Glossary of Pen Terms

[  Reference Info Index  ]

Like any other specialized item, the fountain pen has amassed a lexicon of terms that are unique. And like other jargon languages, fountain pen jargon can be cryptic or confusing. This glossary presents brief definitions for many of the most common pen terms. It is not complete (an impossible goal); but it is a work in progress, and I welcome suggestions for terms to add. (Revised December 15, 2011)

The glossary is organized alphabetically. For numbers, look under the spelled-out form; e.g., for 14K, look under fourteen.

If there is a magnifying-glass symbol () next to an image, click the magnifying glass to view a zoomed version for more detail.

H
Half Balance	Term coined by Daniel Kirchheimer to describe a Sheaffer pen having the streamlined cap of the Balance model together with a flat-ended barrel, as illustrated below by a stickered Model K8AC. The Half Balance was once thought to be a transitional model produced to use up old “Flat-Top” parts after the 1929 introduction of the Balance, but Sheaffer catalogs included both Flat-Tops and Half Balances well into the 1930s. See also marriage.
half overlay	A pen with a metal overlay on its barrel but none on its cap. See also overlay.
half stub	A nib that is generally round but displays some stublike line variation. See also nib, stub.
hallmark	(also, colloquially, bug) A stamped symbol applied to objects made of precious metal, denoting the identity of the metalsmith (e.g., G. W. Heath’s letter H enclosed in a square) or, in some cases, the amount of precious metal content (e.g., 14KT).
“halo” logo	Parker’s logo of an arrow superimposed on an ellipse (shown to the right); originally conceived with the arrow pointing down. First used in September 1958.
hammerheaded	Term for a nib whose tip is broader than the width of the tines behind the tip. Sometimes, when a nib is retipped to make an italic, there is not sufficient material in the tines to make a smooth taper to the tip, and a hammerheaded nib is the result. Shown here is a purpose-made hammerheaded nib designed for use as a highlighter.
hand engraved	Self explanatory; used to differentiate work that was done by hand from that produced by etching or by engraving machines (usually roll engraving). Shown below is a Waterman’s Ideal Nº 05521/2V with a hand-engraved vine pattern. See also engraved, etched, roll engraving.
hard rubber	(also ebonite or Vulcanite) A material of which pens are made, more fragile and less resistant to wear than most plastics. Until 1924, hard rubber was the primary material for caps, barrels, sections, and feeds; it remained in use for feeds and sections into the 1940s and is still used for high-quality feeds. Occasionally, a manufacturer will produce a modern pen model of hard rubber. Hard rubber appears in many color varieties, such as black (BHR), red (RHR, see also Cardinal, Chinese Red), and various two-color mixtures (see also mottled, ripple, woodgrain); and with incised surface designs called chasing (see also chased).
Harlequin	A repeating pattern of lozenges (diamonds), almost always in multiple colors as illustrated by the modern Conway Stewart Harlequin pen shown below (upper). The term is sometimes applied to other patterns, e.g., the repeating circlet and repeating shield patterns used on the Parker 45 “Harlequin” (below, lower, Gray Shield). This latter application is technically incorrect. See also lozenge.
Harris	(J. Harris & Co.; later, Majestic Pen Company) A pen manufacturing company located in New York City; founded by partners Jacob and Emanuel Harris. The Harris company spanned the years from the transition from slip-cap to screw-cap hard rubber pens through the end of the celluloid era, producing lever fillers of both types under its own hame and also under the Ambassador, Congress, and University brands; it also jobbed pens to other companies. Shown below (upper) is a J. Harris hard rubber matchstick-filler pen. In its later years, as the Majestic company, Harris produced a long series of attractive third-tier pens of typical Depression quality, such as the model shown below, lower. See also Ambassador.
hatchet	A type of filling system, used by John Holland; operates by mechanical ink-sac squeeze. A metal pressure bar, located beneath a slotted hole in the side of the barrel, squeezes the sac laterally. A pivoting lever shaped like the letter P (resembling a hatchet) is mounted in the slot, with its pivot, at the base of the “vertical” stroke of the P, located at the middle of the slot. At rest, the “tab” of the P is concealed in the barrel, toward the end. Lifting the lever and swinging it through a half circle toward the nib reveals the tab, which provides a “button” that the user pushes to press the lever through the slot and against the pressure bar. See photo at Holland. View filling instructions here.
