founded 1858 founder richard esterbrook defunct 1971 ; 45 years ago 1971 2 relaunched in 2014 3 headquarters camden new jersey original esterbrook factory west long branch nj relaunched brand 2014 present united states area served worldwide 4 key people richard esterbrook robert rosenberg products fountain and ballpoint pens parent harpen brand holdings llc website esterbrookpen.com esterbrook trademark name esterbrook est. 1858 1 is a brand of fountain and ballpoint pens produced by harpen brand holdings llc which acquired the rights to manufacture pens under the esterbrook brand name . 3 originally richard esterbrook was the largest pen manufacturer in the united states having reached a record of producing 216 000 000 pens a year . 4 the company produced dip pens then concentrating on fountain pens until it was acquired by venus pencils in 1967 ceasing activities in 1971 . contents 1 history 1.1 the beginning 1.2 development 1.3 decline 1.4 revival 2 artists related with esterbrook 3 references 4 external links history edit the beginning edit richard esterbrook founder . the lincoln pen packaging of 1866 . 1866 card featuring the 066 falcon pen . the esterbrook pens co. plant stood at cooper street and delaware avenue in camden new jersey c. 1920 . esterbrook s 356 357 and 358 art & drafting pens . richard esterbrook 1812 1895 5 was a cornish quaker from england who saw an opportunity in the united states to manufacture steel pens . in 1856 he traveled to the us to set up shop as the steel pen manufacturing company . in 1858 he was able to establish himself as the sole pen manufacturer in the usa and he changed the company name to the esterbrook steel pen mfg. co. with just 15 employees and settled down in camden new jersey . at the time two of the four pen companies located in the united states were situated in camden . besides esterbrook the first in the country the c. howard hunt pen company at 7th and state streets produced pens pencil sharpeners and allied products and employed 125 workers . at its height the esterbrook plant had 450 workers and produced 600 000 pens a day . 6 there were no men in this country learned in the pen trade and no suitable machinery so it was necessary to design and build all machines . only fifteen people made up the first payroll but the growth of the company was steady . the buildings were added to from time to time and in 1912 a five story concrete building was erected nearly doubling the size of the plant . automatic machines replaced hand work and the output greatly increased . development edit quality was a key factor in his success . his steel pens were versatile long lasting and came in many different styles to fit the varied writing styles of the public . sadly richard esterbrook didn t see the empire his company was to become as he died in atlanta on october 12 1895 . just one year after his death in 1896 the company started an esterbrook branch in england to join the ranks of the other main pen manufactures in birmingham . by 1920 the fountain pen was fast becoming more popular amongst people who were tired of dipping pens into ink . to meet the demand the company manufactured its first fountain pen . by 1930 the company sought less expensive means of manufacturing pens as gold and jewel tips were growing too expensive and in this same year they began selling fountain pens in england . the esterbrook company began using the metal iridium which they called durachrome . to meet the fountain pen demand the company reformed as the esterbrook hazel pens ltd . in 1940 war had come to strike a blow at the esterbrook company . decline edit in 1947 esterbrook bought out john mitchell which had been established in 1822 as the world s first manufacturer to cut nibs by machine and then acquired hazell pen co. the company re formed again as the esterbrook pen company . some time after that esterbrook ceased production of dip pen nibs permanently . the post war years had seen a decline particularly in the export trade to the traditional markets of the british empire . as those countries gained independence due to american aid they had more dollars to spend in the united states than pounds in the united kingdom . 6 esterbrook continued to thrive until the beginning of 1960 when it started to see a decline in export trades with england . in 1967 the esterbrook empire was bought out by the venus pencil company and thus the name changed to venus esterbrook which continued to produce replacement nibs for fountain pens . there were numerous administrative changes and moves and eventually their final base of operations was vacated in 1972 though the building still stands today . venus esterbrook would be finally taken over by berol in 1971 5 7 8 all esterbrook operations ceased . 2 revival edit in 2014 harpen brand holdings llc announced the revival of the esterbrook pen brand after securing the trademark rights for the esterbrook brand name . 3 9 the brand now named esterbrook est. 1858 1 launched new versions of classic esterbrook models such as the deluxe fountain pen and the j ballpoint pen both originally released in the 1950s . 10 artists related with esterbrook edit carl barks was an esterbrook enthusiast . the famous disney artist carl barks was an enthusiastic user of esterbrook pens . he particularly used a n 356 model to ink and letter his famous donald duck comic book pages . 6 11 ... i drew direct onto the drawing paper with a scripto light blue pencil and inked with a 356 esterbrook pen . my wife inked the dialogue with an a 5 or b 6 speedball and blacked the solid areas with a 2 sable brush . carl barks letter to michael barrier january 14 1967 12 ... i used a 356 esterbrook art and drafting pen which could do everything from thin fadeaways to broad accented curve sweeps on foreground circles such as the ducks forms . the trick of breaking in a new pen i discovered is to soak it for several minutes in the ink bottle . then wipe off the ink and the pen s varnish . for some weird reason most new pens then start out flexible and free flowing ... carl barks letter to scott matheson march 21 1973 12 peanuts creator charles m. schulz used an esterbrook 914 radio nib for inking the comic strip . he liked the nib so much he bought the remaining stock when esterbrook went out of business . 2 13 references edit a b c esterbrook trademark details a b c history in the making on esterbrook website 10 jul 2015 a b c america s original pen company returns december 2014 on esterbrook website 15 nov 2014 a b esterbrook history in kamakura pens website a b history of esterbrook pens a b c esterbrook pens in blam calligraphy page history of berol company esterbrook history kamakura pens website classic pen brand brought back from the dead by devin loring usa today 9 feb 2015 products on esterbrook website carl barks talks about esterbook pens a b carl barks letters charles m. schulz personal effects collection external links edit wikimedia commons has media related to esterbrook . official website launched 2014 vintage esterbrook fountain pens 1 vintage esterbrook fountain pens 2 v t e fountain pen manufacturers by country australia curtis australia brazil crown canada andr juillet china baoer beifa hero jinhao croatia toz penkala czech republic koh i noor hardtmuth france bic cartier guy laroche herm s j. herbin jean pierre l pine maped pierre cardin r cife st dupont yves saint laurent germany diplomat faber castell garant graf von faber castell kaweco lamy montblanc online pelikan rotring schneider schwan stabilo senator staedtler india camlin chelpark luxor italy aurora columbus delta marlen montegrappa omas stipula visconti japan nakaya namiki ohto pentel pilot platinum sailor tombow uni ball zebra poland zenith portugal mab viarco russia krasin stamm spain inoxcrom sweden ballograf switzerland caran d ache turkey adel scrikss united kingdom ajoto conway stewart dunhill onoto twiss pens worcester pen company yard o led united states bexley broadwell sudios cross esterbrook eversharp krone paper mate parker sheaffer waterman wearever retrieved from https en.wikipedia.org w index.php title esterbrook & oldid 740032601 categories companies established in 1858defunct companies based in new jerseywriting implementsart materials brandspens1858 establishments in new jerseycompanies disestablished in 19711971 disestablishments in the united statesfountain pen and ink manufacturershidden categories pages using infobox company with unsupported parameterscommons category with local link same as on wikidata navigation menu personal tools not logged intalkcontributionscreate accountlog in namespaces article talk variants views read edit view history more search navigation main pagecontentsfeatured contentcurrent eventsrandom articledonate to wikipediawikipedia store interaction helpabout wikipediacommunity portalrecent changescontact page tools what links hererelated changesupload filespecial 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