The 23rd October 1880 and one of the leading pen companys are giving good advice to writers whilst promoting their range of products. Macniven and Cameron were a long established company that finally closed in 1964.
Macniven and Cameron Ltd., later known as Waverley Cameron Ltd.,was a printing and stationery company based in Edinburgh, Scotland. The company is best known for their pen nibs, the “Pickwick”, the “Owl”, and the “Waverley”, which they sold under the advertising doggerel:
They came as a boon and a blessing to men,
the Pickwick, the Owl and the Waverley Pen.
In 1770, Nisbet MacNiven established a paper-making business at Balerno, outside Edinburgh. The firm soon diversified into stationery and moved to premises on Blair Street in Edinburgh’s Old Town. In the 1840s, John and Donald Cameron became involved, and the firm became MacNiven and Cameron. The “Waverley” nib was invented by Duncan Cameron, another brother, and was unusual in having an upturned point, making it flow more smoothly on the paper. The “Waverley” was named after the Waverley novels of Sir Walter Scott (1771–1832), which were still hugely popular at the time. The new nib was initially manufactured by Gillott and others, until the company bought a factory in Bordesley, Birmingham, in 1900. They then manufactured their own nibs, as well as fountain pens, and printed stationery, until 1964 when the factory closed.
Macniven and Cameron also made pens called the “Phaeton”, “Nile”, “Hindoo” and “Commercial”. The company filed several in relation to its fountain pens (source: Wikipedia).