head line	An imaginary line representing the height of ordinary majuscules in writing (see illustration at x-height). Of interest primarily to calligraphers. See also baseline, majuscule, meanline, minuscule, x-height.
Heath	(George W. Heath & Co.) A manufacturing company founded in New York City, later moved to Newark, New Jersey; known for overlays and other parts such as levers. Heath produced overlays for Conklin, Parker, Waterman, and other prominent pen manufacturers from c. 1900 to c. 1915. The company’s logo, the letter H within a square, appears on some of the pens for which Heath produced overlays. Heath sold pens branded Thames and Tribune, but the company’s real specialty was metalwork for other pen makers. See also overlay.
Hebrew italic	See Arabic italic.
heel	See base.
hemostat	See alligator forceps.
Hicks	(William S. Hicks (& Sons) Gold Pen Company) A pen manufacturing company located in New York City. Founded in 1857 as Hicks & Mitchell, the company made gold dip nibs and magic pencils, later ex­pand­ing into the man­u­fac­ture of ster­ling sil­ver and solid gold bulb- and lever-filling fountain pens. Much of Hicks’ foun­tain pen pro­duc­tion, 1920s-1950s, went to Cartier and Tiffany for sale under their own names. Pens sold under Hicks’ own name bear the company’s hallmark (shown to the right). Shown below are a Hicks-branded pen with a barleycorn finish and a Tiffany-branded “bamboo” pen, both made of 14K gold. See also gold pen, hallmark, magic pencil.
holder	1  (also pen holder) The body of a dip pen, the part into which the pen itself (the nib) is inserted. See also dip pen, gold pen, steel pen.  2  (archaic usage) The barrel and section of a fountain pen, corresponding in function to a dip pen holder.
Holland	(John Holland Gold Pen Company) A pen manufacturing company located in Cincinnati, Ohio. Founder John Holland got his start by serving an apprenticeship under George W. Sheppard, a well respected maker of gold pens. After having worked in Sheppard’s factory for several years, Holland bought one third interest in the company. A few years later, in 1862, he purchased the remaining interest. Initially keeping the company going by continuing the gold-pen business, Holland later branched out into the manufacture of high-quality fountain pens. Holland pens are perhaps best known for their use of a hatchet filler (illustrated below, a Nº 4 Fount-Filler). The company remained in business until the 1950s. See also gold pen.
holy water sprinkler	See aspergillum.
hood	See shell.
hooded nib	A nib that is enclosed in a conical shell, or hood, so that the nib is all but invisible. The Parker “51”, shown below, was the first fountain pen with a hooded nib. Read an article on pens with hooded nibs here. See also Inlaid Nib™, nib, open nib, “TRIUMPH” point.
HR	See hard rubber.
hue	(of interest primarily to writers who enjoy using a selection of inks) The aspect of color that describes a given area’s location on the spectrum or a color wheel. See the color wheel to the right. ¶ The color wheel shown here represents the colors of light, referred to as emissive, or additive, color. In the additive color system, the three primary colors are red, blue, and green; e.g., red light mixes with green light to produce yellow. Red is to the right of the wheel and is usually said to be at 0°. Green is up and to the left; its location is 120°, and blue (down and to the left) is at 240°. When mixing inks to create a new hue, it is important to remember that ink colors mix according to a different color system, referred to as reflective, or subtractive, color. (White light contains all colors. When white light strikes an object, the object absorbs some colors of light and reflects others. What you see is the sum of the colors that are reflected.) On a subtractive color wheel, the three primary colors are red, yellow, and blue; e.g., blue and yellow mix to create green. See also saturation, shade, shading (definition 2).
humped clip	A clip design used by Sheaffer in the 1920s and 1930s, and revived in the 1990s; as shown to the right, the clip has a distinct hump midway between the ends. See also clip.
hump filler	Generic name for a type of filling system resembling Conklin‘s Crescent-Filler but enough different that it might not infringe on Conklin’s patent. Shown below is a Welty “Wawco” hump filler. See also crescent.
Hundred Year Pen	A top-of-the-line pen model originally designed by John Vassos and introduced by Waterman in 1939, noted for its distinctive “grooved” barrel and cap (but also available in a “smooth” version), its very large nib, and its use of Lucite® acrylic in brilliant transparent red, green, and blue colors (first and second years only, after which production reverted to celluloid). Illustrated below is a grooved first-year Hundred Year Pen (1939-1940). Read a profile of the Hundred Year Pen here. See also acrylic, emblem (definition 1), Lucite.
hydrophilic	See wettability.
hydrophobic	See wettability.

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