Quill pens must be sharpened regularly.
During the Colonial period of U.S. history -- the years between the first European settlements and preceding independence in 1776 -- immigrants brought with them the tools that they had commonly used in their home countries. Writing implements and accessories often consisted of quill pens and powdered ink, both of which were made from readily available local materials. Metal pens were less common, but did exist during the Colonial period.
Context
To understand the context of the period in which the British colonies in North American history flourished as it relates to writing tools, note that Jamestown, the first permanent English settlement in North America, was established in 1607. The mechanical pencil was not patented until 1877, or 270 years later. A pencil, similar to what we use today, was invented in 1812, or 36 years after independence. Lewis Edson Waterman invented the fountain pen in the United States. That was in 1884, eight years after the nation had celebrated its first centennial. A fully functional ballpoint pen was not available until the late 1930s.
Quill Pens
Several sources, including the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation, list quill pens as the writing tool of choice during the time preceding the invention of pens and pencils. Quill pens replaced reeds as writing implements during the Dark Ages, an historic period roughly calculated as the time between the fall of the Roman Empire in 476 CE and around 1000 CE, which generally starts the Middle Ages in European historical eras. Thus, when Europeans first ventured to North America, using quills would have been a common practice.
Feather Choices
Quill pens were created from the feathers of birds. As larger feathers were easier to manipulate and preferred for constructing writing pens, larger species of readily available birds were chosen from which to obtain feathers. Crows, swans and turkey feathers were used. However, from the documentation available recounting the everyday life of Colonial times, goose feathers appear to have been the preferred type. The feathers were hardened through drying or heating, and the tips were cut to form a writing edge.
Inks
According to The Franklin Institute's Center for Innovation in Science Learning, early American colonists used local plant materials to create ink. The colonists used a dark liquid mixture made from crushed and boiled walnut shells and preserved with salt and vinegar. They also used powdered ink, a mixture made from readily available materials such as soot from the fireplace, to produce ink. Juice from berries and other plant materials have been used to make a temporary ink mixture.
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