The object for December is the fountain pen.

This is a fountain pen, which is a writing instrument that was in common use from about 1900 to about 1950 .

The first pens were little more than sharpened sticks dipped in some sort of ink. Quill pens made from feathers were used in antiquity, and the metallic dip pen, utilizing a metal nib, or tip, were common by the mid-nineteenth century. The writer dipped the pen in ink, wrote, and dipped again as the pen ran out.

Many attempts were made to place a reservoir of ink in a pen body and continuously feed ink to the nib. But the inks did not flow well and developing a system that ensured an adequate supply without overfilling and leaking thwarted inventors. An American insurance broker named Lewis Weatherman in 1884 introduced the first truly workable fountain pen, and others quickly followed his lead.

Fountain pens were made of vulcanized rubber, metal, and many other materials. Many featured gold nibs and beautiful bodies, sometines of exotic materials. Because of their smooth writing and good "feel," fountain pens were considered the king of writing instruments.

Ball point pens were made in the late nineteenth century, but they did not become popular until the late 1930s. They gradually displaced the fountain pen in most settings. With the introduction of roller-ball and fiber-tip pens in the 1960s, it seemed that fountain pens were to become extinct. But many people enjoyed writing with fountain pens. Antique pens are very collectible as well as being usable, and new fountain pens are made by several companies.

So a technology that seemed ready to fade from the scene has made a comeback, and fountain pens are not relegated to museums.

For additional information, see:

Fountain Pens and Pencils: The Golden Age of Writing Instruments by George Fischler and Stuart Schneider, Schiffer Publishing, 1990

and the following web sites:
Vintage Catalog
Fountain Pen History