Hogwarts Uniform with Link - OT

[Steve]

No: HPFGUIDX 117248


--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, "potioncat" <willsonkmom at m...>
wrote:
> 

> Potioncat:
> ...edited...
> 
> For that matter, has anyone ever tried to write with a quill?  It's 
> very difficult. I think the Muggle-born would be making a real mess 
> of things, having to suddenly use them.  (No wonder the Patil twins 
> sneak in pencils.)

bboyminn:

I've often wondered, 'why quills?'. Wondered to such a degree that I
researched the history of writing instruments. But, let's not get
ahead of ourselves.

I can't imagine myself going to Hogwarts and stuggling away with
feather quills. At best, under normal use, a quill is only good for
about a week, and during that week requires frequent resharpening.
This frequent resharpening has given rise to the infamous 'pen-knife'.

I think part of the reason for 'why quills' is to give Hogwarts and
aura of familiarity. Pointed hat, bats, Holloween celebrations, long
robes, riding brooms, long crooked noses, etc... are all things we
associate with witches and JKR has provided them for a comfortable
familiarity. I personally found Tolkin very difficult to read
specifically because everything was so unfamiliar it became difficult
to keep track of it all. But JKR gives us everyday normal muggle life
with all it's familiar icons and images, but with a twist.

To the history of writing instruments; these are actually relatively
modern inventions. The pencil was first introduce in the late 1500's
to early 1600's. The first immediate replacement for the feather quill
were steel tipped 'dip' pens (steel nib on a wooden stick dipped in
ink) were introduced sometime in the 1800's, dates are unclear but I
suspect in the early half of the 1800's. 

Various attempts as fountain pens date back to a Frenchman name Bion
as early as 1792. And in this period many attempts were made to make
it practical, but it wasn't until 1884 when Lewis Waterman patented
the first truly practical fountain pen. Other notable fountain pen
inventors were...

-Peregrin Williamson, a Baltimore shoemaker, received the first
American patent for a pen in 1809. 

-John Scheffer received a British patent in 1819 for his half quill,
half metal pen that he attempted to mass manufacture. 

-John Jacob Parker patented the first self-filling fountain pen in 1831.

Unfortunately these earlier attempt had the nasty habit of leaking ink
all over everything within a 10 foot radius. It wasn't until Waterman
that a pen was invented with a special support for the metal nib that
allowed the ink to be wicked effectively down to the tip without
leaking all over the place.

For the record, a Hungarian journalist named Laszlo Biro invented the
first ballpoint pen in 1938. Although, the principle of the ballpoint
pen actually dates back to an 1888 patent owned by John J. Loud for a
product to mark leather. However, this patent was commercially
unexploited.

So, back to Hogwarts, I can't imagine modern muggle kids putting up
with the tedious struggle of writing with quills; messy, slow, and
tedious. Personally I would have smuggled in a pen, and if the
teachers objected, perhaps they like the nice calligraphic writing
style of quills, I would have switched to a nice calligraphy tipped
fountain pen. 

The wizard world to some extent seems trapped in the 1700's, although
the robe clothing style is probably older than that. So, metal tipped
pens would be a later invention, but still, it has to be miserable
using a feather quill on a daily basis. 

Ultimately, all fiction (book, TV, film) tends to overlook these
tedious little problems in order to keep the plot moving along.

Not sure what that is all worth, but there it is.

Steve/bboyminn (was bboy_mn)