Lately I've been giving you a thumb up before watching your video. And this one is another little gem. Did you know that Mr.Lazlo Biro left Hungary for Argentina in 1944, fearing the advance of the nazis? Soon after his arrival he got our citizenship, and set his factory in Buenos Aires together with his partner Juan Meyne . The name BIROME goes for both family names. During my primary school in the beginning of the sixties, we were not allowed to use biromes. Nor fountain pens. And the steel nibs came from either England or Germany! Thank you . Sending you good vibes from Buenos Aires.
This has given me chills!!! Thank you SO much for sharing. I am going to call them Biromes from now on - it sounds so much better!!! And next time I pick one up I'll think of you and BA over the sea! Thank you xxx
Thank you so much for doing this visit, The pen museum is a great place to visit - my great grandmother was a nib maker and as a genealogist this museum bought me closer to my great grandmother - love love love your you tube films thank you Lucy xx
You are so welcome and thank you so much for reaching out, I am so happy to hear off somebody who's ancestor worked in the industry - and what an incredible woman she must have been! 18,000 nibs a day. Beggars belief!
Great video, Lucy! Being a calligrapher, I have done several calligraphy demonstrations and workshops at the museum over the years! The visit to the catacombs was also fascinating!
Ohhh I'd love to come to one, I've taken the details of the next few workshops, I used to be really good (old English & illuminations was my obsession) but I'm really rusty now! I'm desperate to get back into it!
YAYYYYYY - Lucy is back with another adventure. Your happy smiling face is such a joy to behold, and the video has only just started ! What a fascinating Museum. I'm almost 70 and can remember being allowed to use a 'dip in pen' at School for the first time. The Ink monitor would fill the ink wells every day from a stone bottle with a cork in the top ! As you mentioned, Cartridge Pens then came along - I still have mine somewhere. I did buy myself a rather lovely 'Waterman' Fountain Pen for my 50th Birthday - OMG it is a joy to use, but not for every day use. As to the Cemetery, I love places like that. I've visited Highgate Cemetery where many famous people are buried and the faded grandeur of the place makes it even more beautiful and peaceful. Thanks Lucy for todays video, as always it was a treat to have you show us around. Thanks - take special care 🙂 x x
I loved reading you find a pen a joy to use ... yes!!!! Some pens are just a joy and when you are a stationary lover you can't explain it to anyone else. Well done for treating yourself to such a personal gift .. I love it! There were some BEAUTIFUL pens for sale in the museum, if I return I'll go back. I want a Brummie made pen now :)
Fascinating. Birmingham was one of the richest cities in the whole of the British Empire due to the Industrial Revolution. What a pity all that has now vanished. Interesting to see remnants of past glories in this museum.
Lucy how do you do it?? You find the most interesting places that most have never heard of. I found it so sad that most who made these pens were illiterate but as you say the was the start of more independence too. Fascinating tour all round I didn’t even know what a catacomb was 🤦♀️. A time where death came to many too soon due to such poor living conditions etc. thank you so much again for taking us on your journey to uncovering such hidden gems. 🥰
You are so welcome! I just love finding things - and taking you with me! I'm flabbergasted every week people come with me and enjoy the videos. The pen museum was excellent, who even knew ... thanks for coming with me x
I definitely have to visit Birmingham. I found it very interesting hearing and seeing some of the pen museum. I can't comprehend doing 18,000 of anything in a year let alone a day. You always describe what you are seeing so well Lucy. I love graveyards and cemeteries so found that part of the video interesting as well. I can't wait to see what Lucy's Lens show us next.😊
I know!! 18,000 ... I would be bored after 180! I think these people are so amazing, they just got on with it .. we seem to have lost that skill today: myself included. Always looking for the next thing to distract me! Look forward to you coming with me next week Sally ❤️
Thank you so much Lucy for all the social history. Greetings from Ireland. I am originally from Suffolk - where there are a lot of quirky little museums.
Aren't quirky little museums the best? I love them! Thanks for your lovely comment and love to the Emerald Isle, I do need to explore Suffolk more, I recently went to Lowersoft and loved it! I have a friend in Sudbury x
'Delicate' usually means fine and difficult work, to me. And now the part that shows my age, I remember learning penmanship with these nibs. One wrong move and you blotted your copybook, or sprained your nib. Can't say it was a skill I enjoyed learning and didn't maintain, when biros were introduced. Thanks Lucy, fascinating to watch.
Glad you enjoyed it! I've splattered many a book with a sprained nib Myself .. and nothing more frustrating than getting your nib smooth and effective and someone comes along and uses it 🙃 pens are so tactile. I still love writing in ink - but these days use cartridges! Far easier x
I love using them! Pilot do a "disposable cartridge pen" in loads of different colours and it's the most joyful pen ever. It's such a shame you can't refil them because the nib gets to perfection and then it runs out of ink 🙃
My goodness, that brought back memories of my childhood. I learned to write cursive using a wooden handled nibbed pen way back in the 1960's. What triggered my memory this time was seeing the display of large ink bottles. I remember the teacher coming around and filling up all the inkwells on our desks. You made me smile, because I also remember eight year old me getting ink on my fingers every day. What a treat, being able to press your own nib.
It was brilliant! And inky fingers ... my hands were always covered in ink at school .. and a lot of my work had finger marks on it - Brought back memories for me too! I loved the ink bottles too, we had Quink at school but for my calligraphy I like the Newton inks with the beautiful illustrations on the boxes ❤️
@@throughlucyslens I haven't really done any calligraphy, but I do remember the lovely little cube boxes of the Newton inks from my A level art days. It is only recently, fifty plus years later, that I got rid of my collection of nibbed pens and Newton inks.
At about 10 years old we were given the experience of writing with those nibbed wooden handled pens and the prized job was being "ink monitor"to fill up inkwells. Cartridge changing was also a mucky chore. Biro was taboo in our school .
Thank you Lucy for bringing us such a hidden delight. I love to use an ink pen and regularly write using one. It gives such a nice written letter (if you write letters, as I do). The cemetry is a nice historical find, the story of people.
I LOVE writing letters! When I was a teenager I had hundreds of pen pals all over the world, I often wonder what happened to them all but some like Katy in Hong Kong I am still writing to 30 years later! I hope this never goes out of fashion x
Great video as always Lucy. This one brought back memories for me as I used to work for a famous pen company and even in the 1990's we still had to examine thousands of nibs by hand using a magnifying glass! If I remember right we had to inspect 8,000 per 4 hour shift. Not one of my favourite jobs. I much preferred screen printing the tiny decals that went onto the clips and yes, they were printed, cut and glued on by hand. Thanks for all your hard work Lucy, take care. Lil
This is fascinating! And I would struggle with that job too! Anything too arduous and I switch off. I had a job marking multiple choice exam papers once - we had to do 1000 a day minimum and every single paper was exactly the same. I was super happy when that contract ended! ❤️
Thank you so much! I really appreciate that. I try and get a balance between enough info and not a lecture .. I have a pretty short attention span so I'm really glad you think they are well paced - that's made my day!
That was interesting, thank you, Lucy. I hadn't heard of either the pen museum (although, thinking about it, I suppose there would be such a thing) or the catacombs. Like you, I'm somewhat obsessed by stationery - somehow I seem to have amassed quite a lot (I used to visit exhibitions, and it's amazing how many of the stands had promotional items that were stationery - frequently pens - that somehow ended up in my possession!).
