Expansion of Esterbrook’s Steel Pen Range

During the 1870s, we expanded the range of steel pens manufactured at our Camden works and strengthened their distribution across the United States. Surviving trade material shows that Esterbrook pens were already reaching markets across the country before the decade began, while the product range continued to broaden during the 1870s. The Steel Pen Variety became an increasingly important part of the business. We introduced our first stub-point pen, No. 161, in 1871, followed during the decade by turned-up points and other designs intended to accommodate different styles and speeds of writing. By 1876, the company's illustrated price list contained 118 different pen styles and 28 penholders, with nibs offered in several finishes. By 1878, an Esterbrook advertisement was promoting 150 different styles, including fine, medium, broad, blunt and turned-up points. ©The Esterbrook Project These variations allowed stationers and customers to select pens suited to different forms of writing rather than relying on a single general-purpose design. Period advertising identified models for general commercial writing, school use, fine writing, legal and engrossing work, alongside specialized pointed and turned-up designs. This breadth of purpose became a characteristic of Esterbrook's steel-pen business. Library of Congress Tile The decade was not without difficulty. Esterbrook experienced a temporary financial embarrassment in early 1876, during the wider economic depression of the 1870s, but resumed business. Later that year, the company exhibited its steel pens at the Centennial International Exhibition in Philadelphia and received an award from the United States Centennial Commission.