Know the history of the Reynolds ballpoint pen!

On October 29, 1945, crowds swarmed Manhattan’s Gimbels Department Store, drawn by excitement over a brand-new invention—the Reynolds Rocket, America’s first ballpoint pen. Priced at $12.95 (nearly $200 today), this revolutionary pen promised instant, smudge-free writing without the need for refills. Despite the hefty price tag, it sold out by day’s end, racking up sales of $100,000, equal to about $1.1 million today.

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The idea for the Rocket came to Chicago businessman Milton Reynolds while he was in Buenos Aires earlier that year. There, he discovered a unique pen crafted by Hungarian-Argentinian inventor László Bíró. Known as a ballpoint, Bíró’s pen used a tiny rotating ball to dispense ink that dried almost instantly, a practical solution to the messy, slow-drying ink of fountain pens. Recognizing its potential back in the U.S., Reynolds moved quickly, sidestepping existing patents to create his own version.

In just four months, he launched the Reynolds Rocket. Americans, tired of leaking fountain pens, were thrilled by the promise of hassle-free, smooth writing. But the Rocket’s success was brief. Issues with the design surfaced soon after its debut, leading to a decline in popularity. Nonetheless, the Reynolds Rocket introduced Americans to the ballpoint pen, a product that would soon revolutionize writing worldwide.