That's a good life mantra "never pass on a free pen" .. honestly I love them too. I have been lucky to visit to Japan and it's a pen paradise: they take it so seriously and there's pen department stores... I have really gotten my nephew into pens now so one day I have someone to inherit my pile 🤣🙃❤️
Hi Lucy, that was a really cool tour of the Pen Museum! 80% of all the pens in the world were once manufactured in Birmingham?? Amazing! I never gave it a thought how pens were made and the precision and patience it would take to make one. One of my very favorite games to play as a kid was “office” so I always had stationary pens , paper, little boxes, pencils, rubber stamps, stickers and my very fave thing I owned were sticks of wax with a cool seal with a fancy schmancy capital L for Linda, I put on my envelopes. I had to ask my mom if I could borrow her lighter to light the wax stick. 😂🤣😂 The cemetery and Catacombs jaunt you took after the museum? I think I would have told you I would go get us a couple of coffees or ice creams! Hahaha, yeah cemeteries FREAK me out! I booked a tour years ago to go visit the catacombs of Paris….it wasn’t cheap (over a hundred Euros) my friends SHAMED me into going. Well…went down those old dimly lit stairs I started hyperventilating, thought I was gonna pass out! I had to leave, and the Tour Guide was kind enough to refund my money. Whew! I think I saw Phantom of the Opera too many times! I’ve got a weak stomach and a very vivid imagination! 🤯Have a wonderful week , can’t wait to see what exciting little place you are taking us to next week! Oh I read one of the comments….you went to the Cotswolds recently ??? There is a place I want to go to someday for sure! Downtown Abbey?? I loved that show! Take care, hold your head high Lucy, you are doing a terrific job with your channel! 💕Linda
Thanks Linda! The catacombs in Paris are mega though, isn't there 6 million buried there? Its okay. I had a mega freak out in a coal mine once, thought it would be a cool place to look but I HATED IT - it was so claustrophobic... we are all different.. like different things and it's okay! Ohhhh a stick of sealing wax ... the BEST!!! I had one too! Pretending I was the Queen! I had an "office" too - Mom always said I was easy to entertain because give me a piece of stationary and I was happy for hours .. still am!
@@throughlucyslens yes over 6 million in catacombs of Paris. YES I couldn’t go down any mineshafts either CLAUSTROPHOBIA! Eeeeek! Part of my problem in Paris Catacombs. 🤯😱😰
I learned to write with a pen nib and an inkwell that was integrated in the bench that we sat on (very 'old school' 😉). But is was 1981 and our notebooks were made of recycled paper which didn't combine well with the pen nib. 😂 And I'm lefthanded so I was always dragging the ink while writing. But that didn't keep me from loving pens: there beautiful, I love the smell of the ink, the sound the pen makes on the paper, ... Thank you for taking us along!
I had the same in the 80s too!!! Why did they insist we write with literally blotting paper .. the teachers would moan when the ink bled through the paper but how were we meant to prevent that happening? 🤣 I used to collect the balls out of cartridges and was very proud of that collection ... strange child 🤣
@@throughlucyslens we put the balls in the back of our pen and it made a lovely sound. Fond memories! Also loved the tour around and history of the cemetery. I like old and a bit overgrown ones; I find them fascinating. I look at the names and photos of the people and try to imagine what their life was like, what they enjoyed, ... You keep surprising us with your wonderful and interesting adventures.
I would have LOVED seeing that in person! I’m all for the not so famous, little known, places. And to be able to take one home? I would’ve been in heaven. Thank you for an awesome tour, Lucy!
You are so welcome. It's a great place! I was thrilled to have the opportunity to go and have a look around. I'm the same, I'd much rather discover the unexpected!
Two fascinating places that I didn't know existed so thank you for taking us there. I never cease to be amazed by how hard a life it was for so many back then, we have life so easy now. Back in my schooldays I remember writing with a cartridge pen, and the old school desks still had an ink pot in one corner from when pen and ink were a part of normal school life. The catacombs probably hold some of my ancestors, a fair chunk of my ancestry on my mother's side are from Brum and all were poor. It's a sad story that needs to be commemorated so it's good that the Catacombs have been preserved 😞
Absolutely, and I think it's lovely so many were laid to rest in what is a beautiful monument! We had a look for one of my ancestors while we were there but it was a needle in a haystack, also bearing in mind the poorest were unlikely to have any kind of headstone. It was nice being there! My school had the ink well in the desks too; we had cartridges for our pens but I used to store a neat collection of pencil sharpenings and rubber shavings in the well though! 🤣
@@throughlucyslens I agree, it is a beautiful monument and if some of my (and your) ancestors are laid to rest there then it's good to know they have a peaceful place to do so. I bet you weren't the only one to fill up the inkwell with pencil sharpening and bits of rubber. We had a very formidable deputy headmistress so would not have dared! 😅
Hello Lucy, thank you so much for these interesting visits to the Pen Museum and the cemetery. I love your videos and learn so much. Although I'm not sure that ghosts exist, I love ghost stories and I imagine that one told by you would be fascinating. ❤😊
You are so welcome! Maybe at Halloween I could try and tell a ghost story ... I think I'm with you, I'm not really sure really but I think I want to believe there's something else. Thanks for your lovely comment x
My Sunday nights are covered because of you ❤ I look forward to your videos every Sunday and me and my mum watch it ❤ all lease if possible, I think they’re doing a titanic tour in Birmingham, I’m obsessed with the history of the titanic and I’d love to go but I’m unable. If you could go and document it I’d be so so grateful 🙏🏻 ❤ if not it’s completely fine, but I also thought I’d mention it as an idea too. I don’t know the cost so I don’t know if it’s even possible but I thought I’d mention it. Happy Sunday ❤❤
Titanic tour in Birmingham? That pricked my ears up - I am obsessed with the Titanic. I got to touch a piece once and cried! I will look this up now and if I can I will go - thank you for your kind words xx
@@throughlucyslens you’re so so welcome ❤️❤️I swear I saw it advertised on Facebook a day or so ago, I apologise if I have it wrong but I’m sure there is. I’m always looking at things or thinking of ideas to send you for ideas. You never fail to find interesting history. I could easily be a historian, it’s always been in my blood ❤️🥰
@@throughlucyslens I’m also obsessed with the titanic, I’ve always felt a connection somehow. I still watch historical videos on the ship and passengers now. I would give my right arm to touch a part of it, you were so lucky, all those people and animals who perished, it’s hits deep ❤️ xx
How fast can you type - the cat sat on the mat ? At the end it was a graveyard smash ! The jewellery quarter was a nice walk the one time I entered B'ham(saw GEN11 passing - driver beeped his horn)! Good video - might not remember the pen advert with Penelope Keith when the girl says: Madame, does one spell PENCE with an S or C ..... LOL !
