Writing Implement, A Brief History Of Writing Instruments, Writing Instrument Over 6000 Years, Writing Instrument Industry.

Writing implement

A Writing implement, or writing instrument is an object used to produce writing. Most can be used for other functions, such as painting, drawing and technical drawing. One of the critical characteristics of a writing implement is the ability to produce a smooth, controllable line.

Although in Western civilization writing is usually done with some form of pencil or pen, other cultures have used other instruments. Chinese characters are traditionally written with a brush, which is perceived as lending itself to a graceful, flowing stroke. The Babylonians and others using cuneiform used a stylus to make marks in clay tablets. Ancient Sumerian writing was produced with a triangular stylus, which made a characteristic wedge-shaped mark in the soft clay used as a medium. The Romans also used styli with wax tablets. In a development of the old means of recording devices, the hand held computer and certain other computer input devices can use a stylus to enter information onto a screen.

For more info about writing instrument, please visit wikipedia.

A Brief History of Writing Instruments

The earliest means of writing that approached pen and paper as we know them today was developed by the Greeks. They employed a writing stylus, made of metal, bone or ivory, to place marks upon wax-coated tablets. The tablets made in hinged pairs, closed to protect the scribe's notes. The first examples of handwriting (purely text messages made by hand) originated in Greece. The Grecian scholar, Cadmus invented the written letter - text messages on paper sent from one individual to another.

Writing was advancing beyond chiseling pictures into stone or wedging pictographs into wet clay. The Chinese invented and perfected 'Indian Ink'. Originally designed for blacking the surfaces of raised stone-carved hieroglyphics, the ink was a mixture of soot from pine smoke and lamp oil mixed with the gelatin of donkey skin and musk. The ink invented by the Chinese philosopher, Tien-Lcheu (2697 B.C.), became common by the year 1200 B.C. Other cultures developed inks using the natural dyes and colors derived from berries, plants and minerals. In early writings, different colored inks had ritual meaning attached to each color.

The invention of inks paralleled the introduction of paper. The early Egyptians, Romans, Greeks and Hebrews, used papyrus and parchment papers. One of the oldest pieces of writing on papyrus known to us today is the Egyptian "Prisse Papyrus" which dates back to 2000 B.C. The Romans created a reed-pen perfect for parchment and ink, from the hollow tubular-stems of marsh grasses, especially from the jointed bamboo plant. They converted bamboo stems into a primitive form of fountain pen. They cut one end into the form of a pen nib or point. A writing fluid or ink filled the stem, squeezing the reed forced fluid to the nib.

For more info about writing instrument, please visit About.

writing instrument over 6000 years

Around 4000 BC
Man scratches the surface of moist clay tablet with a bronze or bone tool.

Around 3000 BC
The Egyptians developed a form of writing with pictures. For writing on papyrus scrolls scribes used thin reed brushes or reed pens.

1300 BC
The Romans have been developing form of writing, that they scribed into thin sheets of wax (on wooden tablets). Romans used a metal stylus. When they no longer needed the writing, they rubbed it out with the flatus.
In Asia scribes used a bronze stylus.

Dark Ages
As well as writing on parchment, the Anglo-Saxons also used tablets filled with wax for notes and for planning the layout of large books. They wrote on the tables with a metal or bone stylus, that had a pointed end and rubbed out the words with flat end.

600-1800 AD
The Europeans found that writing on parchment with a quill pen altered the style of their writing. At first they used capital letters all the time, but later they developed faster styles with small letters. Quill Pens (firstly appeared in Seville, Spain) were the writing instrument from 600 to 1800 AD.

For more info about writing instrument, please visit ring pen.

writing instrument industry

The good news for the writing instrument category is that it continues to achieve healthy rates of growth with pens, pencils and markers remaining essential parts of everyday life despite the pervasiveness of electronic methods of organization and communication.

The category grew 3.3% in 2001 and in 2002 it grew another 3.7% to achieve annual sales of $4.5 billion. This year, growth is expected to accelerate to 5% with sales reaching $4.7 billion by year end, according to an extensive new report recently published by the School, Home and Office Products Association (SHOPA) and the Writing Instrument Manufacturers Association (WIMA).

