Word: ball-point
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...prewar look. Even the Air Age, which alone got a wing through the door, failed to come through. U.S. planes circled the globe-and brought back red ink for most of the companies that flew them. Typical of the year's disappointment were the millions of ball-point pens, all of which looked like the very latest thing, but many of which would not write...
...Manhattan's Macy's and Gimbels were still at it. This time, Macy's swung first. Well aware that one of Gimbel's heartiest chest-thumpings has been that Gimbels was "first in the world with the ball-point pen," Macy's asked in full-page ads: "Do you own a horse-and-buggy ball-point pen?" If so, no matter where it was bought, and if it cost more than $3.50, Macy's would take it back, allow $3 credit towards the purchase of any ball-point pen priced at $12.50 or more...
What happened was that Gimbels would take in any fountain pen, bought at any price, give a credit of $4 on any Gimbels pen priced at $8 and up. (Manhattan citizens wondered: what was wrong with the ball-point...
...pens a day, is sold out for months. This year, Eversharp expects to gross $50,000,000 on pens & pencils (2½ times as much as all pen & pencilmakers sold in 1939), net about $5,000,000. It also expects to run into much tougher competition shortly. New ball-point pens are being born weekly, and some of the new companies, notably the Hamilton Ross Jetflow Corp., may give Eversharp a run for its money...
...pens may not be so freehanded. Penman Reynolds wrote his own ticket by tapping the rich postwar market first. Next month he will run into his first stiff competition. Eversharp and Eberhard Faber, who do 10-15% of the U.S. pen-&-pencil business, will put on sale their own ball-point...