Hi Lucy i remember starting middle school at 7 years old and using ink pens for the first time you had to dip it in the ink well first and then use blotting paper to dry the ink our English teacher was the same one that taught my dad in the late 1940s and I had her in the 1969 -1973 which was when she retired and you did not mess about in her class if you made a mistake she made you keep writing it till you got it and if that meant no play time hard luck they would not be allowed to be like that with the kids today but it didn't us any harm and i still write how she taught me to today so thankyou miss brindle all your hard work was not in vain although it must have seemed it at the time . Ps thanks for another great video Lucy, roy. is there any of my old school friends from hatherop c of e , school that remembers her in the 1970s , roy Jacques, from quenington. 😊
Hey Roy! Thanks for sharing these great memories! Your teacher sounds amazing. The teacher that taught me to write was called Mrs Sherlock, she was firm but fair. You weren't allowed to write with a pen until you could demonstrate writing with a pencil without breaking the lead.. I remember sweating trying not to break the pencil and was thrilled when I graduated to a PEN! I hope someone comes forward that remembers your teacher! ❤️
Noooo be proud! Being able to write with ink is a skill .. I am teaching my 9 year old nephew at the moment and his mind is blown. There's nothing more cathartic for me - I would still write with a nib & ink every day if it was practical ❤️
Another goodun, Lucy!! Calligraphy was my favourite part of Art classes at high school and then when I started work, I became a govt draughtsperson and used pen-and-ink in mapping, until the Rotring fine nib pens with an ink cartridge (used with letter stencils), became the norm. All gone now, I guess - and anyway, my dexterity and eyesight have flown away along with Time!!! 🙄Lovely looking place that cemetery too :) Cheers, RjB Down Under
Thanks for sharing that - honestly they sound like dream jobs to me: I love love love writing and pens. I hope it's not a dying art, there isn't the same pleasure tapping a screen! I've got my 9 year old nephew into calligraphy so fingers crossed we can all keep it going x
Hi Lucy, I look for your posts every Sunday now. I really enjoyed this one especially. As an artist who keeps a sketchbook, I LOVE dip pens. I think that by far they're the best pens to draw with. Your video got me thinking about antique pen nibs. They would be awesome to draw with !!! 😄 I'm going to go online now and look for antique pen nibs I can use. Also, I LOVE historic cemeteries, they truly are beautiful and interesting places. As a nature lover, I love all of the ancient trees you find in those places, I like to think of them as old friends 🥰🌳 Lots of good wishes from your friend across the pond. 🙂🙏
Ohh let me know if you find any good ones! I love pen and ink too, it's so visceral, there's nothing like it - to me you can "feel" the creation coming to life. Once I discovered fancy pigments I was all over it - funny story! I kept getting rashes on my hands and turns out I am allergic to colbalt - such a shame as colbalt blue is such a beautiful ink, have to use a synthetic one - not the same!
Yes I’m a stationery addict too. I am off to The Jewellery Quarter very soon, so I must take in this museum. We have had some wonderful craftsmen in this country. To think that 75% of pens were made here and mainly by women. Fascinating vlog again ..love it. 😊
You will love having a go on all the pens, I could have sat there for hours and played with them - alas Mom was waiting outside with the dog so I didn't get the time I wanted .. I am going to go back though and it encouraged me to get my calligraphy stuff back out after sitting in a drawer for many years!
HELLO FROM ACROSS THE POND..LUCY...THANKYOU..I LOVE THIS AND ALL YOUR VIDEOS..GIVES ME A CHANCE TO SEE ENGLAND..THE HOME OF MY GREAT-GRANDFATHER♥️🙂👑THANKYOU,EVER SO.
This has been amazing Lucy! Thank you so very much for these incredible visits to places I never knew existed & learn about what people went through to earn a “bob”, it’s unbelievable ❤
My grandfather was born in 1898. He was an illustrator for magazines and advertisements in his youth, and then worked as a draftsman in the military until he retired. My father gave me one of his old pens when I was a child to play with (of course, there was adult supervision). I always got inky hands, though, and it drove my mother crazy. 😂 As for the typewriter, my grandmother has an IBM Selectric. You could feel how powerful and fast the typewriter could go, and it made this humming noise when turned on that I’ll never forget. She got it in the 1960s, but before she had typewriters, she used shorthand. She was a secretary. She tried to teach me shorthand as a child, but I was too young and didn’t have the precision that she did.
Shorthand blows my mind! Many many years ago I had a temp job as a medical secretary and a lot of the senior PAs wrote in short hard while they were talking to the consultants - I thought it was absolutely amazing! Lines and squiggles, I find the transcripts in courts fascinating too - real skills that are not really given the prestige they deserve! Do you have any of your grandfathers illustrations? That's amazing!
@@throughlucyslens I don’t know! If anyone would have those, it’d have been my aunt. She was an amazing artist, and those illustrations would have gone to her when my grandfather died. I might have to ask my cousins if there are any advertising mock-ups or illustrations that are left. That would be nice to have. I do have some advertising drawings that my other grandmother (on my ma’s side) did in college. I had them framed and they are in my house, along with my ma’s paintings (she was a watercolor artist).
Hi Lucy. I so enjoy and look forward to your videos. Fascinating about the pens. You so bring things to life and I feel like I am there with you. Absolutely fascinating about the catacombs too. Would have never known they were there. Thanks so much for sharing all these wonderful places and bringing them to life .
You are so welcome Gail, I absolutely love doing it and I've got such a long list now you'll probably be bored to death by the time I ever get to the end of it 🤣❤️
How cool! I love writing with cartridge pens too, although my penmanship leaves a lot to be desired, lol. It was quite romantic of you to note how the ticking clock was such a feature of poor working class lives, but that’s what makes your content so awesome. Remembering our ancestors and their struggles and sacrifices helps make us more appreciative of the advantages we have because of them! I, too, hope Mr Baskerville is also at rest as well as those nameless poor who were victims of a cruel social mindset. Wonderful video! Thanks for taking us along!
The tick was so loud and distracting and I just thought my god, I wonder how many people had to listen to that ticking all day with 12 .. 10 ...8 hours to go sitting in silence doing the same repetitive job. I think they are amazing, even my Dad. He worked in a factory all his life and never complained. He used to come home stinking of oil and aluminium dust and just never moaned about it - sadly I don't have the same disposition, I think I had it easy to be honest ❤️
They are hidden in plain sight. Sadly they aren't "trendy" with massive budgets so get lost - I can give you lists and lists of bonkers off the track museums x
Those typewriters really required a lot more hand strength than modern keyboards, for sure. I always wanted one, too. I finally got one as a graduation present to take off to university with me. It was perfect for typing papers, but it earned me some money as well, typing other papers for other people. Theowing back to the needle museum video, I also made pocket change by doing simple alterations for other students when I was in college.
Yes! They are hard going, did they used to make your hands ache? I always forget how hard you have to press down, sounds like your typewriter was a brilliant present though, I've always made ends meet doing bits and bobs too, it's a lovely way to live - helpful but also enjoying your own hobbies as part of it :)
@@throughlucyslens Luckily, my typewriter was a little newer than the one at the museum, but it was still manual, so it did make my hands ache after a bit. I had to take breaks every now and then to keep up with my workload.
Unfortunately I couldn't find conclusive evidence enough to say: all I could find out was in 1899, 600 bodies were moved into the catacombs from a demolished church so there must be a fair number. I wonder if it's not known ... records were badly kept in those days especially for the poor. If I find anything else out I'll let you know.
Hi Lucy, what a fascinating museum. Being in secondary school 1957 to 1961 all my school books were written in with steel nibs and ink Wells set into the desks. There were lots of messy pages. I've tried my hand at Calligraphy in the past but I haven't got enough patience. I've still got pens, one bought at The Jane Austen museum not too far from my home. I've even got practise sheets tracing paper but it's still a mess lol. I haven't watched the 2nd part of your video yet. Saving it for later.
Ohh I hope you enjoy the 2nd half! Pens are just so addictive aren't they? I totally understand, I nearly brought a quill today .. but it would just be sat in a drawer, I've got better with self restraint as I've gotten older thankfully 🤣
Hi, lady lucy. So late to this, just going over your past posts. I was at school in Liverpool 1970's. We still used fountain pens. I still wright in cursive writing.
