The Pens of Settimo
Torinese
by Giovanni Abrate
The town of Settimo Torinese,
situated a few kilometers East of Turin, on the Northern
shore of the river Po, has its origins in early medieval
times.
The town has always been an industrious one, with a large
number of industries and factories, attracting a large
number of immigrants looking for a job, a home and schools
for the children of the household.
Settimo Torinese in the 1920s
Immigration, in the 20th
century, came in two large waves: in the 1920s and through
the late 1940s, a large number of families moved into
Settimo from the Veneto region, in the North-East of
Italy.
The main sources of employment in Settimo were the brick
factories and a number of chemical and pharmaceutical
industries.
Judging by the photographs that remain, life in those days
must have been tough for these hard working immigrants.
The second wave of immigration came in the late 1950s,
primarily from Southern Italy, with the massive exodus of
poor rural families looking for employment in the
automotive industries of the North.
Another booming cottage industry in Settimo was button
manufacturing, an activity that had started in the 1800s.
Buttons were normally manufactured in small shops, often
run as family businesses, and were made of bone, horn or
galatite.
In the 1920, a revolutionary material was introduced and
quickly became the new standard for “fancy” buttons and
one that was to generate the establishment of a whole new
industry in Settimo: celluloid.
Celluloid plates and rods
Celluloid or, more precisely Cellulose Nitrate, was
manufactured by combining cellulose and camphor and could
be made in a great variety of colors and patterns. It was
light, bright and almost indestructible and quickly became
the material of choice for quality fountain pens.
Neighboring Turin, the first
capital of the new Kingdom of Italy in the second half of
the 19th century was the administrative center
of the fledgling new nation and local manufacture of steel
nibs and production of quality ink were booming, with
companies like BO-FIM emerging as the leading Italian
producers (with Gnocchi of Milan) of writing instruments
and ink.
In 1919, Isaia Levi, a Turin businessman, provided
financial backing for a new company that was to have a
profound influence in the pen manufacturing landscape of
Europe: the Fabbrica Italiana di Penne a Serbatoio Aurora,
better known simply as “AURORA”.
The success of the Aurora company inspired a number of
entrepreneurs to start other pen manufacturing businesses:
Armando Simoni started OMAS in Bologna and several hundred
new pen companies of all sizes sprouted in Italy, helped
by the sanctions launched by the Society of Nations
against Italy after the Italian invasion of Ethiopia. The
sanctions greatly restricted international business for
Italian companies and forced Italy to quickly develop
national solutions for its every needs.
The center of fountain pen
manufacturing had to be in the industrial North, near a
source of nibs, ink, celluloid and where skilled
machinists could be found in great numbers.
A lathe for
manufacturing ebonite feeds, circa 1930
Settimo Torinese fit the
description and became the undisputed capital of Italian
pen production, with over 160 pen manufacturers in
operation at the peak of its activity, in the late 1940s.
Settimo Torinese in 1960
The skill and ingenuity of the local manufacturers made
the pens made in Settimo very sought after and they
quickly established a firm position in the market, some
even being exported, in spite of the political climate.
Stilus pens from the 1960s.
Stilus is still in business. A few years ago they
introduced a line of celluloid pens made for them by Kato
of Japan.
A modern Stilus pen (top) made by Kato of
Japan
Celluloid pens made in Settimo in the 1940s
A set by Genoso & Rosso from the 1960s
Penne Williamson, Torino
One of the most interesting Settimo companies was
Williamson.
Williamson was an American manufacturer of steel nibs that
was already active in the early 1800s. At the turn of the
century, Williamson established a factory in Janesville,
not far from the Parker plant, and began to manufacture
high quality hard- rubber reservoir pens. Williamson
fountain pens were initially very successful in America
and Riccardo Amisani, a Turin businessman began importing
them into Italy just before the First World War. The pens
sold very well in Italy and Williamson became one of the
best selling foreign pen manufacturers. Amisani then
started building spare parts for Williamson pens in a
small workshop in Settimo. Unfortunately, Williamson pens
fared a lot worse in their home market and the company
folded in the late 1920s.
