Re: The Pickwick, the Owl and the Waverley pen.

On Sunday, October 3, 1999 at 3:00:00 PM UTC+8, Philip J. Kuhl wrote:
> "They come as a boon and a blessing to men:
> The Pickwick, the Owl and the Waverley pen".
> What a kind man you are, Mr Hyde, to have posted this! I first read this
> quip several decades ago, had forgotten it in its detail, and have been
> trying for some years to recall it. Now, thanks to you, I have it. I
> believe I shall steal it and use it in my e-mail signature!
> I cannot help with the Pickwick or the Owl pen (Can anyone else give us
> details?), but I can speak a bit to the Waverley: The Waverley was indeed a
> steel nib for a dipping pen, but it's great advantage was that at the tip of
> the nib where the two tines meet was affixed a small ball of metal, just as
> we think is now normal on a standard fountain pen nib.
> Conventional practice at the time was to have the nib end in a sharp point.
> While the sharp point allows for a very thin line (helpful with a flexible
> nib when one is a 19th Century schoolboy attempting to master Copperplate),
> but it also digs into the paper when used improperly (by that same
> schoolboy), can flick ink about if dug in to that paper and the tension is
> released abruptly, and in general can serve better as a dart than as a pen
> (by a schoolboy of any era).
> The Waverley, with its "ball" point, wrote smoothly, without digging into
> the paper. It did not provide as much contrast between think and thin lines
> as did its sharp predecessor, but as a practical writing nib for general
> writing it was far superior and thus, in the opinion of its makers, "a boon
> and a blessing to men." And quite right they were, too, in my opinion!
> Thank you again for solving a minor, but irritatingly unsolved mystery.
> Philip J. Kuhl
> Arlington 4, Virginia