I LOVE Cursive writing, I find it easier to read than other types, I love finding an old document with beautiful cursive, or earlier copperplate, it's so elegant and I think writing with a proper ink pen is a skill that shouldn't be lost. I introduced my 9 year old nephew to writing with ink and he is absolutely transfixed by it - it's still got appeal :)
I still had the ink wells but they weren't used - just stained with decades of bluey black ink, if you spilt a drink the ink still transferred on to everything that went near it. Those ink monitors must have been highly trusted!
@@throughlucyslens The cartridge pen's could be tricky, my mother used to go mad if one leaked in the pocket of my white blouse. She could never get out the stain, they used to leak in my school bag too. The ball point pen was a good modern invention.
In the early 60's, at school, we progressed from writing with pencils to iron nibs in wooden holders to write cursive script. We had ink in pottery ink wells in the top of the desk. It taught us how to write beautifully without blotting the paper. Too much ink on the nib caused a mess on the paper and also fingers! Its possible to know someones age from the style of writing they we taught at an early age as it changes with time. I dont think children now do any practice with regard to hand writing.
Believe it or not they still get a "pen license" once they can write with a pencil neatly- a handwriting biro type pen though. I don't think they practise in lovely cursive though! My grandparents handwriting was beautiful!
Thank you Lucy,,I would love to have some of these pens, when I was a child I tried to make my own pen with a bird feather, it didnt go so well. Have you seen Dave and Dawns videos ( Inbetween days ) ? They are really nice with history houses and places.
Hiya! I do, we are all sure one day we will bump in to one another! I used to try and make pens with feathers too! And like you it never worked! I think it has to be the right kind of feather and they hardened the ends. I used to think the idea of writing with a big feather quill was so glamourous (I also had a wax seal too, I think I thought I was Tudor royalty 🤣)
@@throughlucyslens So nice,,I hope you will meet the nice couple one day. I was Always very interested in history especially victorian women's clothes and how they lived.Still Im very interested in history, but now Ive learn so much spending thousands of hours learning via my laptop. I dont know but England, Irish and Scotland are my most interesting countries to read about, It feels like I have lived there in my past lives though Im Finnish and living and was born in Sweden. By the way I was thinking about your autoimmune sickness, have you ever tried to intake extra virgin coconutoil ? I can recomend that, a spoonfull 2-3 times a day, you can massage your body and face also with it, especially in the evening before night time Coconutoil is killing bacteria and has alot of good oils , also It is good for your colon and bacteria there. I would also advise you to intake good bacterias for your colon every day. I hope you will try it and I hope It helps you a bit. Sorry Im also a health nerd. Many hugs Jana.
Pens are just like the needles in your other video.. something I haven't given thought to how they're made. They're just there lol How interesting! 😊 I still remember the day my teacher said my handwriting was neat enough to change from pencil to an ink pen 😁 it's probably the only thing I ever achieved in school 😅
Me too!!!!! What a BIG day that was!! We had to prove we didn't keep dropping the pencil so the leads remained intact .. and then when your writing was deemed neat you got a handwriting pen ... the best day and I remember it fondly! The process still goes on in schools today and both my niece and nephew were thrilled when they get their "pen license" .... in my day it could be revoked ... 🤣🤣🤣
OK, it's settled, my next trip to the UK, I'm going to Birmingham. Is the public transit good there? My husband and I tend to use public transit when we travel abroad.
Hey! It is! We have busses, trains, trams - if you do come email me and I can send you information. Birmingham is big - but not on the scale of London, you will get around quite easily x
I am really enjoying your videos thank you would like to make a suggestion if I may please I believe Walsall is the home of saddlery and harness making I wonder if there may be a museum about it. Kind regards Lorraine
@@throughlucyslens thank you very much I went to black country museum a while ago they had a bit on saddlery and also horse bits etc. I believe a person who specialise in horse bits is a Loriner I have been associated with horses etc all my life and saddlers trained in Walsall to become a master saddler.
3:35 - " one woman would make 18 thousand pens a day... " - #Impossible Not a Chance anyone could do that. You said 18,000 - Eighteen Thousand pens being made by one person a day... No Way
It's flabbergasting isn't it. I was trying to work it out myself it must have been so repetitive and boring smashing out blank after blank .. god bless them!
How they suffered for their pay and in silence too 😢 I loved writing with a fountain pen in English classes. We still had the old lift up desks with the ink well. Although we now used cartridges. I always hated it if I smudged a bit of writing, using tipex and trying to write over it again. Painting my nails with tipex 😂 I don't think children use fountain pens anymore in secondary schools do they? People would always have such nice handwiriting with ink.
I did the same as you .. this has made me laugh because I got one detention EVER at school and it was for painting my nails with tippex 🤣🤣 remember the cheaper stuff that just made the ink bleed into it - Aghr the good stationary days! My nephew is 9 and writes with a cartridge pen - his choice ... put possibly because he has a pen mad Mom & Aunty :)
yes, you are right. imagine these pen factories and the needle factories. it does beggar belief, esp since there was really only one of each, supplying dam near all the world!!!!!!
Lately I've been giving you a thumb up before watching your video. And this one is another little gem. Did you know that Mr.Lazlo Biro left Hungary for Argentina in 1944, fearing the advance of the nazis? Soon after his arrival he got our citizenship, and set his factory in Buenos Aires together with his partner Juan Meyne . The name BIROME goes for both family names.
During my primary school in the beginning of the sixties, we were not allowed to use biromes. Nor fountain pens. And the steel nibs came from either England or Germany!
Thank you . Sending you good vibes from Buenos Aires.
This has given me chills!!! Thank you SO much for sharing. I am going to call them Biromes from now on - it sounds so much better!!! And next time I pick one up I'll think of you and BA over the sea! Thank you xxx
@@throughlucyslens I wish you may come one day! I'd be honoured to be you guide
Thank you so much for doing this visit, The pen museum is a great place to visit - my great grandmother was a nib maker and as a genealogist this museum bought me closer to my great grandmother - love love love your you tube films thank you Lucy xx
You are so welcome and thank you so much for reaching out, I am so happy to hear off somebody who's ancestor worked in the industry - and what an incredible woman she must have been! 18,000 nibs a day. Beggars belief!
Great video, Lucy! Being a calligrapher, I have done several calligraphy demonstrations and workshops at the museum over the years! The visit to the catacombs was also fascinating!
Ohhh I'd love to come to one, I've taken the details of the next few workshops, I used to be really good (old English & illuminations was my obsession) but I'm really rusty now! I'm desperate to get back into it!
Sounds thoroughly morbid but I’m always taken with cemeteries. They’re such calming places to me
Same! No one to hurt you is there? ❤️
YAYYYYYY - Lucy is back with another adventure. Your happy smiling face is such a joy to behold, and the video has only just started ! What a fascinating Museum. I'm almost 70 and can remember being allowed to use a 'dip in pen' at School for the first time. The Ink monitor would fill the ink wells every day from a stone bottle with a cork in the top ! As you mentioned, Cartridge Pens then came along - I still have mine somewhere. I did buy myself a rather lovely 'Waterman' Fountain Pen for my 50th Birthday - OMG it is a joy to use, but not for every day use. As to the Cemetery, I love places like that. I've visited Highgate Cemetery where many famous people are buried and the faded grandeur of the place makes it even more beautiful and peaceful. Thanks Lucy for todays video, as always it was a treat to have you show us around. Thanks - take special care 🙂 x x
I loved reading you find a pen a joy to use ... yes!!!! Some pens are just a joy and when you are a stationary lover you can't explain it to anyone else. Well done for treating yourself to such a personal gift .. I love it! There were some BEAUTIFUL pens for sale in the museum, if I return I'll go back. I want a Brummie made pen now :)
Fascinating. Birmingham was one of the richest cities in the whole of the British Empire due to the Industrial Revolution. What a pity all that has now vanished. Interesting to see remnants of past glories in this museum.
