. and before 600 AD the stylus was a common writing instrument... A stylus was made of metal and used for writing on wax. Despite the parchment invented a little later by the Anglo-Saxons, people used a bone or metal stylus and writing on wax tablets for some time.

In those days, parchment was used more for handwritten books. However, with every century, its spread increased. There was a need for an inexpensive and accessible tool to write on it. The pen became such a tool. Europeans learned to sharpen their nibs in such a way that when writing on parchment, the writing style changed. This is how capital letters appeared 14 centuries ago.

The pen as a writing tool existed for a record long period - almost until the end of the 18th century. Mostly goose feathers were used, but ravens and peacocks were also used. The preparation of the pen for writing began with cleaning it in the hot sand. The nib was then cut at a specific angle and sharpened, with special attention given to these steps, since the quality of writing depended on them. Famous writers of those times personally cut and sharpened their pens, and good copies could often be expensive gifts.

The emergence of the production of writing instruments began in the 18th century. The pencil lead was first invented in 1790.... And by 1884 it was possible to create small practical handle with capillary ducts, which became the prototype of today's fountain pens. The inventor of this first pen was the American Lewis Waterman, who used the capillary principle to create it. It consisted in filling the reservoir of the handle with air, which was supplied through very narrow channels. The channels were so narrow that ink did not seep into them, and air was easily drawn in.

The fountain pen was further improved by the famous George Parker, a rural teacher from Wisconsin.... His invention was patented in 1889 and was distinguished by high quality due to precise fit of parts. World history was sometimes created with Parker's products - they were used to sign agreements between different countries.

The pen is considered the heart of the pen, its main active part. In modern fountain pens, nibs are made from metal alloys and have several degrees of nib thickness. Ink supply can be carried out by various systems, arranged according to the principle of a cartridge or converter. Cartridges are analogous to conventional rods and are discarded after use. Converters are supplied to more prestigious models, in which ink is pumped by a piston or pump system.

The era of the ballpoint pen

The first inventor of the ballpoint pen was an unknown American, John Loud. Back in 1888, he received a patent for a pen with a ball-like rotating tip. However, the writing pen never became a commodity back then. Ink was the main obstacle. The liquid ink was constantly blotting, and the thick ink solidified on the nib. From the end of the First World War until 1950, the popularity of ballpoint pens was undulating in nature, many tried to improve the invention and release it on the market. Among them were the Hungarian brothers Biro, whose handle design was not very successful. It was this design that was seriously improved in 1950 by the French fountain pen manufacturer Marcel Biche. Steel balls 1 mm in diameter were produced with an accuracy of hundredths of a millimeter. Marcel Biche managed to ensure that ink did not seep through the nib, and there were no more dirty spots on the paper. Since 1953, the serial production of pens began in France, and in 1958 Bisch founded the BiC company and entered the American market. The company began mass production of cheap disposable pens made of the lightest plastic. Gradually, other writing instruments were pushed out of the market, and the world-famous BiC pens are actively used today.

Few people will think when buying an ordinary ballpoint pen, when and who invented it. Even fewer people know that the second name of the pen is “biro”. Until the mid-70s of the last century, it was often found in everyday life in Western countries. To this day in Argentina, when they talk about a writing medium, the word "biome" is pronounced. This name turns our gaze into history. During the war years, Laszlo Biro, the inventor of the ballpoint pen, found his refuge in this Spanish-speaking country. When and how this happened, let's try to figure it out.

Who is the parent

To the question "In what year was the ballpoint pen invented?" there is no definite answer. The one who thinks that she comes from the last century is mistaken. Not so long ago, scientists from Armenia examined a scroll dated to the second half of the 12th century. And according to the indicated drawing, they recreated something similar to a modern ballpoint pen. The two-piece bamboo stick in the middle had a hollow ball, which was obviously filled with some kind of ink or some other thick paint. Therefore, the question of the invention is very controversial and remains open.

