As part of my research on the history of the steel (dip) pen industry, I published a three-part series describing how pens were made during the golden age of dip pens (1830-1900). More automation began creeping into first the US factories around 1900s, and then in the UK during WWI, and the continent after the war.
I thought some of you might find this interesting, especially those of you who like to use vintage pens. I have included a link below to a Microsoft OneDrive folder with these articles (as well as some other history articles). Look for the articles on The Steel Pen Trade. I tried to attach, but one of them is too large, and cannot seem to compress it enough. Any other suggestions for how to attach are welcome.
I took as a conceit the factory tour, which was a popular kind of article during the industrial revolution to let people (who would never actually work in a factory) know what it was like to walk through these modern miracles of the age. It is pretty amazing how consistent the techniques were not just on both sides of the Atlantic (it was British engineers who set up the US factories, after all), but also throughout the century from the first factories in 1830s to the turn of the century.
There's more to this topic than I had space for. I would particularly like to research and write more about the lives of the women who made up most of the workforce in these factories. Men and boys worked the furnaces and steel rollers, but pretty much everything else was done by women. It was considered a good factory job for women in that it was relatively clean and safe (as long as you watched your fingers).
Anyway, any questions let me know. I hope you enjoy!
These were originally published in the Spring, Summer and Winter of 2021 issues of
The Pennant (magazine of the Pen Collectors of America).
https://1drv.ms/f/s!Anl0aUhuftEChNgt_AI483mjCBrKOw?e=s78FX3 Andrew