It is a shame, a lot of it is still there if you know where to look, sadly a lot of it is hidden now, thanks for your lovely comment.
Lucy how do you do it?? You find the most interesting places that most have never heard of. I found it so sad that most who made these pens were illiterate but as you say the was the start of more independence too. Fascinating tour all round I didn’t even know what a catacomb was 🤦♀️. A time where death came to many too soon due to such poor living conditions etc. thank you so much again for taking us on your journey to uncovering such hidden gems. 🥰
You are so welcome! I just love finding things - and taking you with me! I'm flabbergasted every week people come with me and enjoy the videos. The pen museum was excellent, who even knew ... thanks for coming with me x
@@throughlucyslens love ya 🥰
I definitely have to visit Birmingham. I found it very interesting hearing and seeing some of the pen museum. I can't comprehend doing 18,000 of anything in a year let alone a day. You always describe what you are seeing so well Lucy.
I love graveyards and cemeteries so found that part of the video interesting as well. I can't wait to see what Lucy's Lens show us next.😊
I know!! 18,000 ... I would be bored after 180! I think these people are so amazing, they just got on with it .. we seem to have lost that skill today: myself included. Always looking for the next thing to distract me! Look forward to you coming with me next week Sally ❤️
Thank you so much Lucy for all the social history. Greetings from Ireland. I am originally from Suffolk - where there are a lot of quirky little museums.
Aren't quirky little museums the best? I love them! Thanks for your lovely comment and love to the Emerald Isle, I do need to explore Suffolk more, I recently went to Lowersoft and loved it! I have a friend in Sudbury x
'Delicate' usually means fine and difficult work, to me. And now the part that shows my age, I remember learning penmanship with these nibs. One wrong move and you blotted your copybook, or sprained your nib. Can't say it was a skill I enjoyed learning and didn't maintain, when biros were introduced. Thanks Lucy, fascinating to watch.
Glad you enjoyed it! I've splattered many a book with a sprained nib
Myself .. and nothing more frustrating than getting your nib smooth and effective and someone comes along and uses it 🙃 pens are so tactile. I still love writing in ink - but these days use cartridges! Far easier x
I had to learn with a fountain pen, too. I’m 49. I still love using one :)
I love using them! Pilot do a "disposable cartridge pen" in loads of different colours and it's the most joyful pen ever. It's such a shame you can't refil them because the nib gets to perfection and then it runs out of ink 🙃
My goodness, that brought back memories of my childhood. I learned to write cursive using a wooden handled nibbed pen way back in the 1960's. What triggered my memory this time was seeing the display of large ink bottles. I remember the teacher coming around and filling up all the inkwells on our desks. You made me smile, because I also remember eight year old me getting ink on my fingers every day. What a treat, being able to press your own nib.
It was brilliant! And inky fingers ... my hands were always covered in ink at school .. and a lot of my work had finger marks on it -
Brought back memories for me too! I loved the ink bottles too, we had Quink at school but for my calligraphy I like the Newton inks with the beautiful illustrations on the boxes ❤️
@@throughlucyslens I haven't really done any calligraphy, but I do remember the lovely little cube boxes of the Newton inks from my A level art days. It is only recently, fifty plus years later, that I got rid of my collection of nibbed pens and Newton inks.
At about 10 years old we were given the experience of writing with those nibbed wooden handled pens and the prized job was being "ink monitor"to fill up inkwells. Cartridge changing was also a mucky chore. Biro was taboo in our school .
Thank you Lucy for bringing us such a hidden delight. I love to use an ink pen and regularly write using one. It gives such a nice written letter (if you write letters, as I do). The cemetry is a nice historical find, the story of people.
I LOVE writing letters! When I was a teenager I had hundreds of pen pals all over the world, I often wonder what happened to them all but some like Katy in Hong Kong I am still writing to 30 years later! I hope this never goes out of fashion x
Great video as always Lucy. This one brought back memories for me as I used to work for a famous pen company and even in the 1990's we still had to examine thousands of nibs by hand using a magnifying glass! If I remember right we had to inspect 8,000 per 4 hour shift. Not one of my favourite jobs. I much preferred screen printing the tiny decals that went onto the clips and yes, they were printed, cut and glued on by hand. Thanks for all your hard work Lucy, take care. Lil
This is fascinating! And I would struggle with that job too! Anything too arduous and I switch off. I had a job marking multiple choice exam papers once - we had to do 1000 a day minimum and every single paper was exactly the same. I was super happy when that contract ended! ❤️
Loved it Lucy! Both the pen history and the catacombs
Thank you! Really appreciate it ❤️
You videos are always paced so well and wonderful to watch, so many things I had no idea about! Would love to visit the pen museum!
Thank you so much! I really appreciate that. I try and get a balance between enough info and not a lecture .. I have a pretty short attention span so I'm really glad you think they are well paced - that's made my day!
I have a lovely collection of pens a nibs from my grandfather. I’ll be looking to see where the nibs were made now 😊
Oh yes! It will be on the nib - please let me know if any were made in Brum - what a beautiful thing to inherit!
That was interesting, thank you, Lucy. I hadn't heard of either the pen museum (although, thinking about it, I suppose there would be such a thing) or the catacombs. Like you, I'm somewhat obsessed by stationery - somehow I seem to have amassed quite a lot (I used to visit exhibitions, and it's amazing how many of the stands had promotional items that were stationery - frequently pens - that somehow ended up in my possession!).
That's a good life mantra "never pass on a free pen" .. honestly I love them too. I have been lucky to visit to Japan and it's a pen paradise: they take it so seriously and there's pen department stores... I have really gotten my nephew into pens now so one day I have someone to inherit my pile 🤣🙃❤️
Hi Lucy, that was a really cool tour of the Pen Museum! 80% of all the pens in the world were once manufactured in Birmingham?? Amazing! I never gave it a thought how pens were made and the precision and patience it would take to make one. One of my very favorite games to play as a kid was “office” so I always had stationary pens , paper, little boxes, pencils, rubber stamps, stickers and my very fave thing I owned were sticks of wax with a cool seal with a fancy schmancy capital L for Linda, I put on my envelopes. I had to ask my mom if I could borrow her lighter to light the wax stick. 😂🤣😂
The cemetery and Catacombs jaunt you took after the museum? I think I would have told you I would go get us a couple of coffees or ice creams! Hahaha, yeah cemeteries FREAK me out! I booked a tour years ago to go visit the catacombs of Paris….it wasn’t cheap (over a hundred Euros) my friends SHAMED me into going. Well…went down those old dimly lit stairs I started hyperventilating, thought I was gonna pass out! I had to leave, and the Tour Guide was kind enough to refund my money. Whew! I think I saw Phantom of the Opera too many times! I’ve got a weak stomach and a very vivid imagination! 🤯Have a wonderful week , can’t wait to see what exciting little place you are taking us to next week! Oh I read one of the comments….you went to the Cotswolds recently ??? There is a place I want to go to someday for sure! Downtown Abbey?? I loved that show! Take care, hold your head high Lucy, you are doing a terrific job with your channel! 💕Linda
Thanks Linda! The catacombs in Paris are mega though, isn't there 6 million buried there? Its okay. I had a mega freak out in a coal mine once, thought it would be a cool place to look but I HATED IT - it was so claustrophobic... we are all different.. like different things and it's okay!