It is known that many minds fought over the working version of the pen for more than a dozen years. The names on the labels of the branded copies tell us about the participants in the ball epic lasting almost 100 years.

The father of the modern version of the ballpoint pen is Laszlo Biro, a journalist from Hungary. But long before its development in America alone, similar inventions were patented more than 300 times.

The first steps of the invention

The history of the creation of a ballpoint pen leads us to the end of the 19th century, in 1888. An obscure Massachusetts inventor, John Loud, patented his rotating nib writing device. The simple mechanism was designed in such a way that at the end of a rod filled with ink there was a spinning ball. Some historians believe that Loud was the one who invented the ballpoint pen.

And when they began to test the invention, they quickly became disillusioned: the design was unfinished, the ball got stuck, then fell off, and the ink did not give out anything except blots.

Many inventors have followed in the footsteps of John Loud in search of the "best pen". Among them were George Parker (1904) and Van Vechten Reisberg (1916). These gentlemen managed not only to patent their creation, but also to put it on a commercial basis. But their businesses failed for the same reasons as Lauda's.

It is necessary to write

In theory the ballpoint pen worked well, but in practice she hardly wrote. If something came out, it was a puddle that spoiled the paper. As it turned out, the problem was in the ink, which reacted to the changing air temperature: it leaked, smeared or froze. In order for them to give at least something more or less, the temperature had to be in the range of 18-23 degrees Celsius. Otherwise, there was no point in them.

It immediately became clear: we need a different ink. They puzzled over their invention for many years. The first who managed to create something suitable was the Bruden Bureau. Its employees could achieve a special viscosity using water and oil as a basis. But this composition was also refined for some time in proportions and ingredients. Thus, it was found that the most working ink for ballpoint pens is oil-based.

The Biro brothers

The Hungarian journalist Laszlo Biro, by virtue of his profession, constantly had problems with pens, which could so inappropriately and at the most crucial moment stop writing or flow ink, ruining the necessary notes. Biro once noticed that the ink used in the printing house for newspapers dries quickly on paper and does not leave any streaks. Observation gave him some thoughts.

In 1938, inspired by the idea, he embarked on the development of a dream pen, involving his brother George, a chemist by profession. They succeeded in improving the fountain pen by replacing its end with an ink rod, at the end of which a ball rotated. This year is the date of birth of the ballpoint pen.

It was expected that the invention would bring profit and fame to its creators, but in reality the path turned out to be more thorny.

Thief of the idea

With the advent of World War II, the brothers were forced to emigrate to Argentina, fleeing the Third Reich. There they again patented their invention and set up production by opening the Eterpen factory. Soon the pens were on the shelves of stores. About 7 million units were sold per year. But the naive Biro, being in his triumph, did not even suspect which business sharks were swimming nearby. Their idea was stolen.

American businessman Milton Reynolds made inquiries about the new product he liked. And I learned that the journalist's pens were patented in only two countries. It smelled like a lot of money, given that the largest market - the US - remained open.

Reynolds catches his luck without wasting time. On June 10, 1943, he filed a patent claiming that he was the one who invented the ballpoint pen. And when its mass production starts, the subsequent success exceeded the wildest expectations of a businessman, making him a millionaire. In the press, he tirelessly commented that his invention relied on the work of his compatriot John Loud.

Biro tried to win back their right to an American patent, but lost in court.

Marcel Biche

This is a separate name that deserves attention in the history of the ballpoint pen. French businessman and writing stationery maker Marcel Biche has closely watched the rise and fall of the ballpoint pen in global markets for a time. Professional interest encourages him to take up the challenge and deal with all the disadvantages of this pen in order to create a better version. Marcel buys the rights to the invention from the Biro brothers and starts working.

For about 2 years, the businessman has been researching the pen, studying all the nuances of positive and negative properties. He makes balls at the end of a rod with a diameter of only 1 millimeter, using the Swiss method of metal processing, which stops ink from seeping through the nib.

