A well-respected pencil blog (Pencil News) is predicting that 2011 will be a year of nostalgia in the pencil realm. Already Staedtler is introducing nostalgic pencil tins and a pencil-making kit. If 1970s nostalgia is what you are looking for, take a look in a stationery shop. Many of the writing instruments that graced the hands of 1970s students are still in circulation. Some are even design icons.
Retro Pens, Bic Pens
If the Biro, or Bic Cristal ballpoint pen, belongs to the category of retro pens, it is also one of the most successful everyday designs of all time. Some 14 million Bic pens are sold worldwide everyday, and although chewed and often brutally treated, it is hard to imagine life without these transparent wonders, writes Jonathan Glancey in the Guardian (6 March 2007). I certainly remember growing up in the 1970s with a blue BIC Cristal in my school pencil case.
So for a dose of 1970s nostalgia, handle a Bic Cristal, try to write with its Tungsten carbide ball point, chew on its ventilated cap, and look at its visible ink supply, and, yes, it feels like 1970 something. Bic still writes as disappointingly and as reliably as back then. And so does its sibling, Bic Orange, which promises 2.5 to 3.5 km of writing length and is designed to look like the ubiquitous yellow school pencil.
Ball Pentel
Another one of the retro pens is also a design icon: the Ball Pentel. When it first came out in 1970, it became the epitome of school cool and Pentel virtually held the monopoly of affordable rollerball pens throughout the decade. Who does not remember Ball Pentel’s green barrel and plastic ribbed cap with clip? These pens are still around. They come in four basic ink colours: black, blue, red and green – the colour of the tip indicates the colour of the ink. The nib is cushioned and the water-based ink is fibre-fed, which supposedly guarantees writing at every angle. But does it?
Paper Mate Nylon
Paper Mate Nylon first came out in 1966 as the Flair. I got to know it later as Tempo. It has been redesigned recently with more fancy lettering and cap clip and wants to call itself Flair (again). Basically, it’s the same pen. It features a broad fibre tip, is quite noisy when it writes and is cheap. It was perfect for doodling. In the 1970s, the choices of writing instruments given to doodling were not as wide as today.
Retro Pen Extraordinaire
For the ultimate 1970s spur of nostalgia, one has to handle and utilize the Bic 4 Colours. Yes, this writing instrument features a blue-and-white barrel and a choice of four inks in one. Four different BIC ballpoints can be clicked down and used with random abandon. There is even a hole at the top through which a string can be passed and the whole BIC 4 Colours can be worn as a necklace. Perfect for a 1970s costume party. Happy writing!
Lito Apostolakou - Lito is a historian with an interest in digital archives and online historical resources. She is the author of blog Palimpsest.
