With a history
spanning almost one and three quarters centuries, The Pelikan Holding,
AG, known fondly and respectfully 
in
the United States as The Pelikan Pen Company, is one of the
world’s oldest and most distinguished manufacturers of fountain
pens and other fine writing implements. Indeed, the year in which its
founder, chemist Carl Hornemann, first established his own colour and
ink factory in Hanover Germany, 1832, is exactly 175 years from the
writing of this account. April 28th, 1838 marks the date of the very
first formerly printed and issued price list, and as such is considered
by Pelikan officers and staff as the founding date, with all company
anniversaries thereon based.
Obtaining the position of chemist and plant manager in 1863, Günther
Wagner further pursued his
vision, taking over the company in 1871, and registering the image
of a pelican (Deutsch: pelikan), part of his family crest,
as the company’s logo in 1878. It was one of the first German
trademarks ever. In order to obtain commercial rights to deliver to
Austria, which at the time controlled parts of northern Italy, the
Czech republic, Hungary and Croatia, a factory was built in Eger.
Later this facility was moved to Vienna.
In 1888, Fritz Beindorff, who had been part of expanding business
into Russia, married Günther Wagner’s eldest daughter,
and assumed control of the company. Office products for copying, stamping,
sticking, and erasing were added to the firm’s growing array
of products. Due to the burgeoning assortment of merchandise, the
production halls underwent huge expansion.
On the company’s 75th anniversary, 1913, as dated from the
officially designated founding of 1838, the factory’s size 
was
doubled, with 1057 people employed. Revenue increased to 4.4 million
Goldmark, and in 1929 the Pelikan fountain pen was
born. Soon to be known worldwide for its trademark Green
shaft, technically innovative ink flow and transparent ink window,
the differential piston mechanism (allowing more ink to be drawn into
the reservoir, than in other pens of the same size) was a true revolution
of its time.
In 1934 a cheaper version of the Pelikan fountain pen, now known
as “model 100”, was released under the product name Rappen.
A mechanical pencil was also released carrying the Pelikan brand name.
Four years later, in 1938, the 100 year anniversary catalogue was
designed by professor O.H.W. Hadank, the same man
who redesigned the Pelikan logo to the shape which it would retain
for the next 60 years.
Post WWII came to an end in 1950 as the big German industrial boom
started, and in that year Pelikan released the fountain pen model
400. Easily
recognised by its black-and-green-striped shaft, this model was to
become the most popular fountain pen in its price range. Over the
ensuing years the 600
series , 800
series , and 1000
series , and the mini, or pocket, 300
series were added.
In Autumn 1993 Pelikan’s first Limited Edition (based on the
800 series)
is released under the name “Blue Ocean”. It was made in
a Blue transparent colouring. A total of 5000 fountain pens were produced,
1000 being sold with a ballpoint pen as a set. Three years later,
in 1996, GOODACE SDN BHD, a company owned by Hooi
Keat Loo, from Malaysia, took over the majority of Pelikan Holding
shares. Two years later the XVI Commonwealth games took place in
Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. To mark the occasion, the Pelikan
Limited Edition Kuala Lumpur was released.
In 2007, 169 years from the official founding of the company, Pelikan
continues its rich history of artistic craftsmanship and technological
excellence, releasing several new limited and special editions, including
the more than aptly named Majesty,
the Niagara
Falls, and the breathtaking Evolution
Of Script. Most recently, two new collections reinforce Pelikan's
commitment to ongoing innovation, and continued use of the widest
possible range of colours and materials: the special edition Sahara,
part of Pelikan's Natrual Beauties series, with the major portion
of the barrel being carved metal; and the first modified addition
to the Souveran series in 57 years, the all new Ductus,
which is merely special.