The victory came in 1952. The redesigned, redesigned clear plastic pen wrote much softer without staining paper and writing people. But what is more important, it has become collapsible. Separate ballpoint refills are also on sale.

Later, Marseille changes his last name to Bic, making it easy to pronounce and conquering the world market. He made customers look at ballpoint pens in a new way and appreciate them.

Bourgeois goods

In the Soviet Union, ballpoint pens appeared much later than in other countries. The planned deal with Parker after Germany's surrender did not materialize. It was an independent path of research and development. And for a long time nothing worked: the balls did not look like balls, and the ink did not give the desired effect.

In the 60s, supplies of ballpoint pens from Europe appeared. History remembers what kind of active propaganda was conducted against the writing means of the bourgeoisie. Students' works were rated “two” if they were not written with a domestic writing medium. But the people did not give up, appreciating the convenience of their writing. The schoolchildren were delighted when the colored ballpoint pens went on sale. A real boom began.

Only in 1965, after purchasing Swiss equipment, the Soviet Union finally managed to establish its own mass production of ballpoint pens. Things went well.

With a microphone or a camera?

Today, a ballpoint pen is not just a writing tool or a chic souvenir with a famous label. They managed to adapt a microphone, radio, flashlight, clock, photo and video cameras into it. The latest invention is a pen-computer. And apparently, this is not the end of the fantasy. More serious models serve as an attribute of prestige, success and prosperity. Everything is evaluated: material, design, functionality.

In business, the pen has long ceased to be a stationery. Now it is one of the important details of a business image. When signing contracts, businessmen do not take any kind of pen, but ball brass, which becomes an excellent completion of the transaction. Or even better, they present it as a gift to their partners or dear customers.

• The first commercial for the pen claimed to be capable of writing underwater. The swimmer hired by the customer demonstrated this clearly.
• Originally, the refills of the ballpoint pens were made in accordion style to hold more ink.
• One pen can draw 6 km of continuous line.
• Ballpoint pens are capable of writing at low temperatures, it has been fixed down to -35 degrees.
• Once upon a time, pens were considered an item of luxury and wealth.
• Every year people die from a ballpoint pen.
• The most popular pen is the Bic Crystal, with a daily production of 14 million.
• 92% of people on earth use ballpoint pens.
• A platinum Montegrappa fountain pen worth 1 million euros was entered into the Guinness Book of Records.

Having pretty much worn out with feathers, the world breathed a sigh of freedom when ballpoint pens were invented. And who can fail to appreciate this if everyday life cannot do without them?

John Loud (1844-1916)

Who and when invented this subject, so indispensable even in the era of universal computerization? It turns out that the ballpoint pen has several inventors!

The principle of a ballpoint pen is to apply ink to paper by rotating the ball at the end of the nib. This principle was invented by the American self-taught inventor from Massachusetts John Loud in 1888. Loud was a bank teller by profession. He called his invention "a pen with a rotating tip".

Loud received a patent for his invention, but neither he nor his closest followers succeeded in bringing it to life for several decades. The ink was to blame. In those days, only fountain pen ink existed. Loud used them in his experiments.

However, this ink is too thin. They leaked through the tip of the pen. It was not possible to fix this problem by thickening the ink: thick ink formed lumps that clogged the ball, and it stopped rotating. The best that we managed to create at that time was a pen that wrote more or less normally in the temperature range from 18 to 25 ° С. At lower temperatures, the ink solidified in it; at higher temperatures, the pen began to leak.

The Biro brothers in Hungary in the 30s of the last century were able to create a pen that does not get your hands dirty during use and does not contaminate clothes if you put it in your pocket. It happened like this.

18-year-old Laszlo (Ladislav) Biro, demobilized after the end of the First World War, immediately began to look for his place in life. First, he tried to practice medicine, like his father, then hypnotic sessions, worked in a company for the production of petroleum products. At one time he was fond of auto racing and even developed an automatic transmission, and then sold a patent for it to General Motors. But none of these activities really attracted him. And then he became a journalist. In 1935 Laszlo Biro decided to try himself as a newspaper publisher.