Ohhhh a stick of sealing wax ... the BEST!!! I had one too! Pretending I was the Queen! I had an "office" too - Mom always said I was easy to entertain because give me a piece of stationary and I was happy for hours .. still am!
@@throughlucyslens Hahaha! I used to play “Queen” too! I was OBSESSED with Queen Elizabeth 2. Still am. 💕👑
@@throughlucyslens yes over 6 million in catacombs of Paris. YES I couldn’t go down any mineshafts either CLAUSTROPHOBIA! Eeeeek! Part of my problem in Paris Catacombs. 🤯😱😰
I learned to write with a pen nib and an inkwell that was integrated in the bench that we sat on (very 'old school' 😉). But is was 1981 and our notebooks were made of recycled paper which didn't combine well with the pen nib. 😂 And I'm lefthanded so I was always dragging the ink while writing. But that didn't keep me from loving pens: there beautiful, I love the smell of the ink, the sound the pen makes on the paper, ... Thank you for taking us along!
I had the same in the 80s too!!! Why did they insist we write with literally blotting paper .. the teachers would moan when the ink bled through the paper but how were we meant to prevent that happening? 🤣 I used to collect the balls out of cartridges and was very proud of that collection ... strange child 🤣
@@throughlucyslens we put the balls in the back of our pen and it made a lovely sound. Fond memories! Also loved the tour around and history of the cemetery. I like old and a bit overgrown ones; I find them fascinating. I look at the names and photos of the people and try to imagine what their life was like, what they enjoyed, ... You keep surprising us with your wonderful and interesting adventures.
I would have LOVED seeing that in person! I’m all for the not so famous, little known, places. And to be able to take one home? I would’ve been in heaven. Thank you for an awesome tour, Lucy!
You are so welcome. It's a great place! I was thrilled to have the opportunity to go and have a look around. I'm the same, I'd much rather discover the unexpected!
Hi bab!! Lucy, another place for us to add to our list 😊, another excellent video. Helen x
Forgot to say, the cemetary is ace isnt it!!!
Thanks Helen! You are so lovely, the jewellery quarter is ace. It's just got an atmosphere all of its own - enjoy it ❤️
Thank you Lucy, fascinating and interesting video. Hope you've had a good weekend. Best wishes Dave and Dawn ❤️
Thanks you two, I've been in the Cotswolds this weekend, and now have the sun burn to prove it - hope you have been somewhere lovely too x
Two fascinating places that I didn't know existed so thank you for taking us there. I never cease to be amazed by how hard a life it was for so many back then, we have life so easy now. Back in my schooldays I remember writing with a cartridge pen, and the old school desks still had an ink pot in one corner from when pen and ink were a part of normal school life.
The catacombs probably hold some of my ancestors, a fair chunk of my ancestry on my mother's side are from Brum and all were poor. It's a sad story that needs to be commemorated so it's good that the Catacombs have been preserved 😞
Absolutely, and I think it's lovely so many were laid to rest in what is a beautiful monument! We had a look for one of my ancestors while we were there but it was a needle in a haystack, also bearing in mind the poorest were unlikely to have any kind of headstone. It was nice being there! My school had the ink well in the desks too; we had cartridges for our pens but I used to store a neat collection of pencil sharpenings and rubber shavings in the well though! 🤣
@@throughlucyslens I agree, it is a beautiful monument and if some of my (and your) ancestors are laid to rest there then it's good to know they have a peaceful place to do so.
I bet you weren't the only one to fill up the inkwell with pencil sharpening and bits of rubber. We had a very formidable deputy headmistress so would not have dared! 😅
Hello Lucy, thank you so much for these interesting visits to the Pen Museum and the cemetery. I love your videos and learn so much. Although I'm not sure that ghosts exist, I love ghost stories and I imagine that one told by you would be fascinating. ❤😊
You are so welcome! Maybe at Halloween I could try and tell a ghost story ... I think I'm with you, I'm not really sure really but I think I want to believe there's something else. Thanks for your lovely comment x
What a place!! I could get lost for days in all those exhibits
And the typewriters…I LOVE typewriters 😍
SAME! My little Petit typewriter was my pride and joy, I used to get through ribbon though much to my parents annoyance .. that stuff was expensive!
Both sites are amazing! Not something I knew about thank you Lucy
You are so welcome!
My Sunday nights are covered because of you ❤ I look forward to your videos every Sunday and me and my mum watch it ❤ all lease if possible, I think they’re doing a titanic tour in Birmingham, I’m obsessed with the history of the titanic and I’d love to go but I’m unable. If you could go and document it I’d be so so grateful 🙏🏻 ❤ if not it’s completely fine, but I also thought I’d mention it as an idea too. I don’t know the cost so I don’t know if it’s even possible but I thought I’d mention it. Happy Sunday ❤❤
Titanic tour in Birmingham? That pricked my ears up - I am obsessed with the Titanic. I got to touch a piece once and cried! I will look this up now and if I can I will go - thank you for your kind words xx
@@throughlucyslens you’re so so welcome ❤️❤️I swear I saw it advertised on Facebook a day or so ago, I apologise if I have it wrong but I’m sure there is. I’m always looking at things or thinking of ideas to send you for ideas. You never fail to find interesting history. I could easily be a historian, it’s always been in my blood ❤️🥰
@@throughlucyslens I’ve found it !!! It’s an exhibition that opens on the 27th July in Birmingham !! I knew I’d seen it 🥰🥰
@@throughlucyslens I’m also obsessed with the titanic, I’ve always felt a connection somehow. I still watch historical videos on the ship and passengers now. I would give my right arm to touch a part of it, you were so lucky, all those people and animals who perished, it’s hits deep ❤️ xx
How fast can you type - the cat sat on the mat ? At the end it was a graveyard smash ! The jewellery quarter was a nice walk the one time I entered B'ham(saw GEN11 passing - driver beeped his horn)! Good video - might not remember the pen advert with Penelope Keith when the girl says: Madame, does one spell PENCE with an S or C ..... LOL !
I don't remember the advert but I love Penelope Keith! Margot Ledbetter is forever my idol ❤️
Hi Lucy i remember starting middle school at 7 years old and using ink pens for the first time you had to dip it in the ink well first and then use blotting paper to dry the ink our English teacher was the same one that taught my dad in the late 1940s and I had her in the 1969 -1973 which was when she retired and you did not mess about in her class if you made a mistake she made you keep writing it till you got it and if that meant no play time hard luck they would not be allowed to be like that with the kids today but it didn't us any harm and i still write how she taught me to today so thankyou miss brindle all your hard work was not in vain although it must have seemed it at the time . Ps thanks for another great video Lucy, roy. is there any of my old school friends from hatherop c of e , school that remembers her in the 1970s , roy Jacques, from quenington. 😊
Hey Roy! Thanks for sharing these great memories! Your teacher sounds amazing. The teacher that taught me to write was called Mrs Sherlock, she was firm but fair. You weren't allowed to write with a pen until you could demonstrate writing with a pencil without breaking the lead.. I remember sweating trying not to break the pencil and was thrilled when I graduated to a PEN! I hope someone comes forward that remembers your teacher! ❤️
Lol my first pen at school was a dip pen with the ink well set in the top corner of the desk. Lol feeling old ha ha. Thanks Lucy, take care.
Noooo be proud! Being able to write with ink is a skill .. I am teaching my 9 year old nephew at the moment and his mind is blown. There's nothing more cathartic for me - I would still write with a nib & ink every day if it was practical ❤️
Thanks for sharing your day trips put to the world and your followers always it is brilliant 👏 have a wonderfull day always 😊
You too!! Have a beautiful day ❤️
Thank youI adore stationary and writing and drawing, what a eye opener and the Cattacombs wow.
