In the fourth, fifth and sixth grades, my fellow students and I were taught penmanship using fountain pens, but that changed when the ballpoint pen made its appearance when we were in seventh grade.
The fountain pen was a writing device composed of a point, the part under the point that controlled ink flow from the ink reservoir to the point, and the round barrel that held the point and protected the reservoir.
All fountain pens contained an internal reservoir for ink. The most used type of fountain pen was the lever filler. A small lever on the barrel depressed the flexible ink sac, and it fit flush with the barrel when it was not in use.
The ink wells — usually three — were located on the window sills in our classrooms. Whenever I filled my pen, I would take my time, because the windows faced the playground, and I could watch the kids playing ball. Miss Sauer, our teacher, would constantly tell me to stop dawdling and return to my desk.
Filling a fountain pen was a messy job for me. I would often get ink on my fingers, and I would leave ink smudges on the window sill.
Once in a while the class clowns, Allan and Peter, would fill their pens, aim at someone close to them and release the lever, thus spraying the kid with ink. This action would earn them a trip to the principal’s office and a dusting with the “board of education.”
The introduction of the ballpoint pen ended the use of the fountain pen in my classroom setting.
I first saw a ballpoint pen when I started seventh grade, and my math teacher showed us the one she and all of the teachers had received from the PTA. Of course it was red, a color the teachers loved to use on student papers.
Although the red pens were disposable, my teachers seemed never to be without one. As soon as one ran out of ink, a new one immediately took its place.
Many of the students — including myself — bought refillable ballpoint pens. Even though these pens were more expensive than disposables, we could buy refills and replace the entire ink tube with the refill. These pens, too, had a button to press allowing the ink tip to pop in and out via a spring. This was great because I no longer got ink on my hands.
The class clowns, however, did find a use for the ink barrels. They would remove the spring and blow spitballs through the barrel, and the spitballs could travel farther than any ink fired from a fountain pen.
The culprits were made to stay after school and wash the chalkboards, sweep the floor and clean the tops of all the desks. They might even have another session with the ‘board” as well.
The ballpoint required more downward pressure on the barrel than did the fountain pens in order to write clearly, because they contained no free flowing ink; however, they were durable and less expensive than fountain pens.
I long ago stopped writing with a fountain pen, but I still remember the easy flow of ink that made for smooth writing.
John Stanger is a lifelong resident of Oak Park, a 1957 graduate of OPRF High School, married with three grown children and five grandchildren, and a retired English professor (Elmhurst College). Living two miles from where he grew up, he hasn’t gotten far in 74 years.