Pens in Museums

A few months back, I read Moscow, December 25 1991 by Conor O'Clery, the story of the last day of the Soviet Union and what had led up to it. It's an interesting account which gave me some new insights into what had happened. People who were not already adults at the time may not grasp just how startling it was to see the disintegration of the old "Soviet bloc", followed by the Soviet Union itself.

What does this have to do with fountain pens? Nothing at all. However there is a small tie-in with another type of pen. As Mikhail Gorbachev was preparing to sign the decree which would dissolve the USSR, he tested the pen he had been going to use, a Soviet made felt tip. It wouldn't write. He asked around to see if anybody had a good pen. CNN president Tom Johnson reached into his jacket (nearly causing an overreaction from the security guards) and handed over his Montblanc ballpoint. After the signing, Gorbachev almost walked off with it, but Johnson reminded him, and got it back.

A photograph shows that the historic pen is now on display in the "Newseum" in Washington DC. Does anyone know of any other pens in museums? Pens used to sign historic treaties or decrees, pens that just belonged to famous people? Perhaps pens that just show "what people wrote with back then"?

That's a cool story. I like learning things like this about history (sort of the human elements if you will), but don't often want to spend the time wading through the mountains of things that are not as interesting to me to find them.

Does anyone know where the pens are that were used to sign the surrender documents on the USS Missouri.

"PensAs witnesses, American General Jonathan Wainwright, who had surrendered the Philippines, and British Lieutenant General Arthur Percival, who had surrendered Singapore, received two of the six pens they used to sign the instrument. Another pen went to the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, and one to MacArthur's aide. All of the pens used by MacArthur were black, except the last which was plum colored and went to his wife. A replica of it, along with copies of the instrument of surrender, is in a case on the Missouri by the plaque marking the signing spot."

Here you go from Wikipedia. I saw the copies when I took a tour of the U.S.S. Missouri and thought how nice it would be to have one similar.

Don

DanOK said:

Does anyone know where the pens are that were used to sign the surrender documents on the USS Missouri.

Click to expand...

There's some dispute over whether there were five or six pens used--I read that in an interview with Captain Murray, the Mo's CO. Capt. Murray said that Generals Wainwright and Percival each got one. According to Wikipedia, another went to West Point and MacArthur gave one to his aide. He kept the remaining ones--not sure where they all are now.

The original Big Red was lost over time