Another goodun, Lucy!! Calligraphy was my favourite part of Art classes at high school and then when I started work, I became a govt draughtsperson and used pen-and-ink in mapping, until the Rotring fine nib pens with an ink cartridge (used with letter stencils), became the norm. All gone now, I guess - and anyway, my dexterity and eyesight have flown away along with Time!!! 🙄Lovely looking place that cemetery too :) Cheers, RjB Down Under
Thanks for sharing that - honestly they sound like dream jobs to me: I love love love writing and pens. I hope it's not a dying art, there isn't the same pleasure tapping a screen! I've got my 9 year old nephew into calligraphy so fingers crossed we can all keep it going x
Hi Lucy, I look for your posts every Sunday now. I really enjoyed this one especially. As an artist who keeps a sketchbook, I LOVE dip pens. I think that by far they're the best pens to draw with. Your video got me thinking about antique pen nibs. They would be awesome to draw with !!! 😄 I'm going to go online now and look for antique pen nibs I can use. Also, I LOVE historic cemeteries, they truly are beautiful and interesting places. As a nature lover, I love all of the ancient trees you find in those places, I like to think of them as old friends 🥰🌳 Lots of good wishes from your friend across the pond. 🙂🙏
Ohh let me know if you find any good ones! I love pen and ink too, it's so visceral, there's nothing like it - to me you can "feel" the creation coming to life. Once I discovered fancy pigments I was all over it - funny story! I kept getting rashes on my hands and turns out I am allergic to colbalt - such a shame as colbalt blue is such a beautiful ink, have to use a synthetic one - not the same!
Yes I’m a stationery addict too. I am off to The Jewellery Quarter very soon, so I must take in this museum. We have had some wonderful craftsmen in this country. To think that 75% of pens were made here and mainly by women. Fascinating vlog again ..love it. 😊
You will love having a go on all the pens, I could have sat there for hours and played with them - alas Mom was waiting outside with the dog so I didn't get the time I wanted .. I am going to go back though and it encouraged me to get my calligraphy stuff back out after sitting in a drawer for many years!
What a fascinating museum. So good to be 'hands on'
Absolutely! I loved using the machines, gives you a great idea what it was like.
HELLO FROM ACROSS THE POND..LUCY...THANKYOU..I LOVE THIS AND ALL YOUR VIDEOS..GIVES ME A CHANCE TO SEE ENGLAND..THE HOME OF MY GREAT-GRANDFATHER♥️🙂👑THANKYOU,EVER SO.
You are so welcome. It's lovely to have you travel with me: hello right back across the sea! ❤️
This has been amazing Lucy! Thank you so very much for these incredible visits to places I never knew existed & learn about what people went through to earn a “bob”, it’s unbelievable ❤
You're so welcome Heather, these places fascinate me, educate me and inspire me in equal measure. It's lovely to have you come along with me x
Hello Lucy! This was a great video. I too enjoy pens and stationary and had never thought about who made the pens. So I thought this very cool.
Isn't stationary brilliant! Oh I do love it! Thanks for your lovely, encouraging comment x
My grandfather was born in 1898. He was an illustrator for magazines and advertisements in his youth, and then worked as a draftsman in the military until he retired. My father gave me one of his old pens when I was a child to play with (of course, there was adult supervision). I always got inky hands, though, and it drove my mother crazy. 😂 As for the typewriter, my grandmother has an IBM Selectric. You could feel how powerful and fast the typewriter could go, and it made this humming noise when turned on that I’ll never forget. She got it in the 1960s, but before she had typewriters, she used shorthand. She was a secretary. She tried to teach me shorthand as a child, but I was too young and didn’t have the precision that she did.
Shorthand blows my mind! Many many years ago I had a temp job as a medical secretary and a lot of the senior PAs wrote in short hard while they were talking to the consultants - I thought it was absolutely amazing! Lines and squiggles, I find the transcripts in courts fascinating too - real skills that are not really given the prestige they deserve! Do you have any of your grandfathers illustrations? That's amazing!
@@throughlucyslens I don’t know! If anyone would have those, it’d have been my aunt. She was an amazing artist, and those illustrations would have gone to her when my grandfather died. I might have to ask my cousins if there are any advertising mock-ups or illustrations that are left. That would be nice to have. I do have some advertising drawings that my other grandmother (on my ma’s side) did in college. I had them framed and they are in my house, along with my ma’s paintings (she was a watercolor artist).
I love pens, this looks like a really interesting place and I love cemeteries
Pens are so tactile,'I love them too - cemeteries are peaceful to me, a great place to be with your thoughts x
I love all things stationery! If I am ever in Birmingham UK, I will check out the pen museum. Have you written anything with the nib you made?
Not yet! I went to but couldn't find my ink! Can't wait to use it :)
Hi Lucy. I so enjoy and look forward to your videos. Fascinating about the pens. You so bring things to life and I feel like I am there with you. Absolutely fascinating about the catacombs too. Would have never known they were there. Thanks so much for sharing all these wonderful places and bringing them to life .
You are so welcome Gail, I absolutely love doing it and I've got such a long list now you'll probably be bored to death by the time I ever get to the end of it 🤣❤️
Totally interesting. Thank you so much. Love your museum videos. 😀
Thanks Andrew! You are so welcome! ❤️
How cool! I love writing with cartridge pens too, although my penmanship leaves a lot to be desired, lol. It was quite romantic of you to note how the ticking clock was such a feature of poor working class lives, but that’s what makes your content so awesome. Remembering our ancestors and their struggles and sacrifices helps make us more appreciative of the advantages we have because of them! I, too, hope Mr Baskerville is also at rest as well as those nameless poor who were victims of a cruel social mindset. Wonderful video! Thanks for taking us along!
The tick was so loud and distracting and I just thought my god, I wonder how many people had to listen to that ticking all day with 12 .. 10 ...8 hours to go sitting in silence doing the same repetitive job. I think they are amazing, even my Dad. He worked in a factory all his life and never complained. He used to come home stinking of oil and aluminium dust and just never moaned about it - sadly I don't have the same disposition, I think I had it easy to be honest ❤️
I love these kinds of museums!!❤️🇨🇦
They are the best aren't they! No hype - just lovely!
@@throughlucyslens agreed!
How have I never known about these places??? Loved this one too! X
They are hidden in plain sight. Sadly they aren't "trendy" with massive budgets so get lost - I can give you lists and lists of bonkers off the track museums x
Those typewriters really required a lot more hand strength than modern keyboards, for sure. I always wanted one, too. I finally got one as a graduation present to take off to university with me. It was perfect for typing papers, but it earned me some money as well, typing other papers for other people.
Theowing back to the needle museum video, I also made pocket change by doing simple alterations for other students when I was in college.
Yes! They are hard going, did they used to make your hands ache? I always forget how hard you have to press down, sounds like your typewriter was a brilliant present though, I've always made ends meet doing bits and bobs too, it's a lovely way to live - helpful but also enjoying your own hobbies as part of it :)
@@throughlucyslens Luckily, my typewriter was a little newer than the one at the museum, but it was still manual, so it did make my hands ache after a bit. I had to take breaks every now and then to keep up with my workload.
Thank goodness for that! I don't know how those women bashed away all day - sore wrists all round!
"Hinks, Wells & Co" 1:53 They should have been making inkwells as well as pens. lol
Yes!! they really should!! Love word play - well spotted!