By the nature of his activity, he had to do a lot of editing, and then he fully appreciated all the "charms" of fountain pens. Newsprint is known to absorb ink well. On it, when writing with a fountain pen, blurry ink spots were often formed. In addition, the pen often ripped thin paper. Laszlo's brother György (Georg) was a chemist, and Laszlo approached him with this problem. Together, the brothers began to think about how to fix the shortcomings of fountain pens. They decided to use printing ink as ink, as it dries quickly and does not leave smudges. During the development process, they tried dozens of pen types. The brothers did not suspect that before them, the US Patent Office had already issued 350 patents to other inventors of similar designs, although none of them found practical use.

Once, while on vacation on the shores of the Mediterranean Sea, the brothers showed one of the prototypes to a casual acquaintance - an elderly gentleman. He liked the pen very much. This acquaintance turned out to be the President of Argentina, Agustin Pedro Justo. He invited the brothers to open a production of ballpoint pens in his country, promising to help them.

A few years later, World War II began. The Biro brothers decided to leave Hungary without waiting for the arrival of the Nazis. Remembering the proposal of Agustin Pedro Justo, they went to Argentina. The President accepted them and helped to find investors. The brothers founded a company called "Eterpen". In 1943, a ballpoint pen factory began its work.

Laszlo Biro's birthday (September 29) is still celebrated in Argentina as Inventor's Day, and ballpoint pens are still called “biome” there - this name was given to them at one time by the manufacturers (from the union of the names of Biro and the main investor Juan Mein).

Laszlo Biro (1899-1985)

However, the ink in the Biro brothers' pens had all the shortcomings of their predecessors. They were still too fluid. The ink flow was intermittent and there were clumps on the paper. In addition, the Biro brothers made the same mistake as other inventors before them: they relied on the force of gravity, which caused the ink to fall on the ball. This means that in order for the pen to write, it had to be constantly held strictly vertically.

And then the brothers began to experiment again. The result of their labors was the invention of the capillary structure of the handle. In such a pen, the ink supply does not depend on its position.

About a year later, the new pens went on sale. But, despite the fact that it was an improved model, it was not in demand. By then, the investors had run out of money and Biro was forced to suspend production.

But the inventors were incredibly lucky. During World War II, Argentina was frequently visited by American Air Force pilots. They found that the Biro brothers' pens can be written at any height, and even if the paper is not at the bottom, but at the top, and they do not need to be refilled often. The US State Department suggested that its manufacturers start producing the same pens. And then the American company "Eberhard Faber" bought the patent for the production of pens from the Biro brothers for 500 thousand dollars.

However, the "biome" were not able to capture one of the most promising markets - the United States, because this right was actually stolen from the inventors. It happened like this. About a month after the deal with Eberhard Faber was concluded, Chicago businessman Milton Reynolds visited Argentina. He drew attention to Biro pens and appreciated their commercial potential. Having bought several copies, he returned to his homeland. There he studied the question and found out that - here is good luck! - All US patents for ballpoint pen designs since John Loud's have expired. Then Reynolds quickly patented Biro's invention. It is the day of registration of the patent for this invention by Reynolds - June 10, 1943 is considered the birthday of the ballpoint pen, although it was not invented by him, not in 1943 and not in the United States. This is such a historical injustice.

To circumvent Biro's patent, Reynolds slightly redesigned the pen with the help of engineer William Hurnergart: instead of capillary action, he used a thin vessel that was open on one side; the paste from it was fed to the ball under the action of gravity (an idea already familiar to us, isn't it?). In a hurry, Reynolds launched the pens on sale earlier than Eberhard Faber. Biro tried to sue Reynolds but lost.

