An Ethnographic Research and Biography of the Ballpoint Pen

An Ethnographic Research and Biography of the Ballpoint Pen
One of the most used tools in the world today is a ball point pen. Ball point pens come in
different color and sizes and their absence would affect many things. For example, at the highest
office in the country, many things would be delayed if the president lacked a pen to sign
directives. The same case applies to banks, schools and other institutions where handwritten
signatures are needed to issue directives. As an ethnographer, I observed how people use pens,
their production, and usage, how producers view them, how they are traded, who benefits and
how pen production affects physical and the socio-cultural environment.
A Summary of the Ethnographic Research

The study was conducted to understand how often people use pens, existing types and
people’s management of ball-point pens. The ethnographic research was done in different places
such as home, restaurants, offices and class. From the research on the use of the ballpoint pen, I
realized that everybody who can write uses a pen, but people use it based on need and task
demands. Some like students use a ballpoint pen daily while others use it occasionally. I also
observed that pens come in different sizes, color and shape. People also value ballpoint pens and
some have chosen special places to place them such as their bags, cars and on their tables. Others
even carry ballpoint pens in their pockets.

A Brief History of a Writing Pen

The idea of a pen began many thousands of years ago as documented by the cave wall
drawings by our ancestors. The Egyptians too also wrote on papyrus while Romans and Greeks
carved on wax tablets and scrolls 1 . Other civilization that had invented a writing material were

1 Bromley, Karen. “Picture a world without pens, pencils, and paper: The unanticipated future of reading and
writing.” Journal of College Reading and Learning 41, no. 1 (2010): 96-108.

3
the Chinese, the Koreans and the Europeans who came up with quill pens, ink pens and pencil.
Today, the pen has evolved to include digital pens that can draw on tablets and pens in our
computers.
The particular pen that I was interested in this ethnographic research is the ball point pen.
The first inventions were not suitable as the pen smeared its ink on the paper and subsequent
improvement had to be done before the ballpoint pen became commercial 2 .

Who Produces Pens

Ballpoint pens are produced by many companies around the world. One of the
companies that is known for pioneering the production of ballpoint pens is Bic. The history of
Bic can be traced back to the use of the quill and the dip pen, which would then develop into
fountain pen 3 . Unlike other pens, fountain pens were popular because their ink was in a reservoir
and did not require constant dipping like it was the case with quill and the dip pen. Lewis
Waterman came up with the invention of fountain pens after the earlier pens messed up an
important document that he was signing leading to the loss of the contract. His 1884 design led
to the fountain pen becoming the dominant design for almost half a century.
In 1930s, fountain pens were challenged by the invention of Laszlo Biro. He was a
journalist from Hungary who took notice of how the newspaper ink was different from the
fountain ink. He observed that this ink would not easily flow in his fountain pen and this forced
him come up with a new tip with a ball that rotated freely in a socket writing while siphoning ink
from the reservoir. His invention came during the 1938 4 period when Germany was going
through some turmoil. Fearing for his life, Laszlo Biro went to Paris and then to Argentina where

2 Cole, David John, Eve Browning, Eve Browning Cole, and Fred EH Schroeder. Encyclopedia of modern everyday
inventions. Greenwood Publishing Group, 2003.
3 Business Casual. BIC: The Company behind the Pen, YouTube, 2017
4 Ibid Business Casual.

4
he continued with his invention. He started the first ballpoint pen company although his design
still had flaws that led to the bankruptcy of his company. He was, therefore, forced to sell his
rights to Machel.
Machel is known as the person who led to the mass production and cheap availability of
the ball point pen 5 . Located in Paris, Machel came up with a simple Bic design where the pen
resembled a pencil and was made of clear plastic that allowed the writer to observe the ink as it
gradually declined as the pen was put to use. Machel also used the concept of economies of
scale to produce many pens at once and reduce the cost of the ball point pen, which was had been
expensive before. Later he introduced his pens to the rest of the world including America and
Africa by opening so many Bic subsidiaries across the globe 6 . Today, many companies across the
world produce a range of ball point pens to compete with Bic, the pioneering company.

How a Pen Produced

Ball point pens are made of different materials such as plastic, chemicals 7 and plastics
and is produced in an automated industrial setting 8 . The ball point holder part is made of brass
because of its resistance to corrosion and its ability to be shaped in different forms 9 . The other
process in a mass ball point production is the modeling of the other part and finally fitting the ink
into the pen and assembling of the other part 10 . Companies produce different pens including
stylish pens that can be used as gifts or in some offices. Such pens are made with good looking
materials such as gold coating and patterns to match the users’ needs.