Excellent, I visit serval years ago, one of the best museum if the world.
It's fabulous isn't it? So underated!
Thanks Lucy, so very interesting. The catacombs must be big, how many folk are in there?
Unfortunately I couldn't find conclusive evidence enough to say: all I could find out was in 1899, 600 bodies were moved into the catacombs from a demolished church so there must be a fair number. I wonder if it's not known ... records were badly kept in those days especially for the poor. If I find anything else out I'll let you know.
@@throughlucyslens thank you
Hi Lucy, what a fascinating museum. Being in secondary school 1957 to 1961 all my school books were written in with steel nibs and ink Wells set into the desks. There were lots of messy pages. I've tried my hand at Calligraphy in the past but I haven't got enough patience. I've still got pens, one bought at The Jane Austen museum not too far from my home. I've even got practise sheets tracing paper but it's still a mess lol. I haven't watched the 2nd part of your video yet. Saving it for later.
Ohh I hope you enjoy the 2nd half! Pens are just so addictive aren't they? I totally understand, I nearly brought a quill today .. but it would just be sat in a drawer, I've got better with self restraint as I've gotten older thankfully 🤣
Just subscribed Lucy thanks for these little trips back in time. Your down to earth out look is fun.
Thank you so much William, I am really looking forward to you coming with me to see what else we can find x
Hi, lady lucy. So late to this, just going over your past posts. I was at school in Liverpool 1970's. We still used fountain pens. I still wright in cursive writing.
I LOVE Cursive writing, I find it easier to read than other types, I love finding an old document with beautiful cursive, or earlier copperplate, it's so elegant and I think writing with a proper ink pen is a skill that shouldn't be lost. I introduced my 9 year old nephew to writing with ink and he is absolutely transfixed by it - it's still got appeal :)
Thank you so interesting, great to have these museums to see our past, thank you😂
Very welcome Pamela, there are so many I can't wait to get to x
Absolutely loved it thank you ❤
You are so welcome!
At school we used the old fashioned pens, we had an ink monitor who filled the ink wells. Eventually we had fountain pens with ink cartridges.
I still had the ink wells but they weren't used - just stained with decades of bluey black ink, if you spilt a drink the ink still transferred on to everything that went near it. Those ink monitors must have been highly trusted!
@@throughlucyslens The cartridge pen's could be tricky, my mother used to go mad if one leaked in the pocket of my white blouse. She could never get out the stain, they used to leak in my school bag too. The ball point pen was a good modern invention.
In the early 60's, at school, we progressed from writing with pencils to iron nibs in wooden holders to write cursive script. We had ink in pottery ink wells in the top of the desk. It taught us how to write beautifully without blotting the paper. Too much ink on the nib caused a mess on the paper and also fingers! Its possible to know someones age from the style of writing they we taught at an early age as it changes with time. I dont think children now do any practice with regard to hand writing.
Believe it or not they still get a "pen license" once they can write with a pencil neatly- a handwriting biro type pen though. I don't think they practise in lovely cursive though! My grandparents handwriting was beautiful!
Thanks!
🥹🥹🥹 Thank you so so much Janet, I'm really touched, it's hugely appreciated ❤️❤️❤️
Thank you Lucy,,I would love to have some of these pens, when I was a child I tried to make my own pen with a bird feather, it didnt go so well. Have you seen Dave and Dawns videos ( Inbetween days ) ? They are really nice with history houses and places.
Hiya! I do, we are all sure one day we will bump in to one another! I used to try and make pens with feathers too! And like you it never worked! I think it has to be the right kind of feather and they hardened the ends. I used to think the idea of writing with a big feather quill was so glamourous (I also had a wax seal too, I think I thought I was Tudor royalty 🤣)
@@throughlucyslens So nice,,I hope you will meet the nice couple one day. I was Always very interested in history especially victorian women's clothes and how they lived.Still Im very interested in history, but now Ive learn so much spending thousands of hours learning via my laptop. I dont know but England, Irish and Scotland are my most interesting countries to read about, It feels like I have lived there in my past lives though Im Finnish and living and was born in Sweden. By the way I was thinking about your autoimmune sickness, have you ever tried to intake extra virgin coconutoil ? I can recomend that, a spoonfull 2-3 times a day, you can massage your body and face also with it, especially in the evening before night time Coconutoil is killing bacteria and has alot of good oils , also It is good for your colon and bacteria there. I would also advise you to intake good bacterias for your colon every day. I hope you will try it and I hope It helps you a bit. Sorry Im also a health nerd. Many hugs Jana.
Warstone Lane cemetery is definitely haunted apparently!!
It didn't feel too spooky but the catacombs certainly give it horror movie vibes!
Pens are just like the needles in your other video.. something I haven't given thought to how they're made. They're just there lol
How interesting! 😊
I still remember the day my teacher said my handwriting was neat enough to change from pencil to an ink pen 😁 it's probably the only thing I ever achieved in school 😅
Me too!!!!! What a BIG day that was!! We had to prove we didn't keep dropping the pencil so the leads remained intact .. and then when your writing was deemed neat you got a handwriting pen ... the best day and I remember it fondly! The process still goes on in schools today and both my niece and nephew were thrilled when they get their "pen license" .... in my day it could be revoked ... 🤣🤣🤣
I've just started folowing you on Instagram...looking forward to seen more of you and your adventures 👍
Awesome! Thank you! Gotcha - lovely photographs! ❤️
@throughlucyslens Thanks very much Lucy, I try my best 😊📷
OK, it's settled, my next trip to the UK, I'm going to Birmingham. Is the public transit good there? My husband and I tend to use public transit when we travel abroad.
Hey! It is! We have busses, trains, trams - if you do come email me and I can send you information. Birmingham is big - but not on the scale of London, you will get around quite easily x
I am really enjoying your videos thank you would like to make a suggestion if I may please I believe Walsall is the home of saddlery and harness making I wonder if there may be a museum about it. Kind regards Lorraine
Hi Lorraine! I will certainly look into that for you, thanks for the suggestion. I've not heard of one but you never know 🤞🏻❤️
@@throughlucyslens thank you very much I went to black country museum a while ago they had a bit on saddlery and also horse bits etc. I believe a person who specialise in horse bits is a Loriner I have been associated with horses etc all my life and saddlers trained in Walsall to become a master saddler.
' Pens are Your Friends ' #Stationary
They are :)
😘👍💚
3:35 - " one woman would make 18 thousand pens a day... " - #Impossible Not a Chance anyone could do that. You said 18,000 - Eighteen Thousand pens being made by one person a day... No Way
It's flabbergasting isn't it. I was trying to work it out myself it must have been so repetitive and boring smashing out blank after blank .. god bless them!
How they suffered for their pay and in silence too 😢
I loved writing with a fountain pen in English classes. We still had the old lift up desks with the ink well. Although we now used cartridges. I always hated it if I smudged a bit of writing, using tipex and trying to write over it again. Painting my nails with tipex 😂
I don't think children use fountain pens anymore in secondary schools do they? People would always have such nice handwiriting with ink.
I did the same as you .. this has made me laugh because I got one detention EVER at school and it was for painting my nails with tippex 🤣🤣 remember the cheaper stuff that just made the ink bleed into it - Aghr the good stationary days! My nephew is 9 and writes with a cartridge pen - his choice ... put possibly because he has a pen mad Mom & Aunty :)
yes, you are right. imagine these pen factories and the needle factories. it does beggar belief, esp since there was really only one of each, supplying dam near all the world!!!!!!
Mad isn't it? Imagine the pressure on the workers when the orders came in ...