On Wednesday, July 11, 2018 at 7:50:54 AM UTC-5, Dave Smith wrote:
>
> I was referring only to the use of pens and I think I may have used the
> wrong term, calling them stick pens when they are actually dip pens.
> IIRC we learned to write with pencils first and then progressed to pens.
> We had to learn to write with a dip pen first. That meant having to
> dip the tip into an ink pot every few words and to blot it dry so the
> ink didn't run and smear.
>
> After we learned how to use dip pens we could use fountain pens. They
> were typically loaded from the ink pot in the desk. Cartridges soon
> became available, and in different colours. Peacock blue was always
> popular with students but not with teachers.
>
>
To be honest, I don't think they would have allowed open ink pots in
any classroom when I was child, even all the way to senior high school.
Ruined clothes, ink fights, spilled ink on the floor. Nope, definitely
no open ink pots in a classroom.

I've never anyone write with a dipped pen except on TV. It looks messy
as hell and slow and tedious with all the blotting.