Williamson
advertisement from the 1920s
At that point, Amisani made a bold decision: he would
continue to build the Williamson pens in his shop in
Settimo. The company continued to grow and soon new models
were designed and produced. The best Williamson of Turin
(as the company was now called) pens are undoubtedly the
ones built, in high quality celluloid) in the 1930s and
1940s.
The inspiration came clearly from Parker (as many
button-fill Williamson pens closely resembled the
Vacumatic) and from Wahl-Eversharp (with Doric-inspired
lever-fill pens).
Williamson ad from the 1930s
Williamson Button-fill pen (right)
next to a Parker Vacumatic
Faceted, Doric-styled Williamson pen
These
pens are quite rare today, especially the Doric-style
pens.
Williamson of Turin remained in business until the 1950s,
surviving the heavy bombing that had destroyed the Aurora
factory and had caused the closing of many smaller pen
manufacturers.
One of the latter pens made by Williamson was a Parker 51
look alike, in celluloid, and produced even in a laminated
pearl-gray celluloid that resembles the material used by
Parker for its Vacumatics: it is quite interesting, in
that it looks like a hybrid between a Vacumatic and a
Parker 51!
Detail of Williamson Parker
51/Aurora 88 clone, in laminated celluloid
The Williamson company eventually fell victim to the
arrival of the Ballpoint pen: one of many fountain pen
manufacturers that did not survive the transition to the
new invention from Argentina! In Settimo alone, in the
1950s over 120 manufacturers closed down their operations!
Some of the companies that disappeared after the war are:
Pagliero Stilografiche, a company that lasted into the
1960s and produced a number of noteworthy pens, under a
variety of brand names; Stilo Pecchi, famous for its high
quality celluloid work, using innovative techniques
developed in house, such as the shaping of celluloid in
metal dies submerged in hot mineral oil, Original
GoldMichel, founded by a German Immigrant and producing
some high quality piston-fill pens; Stilo Cavallina, with
its clear “demonstrator” pens, Stilo Forever, with a line
of syringe-filled school pens and many, many others.
A picture of the Pagliero pen
factory in the early 1960s
The Penne
Pecchio production line in 1960
Most fountain pen manufacturers
in Settimo also built, in the 1950s, piston-filled pens
closely resembling the then popular Aurora 88. One of them
was
“Penne Welcome” a
company that built an 88 clone that rivaled the original
in the quality of its materials and workmanship.
Original
GoldMichel also built a nice, ornate, Aurora 88
clone.
Among the companies that survived the onslaught caused by
the ballpoint pen and that are still in business there are
some noteworthy names: Continental/Universal, a company
that is thriving and has become the world’s second largest
manufacturer of ballpoint pens (after BIC), Penne Wilson,
Lecce Pens and many others. New companies such as Cesare
Emiliano are successfully competing in the world markets
with quality writing instruments and innovative designs.
Universal Ballpoint pen ad from
1961
Settimo is still the pen capital
of Europe: there are about fifty companies that carry on
the long standing tradition of Italian pen manufacturing
and that produce ballpoint and rollerball pens for a
number of international brands. It is not widely known
that many luxury pens that carry the exclusive brand names
of top French or British jewelers are actually OEM
manufactured in Settimo Torinese. Most gold guilloche work
and precious metal trim is delivered from the town of
Valenza Po, a center for quality goldsmith work located a
hundred kilometers from Settimo to the local pen
manufacturers.
While ballpoint pens are made by the millions in Settimo,
few fountain pen manufacturers remain, as
the last generation of old craftsmen who started making
pens in the 1960s slowly retire and close the doors of
their small businesses.
An era that lasted 8 decades is coming to an end.
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