Stories
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Pelikan History: Hanover Inks to Hamelin
Who owns Pelikan and how old it is: the 1838 Hanover price list, Wagner's pelican trademark, the 1929 piston filler, the Souverän and Hamelin's 2023 takeover.
Stories
Who owns which stationery brands, how the big makers grew, and how pencils, nibs, ink and paper are made: dated, sourced brand and industry history. Every date and deal comes from a primary source: company histories, press releases and filings, often in the maker's own language.
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Moleskine History: Modo & Modo to D'Ieteren
Who makes Moleskine and is it Hemingway's notebook? The 1997 Milan revival, the 2006 fund buyout, the 2013 IPO and D'Ieteren's 2016–17 takeover, from filings.
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Parafernalia: The Milan Pen Brand Behind the Revolution
Parafernalia from its own pages: a Brera design shop turned pen maker, Sergio Carpani's AL 13 and Revolution, its aluminium pens and Itapec's 2024 takeover.
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Black Forest Pen: The Small German Metal Pen Maker
Black Forest Pen from its own pages: a family-run Black Forest manufactory founded by a retired toolmaker, its CNC-made metal pens, Schmidt nibs, US stockist.
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Is Mitsubishi Pencil Owned by Mitsubishi? Its History
Is Mitsubishi Pencil owned by Mitsubishi? No: Niroku Masaki founded it in 1887 and registered its three-diamond mark in 1903, long before uni and Jetstream.
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Why Mitsubishi Pencil Bought LAMY: The 2024 Deal
How Japan's uni maker bought 100% of Heidelberg's LAMY in 2024: dates, the price in filings, both firms' reasons, and LAMY's and Mitsubishi Pencil's history.
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The Pens US Presidents Use: Esterbrook to Sharpie
What pen does the president use? Kennedy's Esterbrook desk pens, the Cross Townsend and Century II from Clinton to Biden, and Trump's custom gold Sharpie.
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Sakura Color Products History: Cray-Pas to Gelly Roll
Sakura Color Products history from its Japanese records: a 1921 Osaka crayon maker, Cray-Pas in 1925, Pigma in 1982, the first gel pen in 1984 and Royal Talens.
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Faber-Castell History: A German Pencil Family Since 1761
Where is Faber-Castell from? Stein, near Nuremberg in Germany, where Kaspar Faber began making pencils in 1761. How it got its double name, and who owns it.
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LAMY History: From Orthos to Mitsubishi Pencil
The history of LAMY pens: C. Josef Lamy's 1930 Orthos factory, the LAMY 27, Gerd A. Müller's LAMY 2000, the 1980 safari and the 2024 sale to Mitsubishi Pencil.
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Platinum Pen History: Nakata, #3776 and Preppy
The history of Platinum pens: Shunichi Nakata's 1919 start, Nakaya and the Platinum mark, the 1978 #3776, the Slip & Seal cap of 2010 and the Preppy since 2007.
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Nuremberg's Pencil Makers: From 1662 to Faber-Castell
Why Nuremberg became the pencil capital: guild records from 1662, Stein's Faber workshop, Conté's clay lead, and how Staedtler, Lyra and Schwan-STABILO began.
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Caran d'Ache History: Geneva's Pencil Maker Since 1915
Caran d'Ache history from Swiss French sources: the 1915 Geneva pencil factory, the 1924 name, Fixpencil, Prismalo, the 849 and the Hubscher family today.
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Clairefontaine and Rhodia History: A French Paper Family
Clairefontaine and Rhodia history from French sources: the 1858 Vosges paper mill, Charles Nusse's Exacompta, the 1934 orange Rhodia pad and the Nusse family.
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STAEDTLER History: From 1662 Pencils to a Foundation
STAEDTLER history from German sources: Friedrich Staedtler's pencils of 1662, the 1835 factory, the Kreutzer family, the Mars mark and the foundation owner.
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TWSBI History: From Taiwan OEM to Piston-Filler Brand
TWSBI history from Taiwanese and company sources: TaShin Precision's decades as an OEM pen maker, the 2009 brand launch, the San Wen Tang name and the Diamond.
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Who Owns Which Stationery Brands? Parents and Dates
Who owns Paper Mate, Parker, Ticonderoga, Rhodia, Pentel, LAMY, Moleskine and Pelikan: each parent company, the year it took over, and which are independent.
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KOKUYO History: From Ledger Covers to Campus Notes
KOKUYO history from its Japanese records: Zentaro Kuroda's 1905 ledger-cover shop in Osaka, the 1917 Kokuyo mark, the 1975 Campus Note and 3.7 billion sold.
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Leuchtturm1917 History: From Stamp Albums to Notebooks
Leuchtturm1917 history: Paul Koch founded his first album firm in 1917 and Leuchtturm in Hamburg in 1948. The Stürken family runs it; no outside group owns it.
