Esterbrook Begins the Transition to Fountain Pens

During the 1920s, we began adapting to an important change in everyday writing. Fountain pens, with their internal ink supply, were becoming increasingly popular, reducing reliance on the separate penholder, steel nib and inkwell that had formed the basis of Esterbrook's business for decades. The Smithsonian's National Museum of American History specifically dates Esterbrook's attention to fountain pens to the 1920s. National Museum of American History Our traditional steel-pen business nevertheless remained substantial. Following the wartime reduction of the nib range, Esterbrook continued manufacturing established dip-pen designs at the Camden works while exploring the growing fountain-pen market. Historical accounts identify 1920 with the introduction of an early Esterbrook fountain pen, although surviving evidence for these earliest models is less complete than for the company's later fountain pens. hamiltonpens.com The 1920s therefore represented a transitional period rather than an immediate replacement of steel pens. Esterbrook's large-scale move into inexpensive, mass-produced fountain pens came in the 1930s, when the company developed its interchangeable Renew-Point system and introduced the pens that would establish a major new part of the business.