Head Work For The Men in 1916. And the Invention of the Ball Point Pen.

            The Postcard

A postcard that was published by E. Mack of King Henry's Road, Hampstead, London. The artwork is of unusually poor quality for comic cards of the day.

The card was posted in Rhyl using a ½d. stamp on Thursday the 10th. August 1916 to:

Miss L. Peak,
3/27 Edward Street Parade,
Birmingham.

The message on the divided back of the card was as follows:

"Dear Lil,
Having a fine time in
Rhyl. 
Expect to be home
Friday midnight.
The card reminds you
of what?
From Tom xxxx"

The Sinking of the Kasagi

So what else happened on the day that Tom posted the card?

Well, on the 10th. August 1916, the Japanese cruiser Kasagi sank after running aground in the Tsugaru Strait.

'The Battle of the Somme'

Also on that day, the official British documentary propaganda film The Battle of the Somme premièred in London. 

In the first six weeks of general release, 20 million people viewed it.

Addie L. Ballou

The 10th. August 1916 also marked the death of the American poet activist Addie L. Ballou. 

Addie, who was born in 1838,  was a leading advocate for women's suffrage, temperance and prison reform. She was also the author of poetry collections Driftwood and The Padre’s Dream and Other Poems. 

Charles Dawson

Charles Dawson also died on that day. Dawson, who was born in 1864, was a British amateur archaeologist. He was charged with fraud relating to several archaeological discoveries, including the Piltdown Man. 

John J. Loud

The 10th. August 1916 also marked the death of John J. Loud.

John, who was born in 1844, was an American entrepreneur, and designer of the ballpoint pen.

Keenly interested in inventing, on the 30th. October 1888, Loud obtained the first patent for a ballpoint pen when attempting to make a writing instrument that would be able to write on leather products, which then-common fountain pens could not. 

Loud's pen had a small rotating steel ball, held in place by a socket. In the patent, he noted:

"My invention consists of an improved 
reservoir or fountain pen, especially 
useful, among other purposes, for 
marking on rough surfaces such as 
wood, coarse wrapping paper, and 
other articles where an ordinary pen 
could not be used."

However, although his invention could indeed be used to mark rough surfaces such as leather, as he had originally intended, it proved to be too coarse for letter-writing.

With no commercial viability, the potential of Loud's invention went unexploited, and the patent eventually lapsed. 

The modern ballpoint pen as we know it today was patented 50 years later in 1938 by László Bíró, 22 years after Loud's death. 
   

Taken on: April 10, 2023

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Sets appears in: • Biographies • Comic Cards - A Peculiarly British Affair more » • Disasters « less

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