Reynolds sold pens at Gimbels' New York department store. When the first batch of ballpoint pens went on sale in 1945, the authorities were forced to put up a cordon of several hundred police officers in order to contain the pressure of people eager to get a "wonderful, fantastic pen, which is guaranteed not to require refilling for two years." On the very first day, 10 thousand pens were sold, and in the first year - more than two million! And this despite the fact that they were not cheap - 12 dollars 50 cents.

However, due to the disadvantages of ballpoint pens, which have not gone anywhere, people quickly became disillusioned with them, despite an extensive advertising campaign. Ballpoint pens dropped significantly in price and went up to 50 cents. But even if someone bought them, tempted by their cheapness, once having stained their clothes, they no longer wanted to use them. Reynolds' company closed in 1951.

And then the French manufacturer Marcel Biche (1914–1994) appears on the scene, who at that time was engaged in the production of fountain pens and other stationery. Bish watched closely the adventures of the Biro brothers' ballpoint pen. In the end, as an honest businessman, he turned to the inventors with a request to sell him a patent, and they agreed.

For more than two years, Marcel has been refining the Biro brothers' model. Along the way, he tested other inventions in this area, buying up all the new products and pedantically studying them. And only by 1952 he managed to create the perfect ballpoint pen. Bish used a new method of processing metal with an accuracy of hundredths of a millimeter, in the development of which he had previously invested money. The ball in his handle was only 1 mm in diameter. She wrote softly, and the line that the pen left on the paper was straight and continuous. The ink of the new pen did not leak, but it didn’t dry out either.

Marcel Bisch made the first model of his ballpoint pen from transparent plastic, hexagonal in shape. So it has remained so far practically unchanged. From the very beginning, Bish relied on the cheapness of his product (only 29 cents), so his pens were available to all segments of the population. In addition, the low price made it possible not to purchase replacement pen refills, but simply to purchase a new pen. The fact is that during the development of Bish it dawned on: 80% of the cost of the handle falls on the core; So isn't it more convenient to produce disposable pens from cheap lightweight plastic? By the way, later the innovator's company also became famous for the production of disposable lighters and razors.

Marcel Biche (1914-1994)

First, Bish's pens conquered France. Then he decided to enter the foreign market. In 1958, Bish defended his invention with a US patent, bought the famous Waterman Pen Company, and founded a pen company in America. Bish was well aware that under his name the promotion of goods to the international market would be problematic, and he changed the brand name so that it could be easily pronounced by residents of any country. He removed only one, the last, letter from his surname (Bich - Bic), and the pens became known as "Bik". Nowadays "Bic Cristal" ballpoint pens are known all over the world. Up to 14 million Bic pens are produced per day, of which 1 million are sold daily in the United States alone. Bish invented many other pen models and designs, but the trusty old Bic remained the company's main source of income.

In the USSR, ballpoint pens appeared at the end of the 60s of the XX century. In those days, refills and writing parts were in short supply, and therefore it was practiced to refill the refills with ink in special workshops.

Initially, ballpoint pens were of much lower quality than fountain pens. Therefore, it was believed that the ballpoint pen spoils the handwriting. Elementary school students were allowed to write only with fountain pens, and ballpoint pens could only be switched to high school, when the student's handwriting was already formed. But gradually, as the quality of ballpoint pens improved, this ban was lifted. In the mid-1970s, schoolchildren from the first grade began to learn to write with ballpoint pens.

What did you and I do today if one day someone did not come up with the idea of ​​inventing a ballpoint pen? Have you ever thought about it? No, just imagine that up to now on our tables there would be jars of ink, which from time to time inevitably spilled over some important document.

Still, we should have said thank you to those people who were pushed by such dissatisfaction to this invention, which is indisputably useful in our days. Well, it all started, of course, not with a pen, but with much more primitive objects.

Around 4000 BC, people first began to use wet clay tablets for writing. In this case, a wooden or bronze stick or bone served as a handle. In fact, they became the first writing instruments. Around 1300 BC, the Romans began to use wax writing. The wax was poured into wooden tablets. At this time, the name was given to the writing instrument - the stylus. The stylus was made of metal. When the recording was no longer needed, it was erased using the flat back end of the stylus. Due to the similarity of Roman tablets to modern pocket computers, the tool for working with the display was also called the stylus.

