Oct 29 2009
Fun facts about… the ballpoint pen
The ballpoint pen replaced scratching messages onto walls with stones in the year 1945, at least in parts of Manchester.
Though the humble Biro isn’t really suitable for writing on buildings, it can be used to draw moustaches on sleeping drunks.
In the — granted, very small — world of ballpoint pens, Bic are veritable giants. Bigger, even, than… well, anyone else who ever tried to make ballpoint pens. Of which there are relatively few. Let’s just say Bic make very good ballpoint pens and leave it at that.
Though the modern ballpoint pen is credited to László Bíró, it is argued that Galileo Galilei, he of the stargazing obsession, first drew up plans for a primitive ballpoint pen. Apparently he wanted a pen that would write on the surface of the planets he observed, blissfully unaware that they were thousands of light years away.
Legend has it that the Father Ted ’small… far away’ sketch (below) was influenced by Galileo’s repeated attempts to grab the stars from the sky with the handle of his walking stick.
Today, one can find ballpoint pens in a variety of colours from a range of stockists including Oxfam, betting shops and Capital One, who, for some reason, give them away free with printed pieces of paper you get through the post.
Should they come equipped with sufficient ink (a rarity), you can use these pens to write angry letters back to the blighters in the hope they’ll send you a hundred more of them. Then you can throw them on your bonfire along with all your unused bookmarks and catalogue free gifts come 5th November. Tat burns nicer, I find.
In recent times, the popularity of the ballpoint pen has come under threat from the Super Pencil, which combines the durability of the pencil and the long life of the ballpoint pen to create the ultimate writing implement. It is free and can write in 256 colours. The only downside is that it does not exist, at least not yet. Watch this space.
I’ll leave you with this video from the Amateur Stationery Stunting European Section (ASSES).
