Ball point pens came out in probably the late 1940's. They were expensive,
like most new innovations. We learned to write by writing the Gettysburg
Address with scratchy pen points in wood handles. These were of course dipped
into the inkwells in which the boys also liked to dip the hair of girl sitting
in front of them. In 1949 my fifth grade teacher told us we were not allowed
to use the new ball point pens in school. By the time I got to seventh grade
in 1951, there were several vending machines in the Jr. High School hallways
that dispensed ball point pens for a quarter (cheap) and everyone was using
them.
Marge Green