Ball Point Pen day isn’t a joke. It’s a real day—honoring the creation and creators of the ball point pen—celebrated each year in June. Certainly not a widely recognized celebration, it is important to remember just where we might be without our handy writing implements.
Ball Point Pen Day—Its Origins
Certainly Ball Point Pen Day originates with those who created the ball point pen. Laszlo and Gyorgy Biro filed an application with the European Patent Office on June 10, 1943. The patent rights were later purchased by British Parliament, with the British Air Force using the ball point pens during World War II.
Ball point pens could be used at high altitudes. Pens prior to them leaked at these heights.
What’s So Great About Ball Point Pens?
If you have to ask this question, you’re probably very young—young enough, in fact, to have never seen anyone dipping a quill pen in ink and writing on a paper tablet. Ball Point Pen Day celebrates an invention that makes writing with them a one-step rather than a two-step process.
There are two functions a ball point pen performs that all earlier types of pens lacked. The ball inside each ball point pen serves as a stopper that closes in the ink and prevents it from drying out. The ball also controls the rate at which the ink seeps out of the pen onto paper.
Will Ball Point Pens Become Obsolete?
With the popularity of computers and tablets, are ball point pens in danger of becoming obsolete? That won’t happen, especially if those who celebrate Ball Point Pen Day have any say in the matter. They provide the rest of us with little-known facts pertaining to ball point pens. For example, did you know that approximately 125 ball point pens are sold each second? Did you know that about a third of the ball point pens in the United States are owned by BIC?
It was back in 1952 that a French manufacturer named Marcel Bich, who had studied the construction of every ball point pen on the market, created an inexpensive version of his own. His clear-barreled, non-leaking, and very inexpensive model was first called the Ballpoint Bic. This, too, is acknowledged on Ball Point Pen Day.
The Downside of Ball Point Pens
One of very few downsides of ball point pens, and something that is rarely thought about, is the leaking of ink and how to clean up the mess it causes. Certainly today’s ball point pens leak considerably less than the earlier counterparts. They do leak on occasion and those using them sometimes inadvertently write on themselves, the surface where they’re writing, and on their clothing.
Fortunately, there are helpful hints available for those with ink stains on their clothes and writing surfaces. A maid service likely has even more ideas for ink removal.
- Milk is an excellent ink remover. Soak the article of clothing with the ink stain in milk overnight. Wash per fabric instructions the next day.
- Salt is helpful when removing an ink stain that is still wet. Pour salt on the ink and blot it with a wet paper towel or cloth. Brush off the salt. Repeat as needed until the ink is gone.
- Making a paste with cream of tartar and lemon juice and placing it on the ink stain is the first step in yet another mode of ink removal. Allowing the paste to sit on the stain, then washing as usual should remove the ink from the garment.
- Butter is helpful for removing ink stains from many surfaces. Don’t use on painted surfaces, however, as it will leave a greasy stain. Butter works well on wooden surfaces and on many plastic children’s toys like dolls.
These remedies for ball point pen ink aren’t the only solutions, however most others involve the use of harsh chemicals. Many people hesitate to use such chemicals in their cleaning products, and they don’t hire maid services that use them either. Maybe next year’s Ball Point Pen Day will offer up even more helpful hints for removing ink. Learn how to remove stains from leather furniture.
Ball Point Pen Day Strange Facts
Along with Ball Point Pen Day come a few strange facts about it. Did you realize that about 100 people die each year by choking on a ball point pen? That said, refraining from chewing on your pen while brainstorming which is the best maid service to hire or the best community to move your family to will result in living a longer and healthier life.
Did you know that most people living in the United States go through an average of 4.3 ball point pens on their own each year? Did you realize the most expensive ball point pen for sale is the Mont Blanc Ball Point? It sells for a meager $730,000. Maybe that’s why we don’t all own one.
Did you know about this holiday?
How do you celebrate ball point pen day?