World War II and the Fountain Pen, Part II

It is an axiom that technology advances more rapidly in wartime than in times of peace. In the case of military technology, this is certainly true, but advances made for the military often spill over into the civilian world, and the fountain pen was not left behind during World War II.

- By Richard Binder

The cap initials of H.F.F. refer to Helen Frances Frisz, shown above in the uniform of the U.S. Coast Guard's SPARs women's unit.

Before World War 11, the existing metallurgical technology could not support the economical manufacture of high-quality alloys suitable for tipping fountain pen nibs. Tipping material was culled from high-grade ores of platinum-group metals, principally osmiridium, a naturally occurring alloy of osmium and iridium. Ore was crushed, fragments were selected based on their metal content and welded to nibs, after which the tips were ground and polished. This technology worked reasonably well, but the quality of finished nib tips could vary greatly: one might have a crystalline cleavage line that would cause a fracture of the tip, the next might have a spongy texture that made polishing it into a smooth tip impossible, and a third might be perfect in all respects.

1944 Parker 51 had a nib tip of Plathenium rather than osmiridium due to advancements in metallurgical technology.

The U.S. military's need for highly refined alloys that were very hard led to the development of technology to meet that requirement. When the United States went to war in December 1941, Parker had just introduced the revolutionary “51”. Early in the war, Parker advertised that the nib of the “51” was tipped with osmiridium. During 1943, on the back of new technology, the nib tipping material changed to a refined ruthenium-based alloy called Plathenium. The “51” shown with this article was made in 1944 and has a Plathenium nib.