The Esterbrook Pen Company is a former American manufacturing company founded by English immigrant Richard Esterbrook and based in Camden, New Jersey. It was the largest pen manufacturer in the United States, having reached a record of producing 216,000,000 pens a year.[3] The company produced dip pens, then concentrating on fountain pens until it was acquired by Venus Pencils in 1967, ceasing activities in 1971.
In 2014, Harpen Brand Holdings, LLC, acquired the rights to the "Esterbrook" brand name, releasing a series of pens. Four years later, the brand was purchased by Kenro Industries, which is its current owner and holder.
History
The beginning
Richard Esterbrook (1812-1895 [4]) was a Cornish Quaker from England who saw an opportunity in the United States to manufacture steel pens. In 1856 he traveled to the US to set up shop as "The Steel Pen Manufacturing Company".