World Congress of Fountain Pen Manufacturers
In the month of July 1935, the World Congress of Pen Manufacturers was held on Margaret Island, Budapest (Hungary). It was primarily a meeting of businessmen and manufacturers. Unfortunately, the report does not mention who represented Hungary at the congress. The article about this was published in 'Az Est', in which the head of the English Fountain Pen Industry, Mr Alexander Raphael Zoccola, who was also the head of the Parker company and attended the meeting in that capacity, was interviewed. Pester Lloyd mentions that Parker in Hungary was headed at the time by Hermann Klein, who organised the conference at the Palatinus Hotel (Budapest). This was the date from which Parker products started to be sold in Hungary. Read the article by clicking on the link to read more (picture below).
Among the shady trees of Margaret Island, a world congress is taking place: the fountain pens began their world congress negotiations this morning. Twenty-some serious gentlemen from all over the world. Abyssinia and Arabia are represented as well as the European countries. The Congress is presided over by Alexander Raphael Zoccola (Parker), the great London fountain pen master, who speaks with rapture of Budapest.
- I've only seen it from a plane, but it has such a reputation that I think we're going to have a great time.
- How long have you been in the fountain pen business?
- Fifteen years.
- And how many fountain pens have you sold in that time?
Zoccola frowns, counts a little on her fingers, then spreads her hands:
- Well, I can't say exactly, a little over a million fountain pens.
- And what happened to the fountain pen in those fifteen years?
- It has undergone a revolutionary change. Where were we then with the self-filling pen, let alone the flash drive system... Today, the fountain pen is a world commodity. Interestingly, Denmark has the highest relative sales of fountain pens of all the countries. But as a measure of culture, it should not be taken as a benchmark, because in many countries it is still a luxury, despite the fact that many are sold.
The debate is beginning. The fountain pen congress will discuss everything from the international economic situation to the new problems of self-loading.
