Holland/en
The John Holland Pen Company was one of the first fountain pen manufacturers, beginning production in the second half of 1800. The apex of its success, however, was in this early period of the fountain pen history. At that time the company contributed to fountain pens spread and evolution, particularly in the early '900, when Holland distinguished itself in the research for new filling systems.
In these early days, the pens produced by Holland were between the more advanced for quality and tec, but the company always worked at the local level, relying on a network of resellers (among which stands out George Safford Parker, founder of the far more famous Parker company). Because of this Holland remained behind in technological advances compared to its competitors of the same time. Starting from the '20s the company was just following the trends set by its competitors, and faced great difficulties during the great depression of 1929. Since the '30s the quality of its pens decreased gradually, and in 1950, with the death of the son of the founder, Holland ceased operations.
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History
The origins of John Holland Pen Company will officially went back to 1862 when John Holland, acquired the gold nibs manufacturing company started in 1941 by George Sheppard in Cincinnati, with whom he had been employed by approximately from 1850. John Holland immediately began to expand production at dip pen holders, pencils and boxes. The first experiments with fountain pens are traced back to 1859, with the production of a metal pen, but there is no documentation on the marketing of such an object. The real fountain pen production starts therefore later, probably after the market introduction of the hard rubber, occurred in 1870 by Goodyear, but the company is claiming to have started in 1865.
The historical data on the initial production are very scarce, and throughout the first part of the decade of 1870 there is only evidence of advertising for gold nibs and holders. The first news of fountain pen sale dates back to 1879, with production of fountain pens advertised in magazines and scientific literature with the slogan: "We have no record of any fountain pen having been offered to the public before the John Holland fountain pen." First pens were gold nib eyedropper pens, that were improved with different feeding system,
The initial fountain pens marketing was made through a network of distributors, agents and commercial travelers, among which stands out the name of George Safford Parker, who will start his own business by improving the feeder of an Holland pen. In 1889 the company was incorporated; at this time Holland probably was the largest fountain pen manufacturer on the market, but only on the 1890's the company launched a nation wide promotional campaign.
At the beginning of 1900 Holland distinguished itself for research on filling systems: the first automatic filling system is dated back around 1905, with the introduction of the sleeve filler on the Eureka model, the following year the company introduced the pull filler, which remained in production until around 1918.[1] Finally since in 1908 the hatchet filler was introduced, which remained in production until 1919. Since 1920, and continuing for all the following production, the company used a lever filler.
One of the valuable characteristics of this early century production is the presence of great quality overlay models. These models are distinguished by the use of a screw cap, often made in an original manner. In the early models in fact, the thread was placed at the end of the section, and inside the inner cap, while in following model the cap was made without inner cap, and the block was made directly through the threads itself. These pens can easily recognized for the presence of a long straight section. Finally, some models allow you to screw the cap on the bottom of the pen during the use.
Con la morte del fondatore, avvenuta nel 1917, la guida dell'azienda passò ai figli, ma ormai la preminenza della compagnia nel mercato delle stilografiche era solo un ricordo. Nel 1925 la Holland, seguendo quando fatto da tutti gli altri produttori, passò alla celluloide, le penne di quel periodo sono sostanzialmente simili a quelle prodotte dalle altre compagnie, e si distinguevano solo per alcuni modelli di maggior pregio realizzati con inserti in madreperla. In questo periodo l'azienda continuò comunque a mescolare ebanite e celluloide, e si hanno penne prodotte con fondelli e teste in ebanite e corpo in celluloide o viceversa.
L'azienda subì pesantemente la crisi del 1929, disponendo di scarse risorse finanziarie. La qualità diminuì progressivamente per tutti gli anni '30, con penne che venivano realizzate assemblando parti prodotte da altri con pennini e parti risultanti dai precedenti fondi di produzione, mentre il grosso delle entrate proveniva dalla attività di vendita di cancelleria condotta nel negozio posto al pian terreno dell'edificio dell'azienda. Nel 1950, con la morte dell'ultimo figlio di John Holland l'attività cessò.[2]
Template:CronoMarche |- | 1841 || George Sheppard avvia una fabbrica di pennini d'oro (futura Holland) |- | 1862 || John Holland acquisisce l'attività di George Sheppard dando vita alla John Holland Pen Company |- | 1865 || La Holland inizia la produzione di stilografiche |- | 1884 || Viene aperta una nuova fabbrica dedicata alla produzione di stilografiche |- | 1889 || La John Holland Pen Company diventa società di capitali |- | 1905 || La Holland introduce lo sleeve filler |- | 1906 || La Holland introduce il pull filler |- | 1908 || La Holland introduce l'hatchet filler |- | 1908 || La Holland introduce l'elastic feed. |- | 1915 || La Holland dismette il pull filler |- | 1917 || John Holland muore, i figli subentrano nella gestione dell'azienda |- | 1919 || La Holland dismette l'hatchet filler |- | 1920 || La Holland passa al caricamento a levetta |- | 1925 || La Holland passa alla celluloide |- | 1950 || La Holland cessa le attività |- |}
Template:LegendaModelli |- | XX || 19XX || XX, ? |- |}
Note
- ↑ the date is not clear, the last known advertising seems to date back to 1915.
- ↑ anche se altri riportano la fine dell'azienda nei tardi anni '70, forse perché la attività locale di vendita rimase in piedi, almeno fino al 1980 quando il palazzo della compagnia venne venduto all'asta con tutte le giacenze in esso contenute.