Rebirth in Sales : A New Chapter in Story of the Fountain Pen
The shipment of fountain pens from Mont Blanc of West Germany arriving at the Fountain Pen Shop included one that Fred Krinke had been eagerly awaiting.
Krinke, 58, owner of the writing implement store on the eighth floor of the Metropolitan Building on West 5th Street, retrieved a gold pen from the package. He held it up to admire and explained:
“This fountain pen sells for $6,500. That’s more than some new cars cost. An attorney ordered it.”
Most people under 40 have never used a fountain pen. By the mid-1950s, ball point pens had replaced the fountain pen as a popular writing instrument.
“Fountain pens are perceived as archaic. But you would be surprised at the growing number of businessmen, doctors and attorneys using expensive fountain pens instead of ballpoint pens,” said Krinke.
Indeed, statistics compiled by the Writing Instrument Manufacturers Assn. (WIMA), a trade group based in Washington, show that while fountain pen sales continue to fall far short of the volume done by ball point pens, they are still making a steady comeback.
Last year, 11.2 million fountain pens were manufactured in the United States, with manufacturer sales registering $40 million. That performance showed a respectable improvement from four years earlier: In 1981, 8.6 million fountain pens were made here, ringing up sales of $31.5 million.
During 1985, by contrast, 2.2 billion ballpoint pens were produced in the United States with $383 million in sales, up from 1981, when 1.99 billion were manufactured, registering sales of $351 million.
Industry observers attribute the rise in fountain pen sales to those geared to the more affluent--carrying price tags of $50 and higher.
Krinke attributed the increase to “nostalgia for things out of the past and a search for more individuality in writing style that is more easily obtained with a fountain pen.”
The Fountain Pen Shop, founded in 1922 by Krinke’s grandfather, is one of a handful of stores left in the nation specializing in fountain pens and offering on-the-premises repair service. Fountain pens are also sold in stationery stores, gift shops and department stores.
In the Fountain Pen Shop, Dr. John Tarr, 57, a physician, was getting a minor adjustment to his $250 fountain pen. He reflected: “I detect a bit of a trend among my colleagues to use fountain pens. For me, I enjoy writing with a fountain pen. I feel a little more fulfilled in a fastidious way.”
Attorney Paul F. Hyer, 51, was also in the shop. Hyer, who uses an expensive fountain pen in his daily work writing legal documents, said: “It’s easier to write with a fountain pen. It requires less effort than writing with a ballpoint pen. It glides along. And you can express yourself in a writing style that is much more personalized.”
The Fountain Pen Shop is a throwback to an earlier time. It is filled with old-fashioned showcases containing ink bottles, Krinke’s collection of antique pens and a variety of new fountain pens for sale.
Two turn-of-the-century safes stand in the corner next to tiny, 75-year-old cabinets containing breather tubes, plungers, bladders, filler units, nibs (pen points) and other fountain pen paraphernalia.
“My father and grandfather before me never threw away anything. We have parts for and can repair fountain pens made before World War I. We are frequently called upon to do so,” Krinke explained.
Lewis E. Waterman invented the fountain pen in 1884. The steel nib was first made in France in 1745, and until the fountain pen came along, it was necessary to dip the nib of the pen into an inkwell as one wrote.
The ballpoint pen was invented in 1935 by Ladislas Biro, a Hungarian living in Brazil. Ballpoint pens were introduced into the United States in 1945, initially selling for $15 to $20. By the mid-1950s, they began replacing the fountain pen as a popular writing instrument.
Four companies manufacture fountain pens in the United States: David Kahn Inc., Deerlake, Pa.; Sheaffer Eaton, a division of Textron Inc., Fort Madison, Iowa; A. T. Cross Co., Lincoln, R.I., and Parker Pen Co., Janesville, Wis. Many foreign-made fountain pens, manufactured principally in France, Italy, England, Switzerland and Japan, also are sold in this country.
Sheaffer Eaton is the largest manufacturer of fountain pens in the United States, producing more than half of the fountain pens made in the United States, which retail from $8.50 to $3,500. Founded in 1913 by Walter A. Sheaffer, the firm employs 900 at its Iowa writing implement factory.
“We’re very optimistic about the fountain pen market,” said Stephen Roberts, the company’s director of marketing. “Our fountain pen sales have increased threefold since 1980.” Roberts attributed the increase to two factors. “It’s a gift item,” he said, pointing to an $11.95 Scheaffer-Eaton calligraphy set, which he believes introduced many Americans for the first time to the fountain pen.
Roberts added: “There’s also a growing trend among American consumers, especially in the last three years, for high-quality items that enable them to express their own personality. With the computer age, people want to put their individual mark on things. Professionals, many of the so-called yuppies, are beginning to discover the fountain pen.”
Fountain pens represented 2% to 3% of the writing instrument market in this country in the 1970s, while today the percentage of the market has grown to 7% to 8%, Roberts noted.
“For Sheaffer Eaton, fountain pens have always been an important product. Fountain pens represent one-fourth of the company’s total sales today. The company founder, Walter A. Sheaffer, invented the first practical self-filling fountain pen. The fountain pen has always been part of our heritage, and we have stayed with it continuously for 73 years,” Roberts added.
A. T. Cross returned to the fountain pen market four years ago after a long hiatus. Now it produces fountain pens retailing from $35 to $800. “We perceived the market for the luxury fountain pen and have gotten back into it,” explained Dan Lammon, director of product development.
Parker Pen Co., founded in 1888, manufactures its luxury line of fountain pens in England and France and produces one line of less expensive pens, the Vector, at its home plant in Janesville, Wis.
“There is a resurgence of interest in expensive fountain pens on the part of affluent shoppers,” said Parker spokesman Gene Rohlman. “It’s a segment of business that shows increasing opportunity for growth. We have an ongoing research study to determine how extensive the market is and if we should be doing more about it.”
According to Rohlman, sales are running 150% ahead of 1985 levels for Parker’s Chinese lacquer pens, which sell for $65.
But Julius Kahn, 84, dean of fountain pen manufacturers in America and chairman of David Kahn Inc., sees no growing demand for inexpensive fountain pens.
Kahn recalled how the company founded in 1896 by his father, David, hand-crafted fountain pens during the early 1900s that retailed for 10 cents apiece at F.W. Woolworth & Co. In the 1940s, David Kahn Inc. turned out 50 million inexpensive fountain pens a year and employed 500. Today the company produces 1 million Wearever fountain pens annually, retailing at $2.50 each.
“If we started teaching children how to write in schools, the fountain pen might come back,” insisted Kahn. “Schools no longer offer penmanship. Americans are no longer concerned with handwriting.” Frank King, 70, for 35 years executive vice president of the Writing Instrument Manufacturers Assn., noted that “fountain pens have always had a loyal following. The fountain pen is the most sophisticated writing instrument. We are now seeing a rekindled interest in the fountain pen for the first time in a long time.”
