[Posted on L&P on May 13, 2010.]
The Esterbrook Steel Pen Mfg. Co.’s US trademark no. 8,790 for “Metallic Pens”, issued on Oct 25, 1881, and used since 1874, was for the name “Easy Writer” and the number “130”. Le Roy W. Fairchild’s US trademark no. 9,536 for “Fountain-Pens”, issued on July 11, 1882, and used since 1882, showed an image of a fountain pen with the name “Ready Writer” stamped on it, a name taken from Psalm 45:1. Also see the earlier fountain pens in US patent no. 8,977 from 1852, and UK patent no. 2,678 from 1859, both with the name “Ready Writer” on the pens. And although trademark no. 9,536 was the first for a fountain pen, it didn’t appear until 1882, when the new fountain pen business was just starting to take off, and become competitive and a going concern. Modern advertizing was also in its infancy, and they were still trying to figure out mass marketing, and just how it all should be done, and how to be modern. Later, in the early 1900s, Ormiston & Glass also had a stylograph called the “Ready Writer”. And Charles E. Browning’s US trademark no. 45,856 for “Fountain-Pens”, issued on Aug 29, 1905, but used since June 28, 1892, was for the name “Rapid Writer”. But Benjamin Lawrence’s US trademark no. 9,509 for “Steel Pens”, issued on July 4, 1882, and used since May 1, 1882, was for the name “Expeditious Writer”, which was not quite as catchy as the other names. It sounds a bit stuffy, and a bit of a reach.
George Kovalenko.
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