Wax writing existed practically unchanged for about 18 centuries, until the Anglo-Saxons invented parchment. Between 600 and 1800 AD, the cheapening and spread of parchment led to the need for a generally available writing instrument. It was this need that stimulated the pen dipped in ink for writing. By the way, the English word "pen" (pen) comes from the Latin "penna" (bird feather).
Goose feathers existed for a record long time - until the end of the 18th century. They also gave the name to the folding knife, with which they sharpened the feathers. The knife was called a penknife.
By the end of the 19th century, metal nib pens had completely supplanted the short-lived, frequently replaced goose nibs.

In 1884, the insurance agent Lewis Edson Waterman went down in history as the inventor of a pen filled with ink (initially from the side, using a special pipette). He had to write so much at work that it pushed him to invention. Waterman left his job and formed the Ideal Pen Company, which marked the beginning of the sale of fountain pens.
This would have continued indefinitely if Laszlo Biro had not intervened in 1943. By the nature of his work (and he was a journalist), he often visited the printing house and, seeing a newspaper sheet, almost dry immediately after leaving the rotary as fast as ink? Then it would be much more pleasant to deal with a fountain pen.
The journalist quickly realized that such ink should be as thick as possible.

But then they will clog the capillary system of a conventional fountain pen. This means that they will have to come up with some other writing node. After consulting with his brother, a certified chemist, Biro replaced the nib with a free-spinning ball. The first prototype of a ballpoint pen was created in 1938.

Before World War II, the situation in Hungary became dangerous for a liberal journalist like Biro. He had to emigrate first to Paris, where he received a patent for his invention, then to Spain and, finally, in 1940 - to Argentina. Here he found a financier who agreed to invest in an original idea, improved the design and developed machines for the production of ball rods. The first products of a small factory built by Biro went on sale in Argentina in 1943 and cost significantly more than a good fountain pen.

Pilots were one of their first buyers, who were convinced that, unlike the usual "eternal nib", the ballpoint pen does not flow when rising to a height where atmospheric pressure is reduced. Information about the "aviation fountain pen" reached the US Department of Defense, and it instructed the best manufacturers of fountain pens to familiarize themselves with the novelty and organize its production for American military pilots.

In 1944, Biro defended his invention with a US patent and sold licenses to two large American firms. But they did not have time to "swing", as an enterprising businessman M. Reynolds, who accidentally bought a ballpoint pen somewhere in South America, without any license began to produce such pens, making some changes to the design.

To avoid prosecution, he referred to a forgotten American patent taken in 1888 by one J. Loud for a bale and box marker. In the Lauda system, reminiscent of the deodorant ball-on plastic bottles now on sale, a spring-loaded ball with a diameter of 1-2 centimeters on a paint can was used to apply numbers and marks to the surface of burlap, cardboard or boards.
Reynolds was able to convince the court that his pens were a miniature copy of Lauda's invention, and that Biro's system had nothing to do with it.
When the first batch of Reynolds pens arrived at a major department store in New York after a massive advertising campaign on October 19, 1945, 50 police officers had to be called in to keep order. Ten thousand pens were sold out in a few hours. Biro himself retired in 1947 and devoted himself to painting.
In the beginning, the technology for producing rods was expensive. The ball rods were bent to increase ink capacity and were "double length". The technology has evolved towards thinner balls and cheaper rods. And by 1953, the French entrepreneur Marcel Beach (to whom the "Great Entrepreneurs" column in our magazine was once devoted) had invested in the development of cheap ballpoint pens and invented the first disposable pens. Manufacturing costs have dropped so much that ballpoint pens have become generally available.
In this way, ballpoint pens spread all over the world, and once they got to our tables with you and became irreplaceable helpers for us.

"History of Things" - Ballpoint Pen