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Midori History: MD Paper, Traveler's and Designphil
Midori's history from Designphil's Japanese records: a 1950 Tokyo letter-paper maker, MD paper from the 1960s, the 2006 Traveler's notebook and the 2007 rename.
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OHTO History: AUTO-PENCIL, Rollerballs & Needle Points
OHTO's history from its Japanese records: Nakata Tozaburo's 1919 ink firm in Tokyo, the 1949 AUTO-PENCIL ballpoint, the 1964 rollerball, needle points and Yuki.
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Galen Leather History: The Istanbul Family Workshop
Galen Leather history from its own Turkish and English pages: founded in Istanbul in 2012 by Zeynep Perens, handmade pen cases, US sales and the Galata store.
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BIC History: Marcel Bich, Clichy and the Cristal
Who invented the BIC pen, from BIC's French records: Marcel Bich's Clichy parts firm of 1944, the December 1950 Cristal, Société BIC in 1953 and BIC today.
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Pentel History: Crayons, the Sign Pen and ASTRUM
The history of Pentel from its Japanese records: Dainippon Bungu in 1946, Hi-Polymer lead in 1960, the 1963 Sign Pen, PLUS in 2022 and the 2026 ASTRUM rename.
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Sailor Pen History: Kure, 1911 and the 21k Gold Nib
The history of Sailor pens from its Japanese records: Kyugoro Sakata's 1911 nib works in Kure, the 1948 ballpoint, 21k nibs from 1969 and the Naginata-togi.
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Zebra Pen History: Steel Nibs, Sarasa and Mildliner
Zebra's history from its Japanese records: Tokumatsu Ishikawa's 1897 steel nibs, the 1914 zebra mark, ballpoints from 1959, the Sarasa in 2000 and Mildliner.
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Pilot Pen History: From Namiki to FriXion
The history of Pilot pens from its own Japanese records: Namiki Manufacturing in 1918, maki-e and Dunhill-Namiki, the 1963 Capless and FriXion in 2006.
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Stationery Through a Life: Crayon to Signature
How stationery follows us from a toddler's first crayon to school pencils, office sticky notes and the black-ink signature on a marriage license or a deed.
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Kaweco History: Heidelberg 1883 to the Gutberlets
Who owns Kaweco and how old it is: the 1883 Heidelberg pen factory, Koch and Weber's name, the 1911 pocket pen, the 1930 sale and the Gutberlet revival of 1994.
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Tombow History: Asakusa 1913 to MONO and ABT
The history of Tombow: Harunosuke Ogawa's 1913 Asakusa shop, the dragonfly mark, the 1963 MONO pencil, the 1969 MONO eraser and the 1984 Dual Brush Pen.
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Blackwing Pencil History: Eberhard Faber to Cal Cedar
Who makes Blackwing pencils now: the 1934 Eberhard Faber 602, its 1998 end, Cal Cedar's 2010 Palomino revival and the Half the Pressure, Twice the Speed slogan.
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Hobonichi History: Itoi's Website to the Techo
What Hobonichi is and who makes the Hobonichi Techo: Shigesato Itoi's 1998 website, the first Techo of 2001, Cousin, Weeks, Tomoe River S and its IR figures.
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How a Fountain Pen Nib Is Made: Gold, Tipping, Slit
How a fountain pen nib is made, from Sailor, Pilot, Platinum, Montblanc, Bock and JoWo pages: 14K or 21K gold rolled, blanked, tipped, slit, ground and tuned.
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Parker Pen History: From Janesville to Newell
Who owns Parker pens and where they're made: the 1888 Janesville start, Gillette in 1993, Newell in 2000, Newhaven's closure and today's production in France.
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What Happened to Tomoe River Paper? Tomoegawa to Sanzen
How Tomoe River paper moved from Tomoegawa to Sanzen: the 2019 machine shutdown, the 2021 trademark sale, Tomoe River S and FP, Hobonichi, and who sells it.
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Where Washi Tape Came From: Kamoi Kakoshi and mt
How a Kurashiki flypaper and masking-tape maker turned three women's little press into mt washi tape in 2008, with dated tours, exhibitions and overseas spread.
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Who Owns Sailor and Pentel? The PLUS Group Explained
How Tokyo's PLUS Corporation came to control Sailor (2022, 57.88%) and Pentel (2022, 76.3%), the KOKUYO fight of 2019, and Pentel's 2026 rename to ASTRUM.
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How Japan Became the World's Stationery Capital
How Japan's pen and pencil makers grew from 1887 to today: founding dates, the gel pen, Hobonichi and mt washi tape, 2025 export figures and who owns whom now.
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How a Pencil Is Made: Graphite, Kiln and Cedar
How a wood-cased pencil is made, from makers' own factory pages: graphite and clay fired at 1,000–1,200 °C, oil or wax baths, cedar slats, 9-pencil sandwiches.