5 Ibid Business Casual.
6 Bic Group Official. BIC® Cristal® ball pen manufacturing. Youtube, 2016
7 Alyami, Abeer, Killian Barton, Liam Lewis, Antonio Mirabile, and Daniela Iacopino. “Identification of dye content
in colored BIC ballpoint pen inks by Raman spectroscopy and surface‐enhanced Raman scattering.” Journal of
Raman Spectroscopy 50, no. 1 (2019): 115-126.
8 Gajjar, Bhavya R., and Saurin Sheth. “Investigation of automation strategy and its effect on assembly cost: A case
study on ball pen assembly line.” International journal of current Engineering and Technology 3 (2014): 89-92.
9 Ibid Bic Group Official.
10 How It’s Made. How it’s made ballpoint pens. Youtube, 2015.

5

How is it Used and Considered by the People who Produce it
A ball point pen is a source of income for the companies that produce it. For example,
Bic’s ball point pen has been a source of revenues for its inventors to date. This and other
companies makes millions of dollars by producing and selling pens to their consumers.
How it is Traded both Locally and Globally, who Controls and Benefits from its

Sale

Unlike in the past when Bic was the dominant producer of the ball point pen, many
companies have been set up to produce pens. All these companies follow Machel’s economies of
scale production concept where ball point pens are produced in large numbers and distributed
through wholesalers and retailers to the end users. The mass production of ball point pens
ensures that the product is cheap and accessible to all consumers 11 . Companies like Bic are
multinational companies and are present in almost all countries around the world. However,
almost every other country has local companies that produces pens for their domestic
consumption and the export of surplus production.
Different people benefit from the trade starting with companies, which earn profits from
production and sale of ball point pens. Wholesalers, distributors and retailers also earn some
profit from their sale of pens. Governments also earn from the tax revenues obtained from the
production and sale of pen. Consumers also benefit from the ball pen production as most pen
products are cheap and easily accessible in the local market.

Impacts of Production and Trade have on the Physical, Social and Cultural

Environment

Starting with positive effects, the ballpoint pen has changed the world because it has
contributed to writing 12 and literacy 13 . For example, most classrooms today ball point pens, which
11 Ibid Bic Group Official.

6
have made writing easy and even quicker. Gone are the days when students could dip their pens
on ink to write and still wait for the ink to dry. Ball point pens are also found everywhere plus
they are portable and can be used for a longer period. This makes it easy to write important
information from anywhere as long as one has a writing pad or paper. Ball point pens are also
useful in communicating and sharing of ideas. Even at a time when smart phones have overtaken
writing and communication, most people still use pens for writing. Ball point production has also
contributed to the growth of our society as it is a source of revenue and work. Many people work
in ball point production companies and earn their living from there.
Although ball point pens have contributed a lot, there are concerns over the effect of their
production on the environment and the main cause of this is from their disposal. As one of the
most used commodity, it is also one of the most disposed commodities. Every day, millions of
people dispose pens around the world and the effect that this has on the environment is
unbelievable. From my observation, most use nonrenewable pens whose waste will end up filling
the world’s land fill if something is not done.
Conclusion
A ball point pen is one of the most useful products in our lives as it helps with writing
and literacy. An ethnographic research on the use of a ball point pen revealed that almost every
other person uses this commodity. It is also used in various places, it is cheap and hence, easily
disposed after use. A brief history of the ball point pen shows that it has evolved from other
versions such as the quill and the fountain pen. Ball point pens are produced by companies from
all over the world who enjoy the revenues and profits that come with its production. Ball point

12 Hilton, Ordway. “Characteristics of the ball point pen and its influence on handwriting identification.” J. Crim. L.
Criminology & Police Sci. 47 (1956): 606.
13 Ibid Bromley.

7
pens affect writing and literacy and also affect the world through disposal, which is one of the
reasons why sustainable ballpoint products should be considered.

8

Bibliography

Alyami, Abeer, Killian Barton, Liam Lewis, Antonio Mirabile, and Daniela Iacopino.
“Identification of dye content in colored BIC ballpoint pen inks by Raman spectroscopy
and surface‐enhanced Raman scattering.” Journal of Raman Spectroscopy 50, no. 1
(2019): 115-126.
Bic Group Official. “BIC® Cristal® Ball Pen Manufacturing.” YouTube, 2016,
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-OxsoPxc8SY
Bromley, Karen. “Picture a world without pens, pencils, and paper: The unanticipated future of
reading and writing.” Journal of College Reading and Learning 41, no. 1 (2010): 96-108.
Business Casual. “BIC: The Company behind the Pen,” YouTube, 2017,
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I-1p9H6FuTo
Cole, David John, Eve Browning, Eve Browning Cole, and Fred EH Schroeder. Encyclopedia of
modern everyday inventions. Greenwood Publishing Group, 2003.
Gajjar, Bhavya R., and Saurin Sheth. “Investigation of automation strategy and its effect on
assembly cost: A case study on ball pen assembly line.” International journal of current
Engineering and Technology 3 (2014): 89-92.
Hilton, Ordway. “Characteristics of the ball point pen and its influence on handwriting
identification.” J. Crim. L. Criminology & Police Sci. 47 (1956): 606.
How It’s Made. “How it’s Made Ballpoint Pens.” YouTube, 2015,
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BQX_cNBZ3Hk