"Writing instruments have been an essential part of everyday life for generations and this state of affairs is not likely to change in the foreseeable future," according to the report. "Writing instruments have essentially become extensions of the human body, often reached for and used unconsciously. While computers and other technological innovation have made inroads, especially when it comes to data transfer and communication, writing instrument are still ubiquitous commodities day life."

The optimistic view of the writing instruments category's growth is based largely on a close correlation to the growth of gross domestic product. In 2001 and 2002, GDP growth and the category's growth mirrored each other. So with increased economic growth taking place this year, the SHOPA and WIMA report draws the conclusion that writing instrument sales will also rise.

For more info about writing instrument, please visit find articles.

Paper History

The word paper comes from ancient Egyptian writing material called papyrus, which was woven from papyrus plants. Papyrus was produced as early as 3000 BC Egypt, and then in ancient Greece and Rome. Further north, parchment or vellum, made of processed sheepskin or calfskin, replaced papyrus which requires subtropical conditions for growth. In China, documents were ordinarily written on bamboo, making them very heavy and awkward to transport. Silk was sometimes used, but was usually too expensive to consider. Most of the above materials were rare and costly.

The Chinese court official Cai Lun described the modern method of papermaking in AD 105; he was the first person who mentioned the method to make paper out of cotton rags. Other sources date back the invention of papermaking in China to 150 BC. It spread slowly outside of China; other East Asian cultures, even after seeing paper, could not figure out how to make it themselves. Instruction in the manufacturing process was required, and the Chinese were reluctant to share their secrets. The technology was firstly transferred to Korea in 600 and then imported to Japan by Korean Buddhist priest, Dam Jing, in 625, where fibres (called bast) from the mulberry tree were used. After commercial trades and the defeat of the Chinese ad to the Middle East, where it was adopted by the Indians and subsequently by the Italians in about the 13th century. They used hemp and linen rags.

For more info about writing instrument, please visit wikipedia.

News

Encourage your toddler to write

Sep. 24, 2005

Writing is a part of literacy and sometimes the most taken for granted. Just because we can pick up a crayon or pencil does not mean our motor skills will allow immediately recognizable language symbols. It is a process.

Stages of writing development:

- Random scribbling - This is when the child picks up a crayon or pencil or marker and sometimes marks the paper and sometime doesn't. Make no mistake, however, this is the beginning!

- Controlled scribbling - As the child hones his fine motor skills, he can control the writing instrument better and deliberately makes lines, swirls, etc. on the paper.

- Repetition of specific lines and shapes - During this stage, you will notice repetition of certain combinations of lines and shapes particular to the child.

- Practicing letters (name letters) - The child practices writing the letters in her name.

- Written name - The child no longer copies but writes his name legibly.

- Copy words in the environment - The child laboriously copies words from many sources, such as magazines, newspaper, books, food boxes, milk cartons, mail.

- Invented spelling - First consonant comes first, then add final consonant, middle consonant is added next, child uses the previous 3 with a vowel placeholder, and finally achieves the conventional spelling.

What can I do to support my child in learning to write?

- Make sure (even at the earliest ages) that your child always has opportunities to practice scribbling and writing on paper with appropriate crayons or pencils.

- Even though it may look like primitive artwork, ask your child to "please read me your story."

- Label things in your child's room, i.e. closet, window, door, dresser, bed.

- Offer paper and a writing tool to your child when you are making your grocery list.

- When your child wants you to teach him how to write your name, remember to make the first letter only an uppercase or "capital" letter, and make the rest of the letters lowercase or "small" letters. This is the pattern our language uses and the form your child will be expected to recognize as "his name" when entering kindergarten.

- Set up a "mailbox" where your child and other family members can leave notes for one another.

- Use a whiteboard on the refrigerator or bedroom wall to encourage writing things to remember.

For more info about writing instrument, please visit Bradenton Herald.