The Pen Museum is a

museum A museum is an institution dedicated to displaying or Preservation (library and archive), preserving culturally or scientifically significant objects. Many museums have exhibitions of these objects on public display, and some have private colle ...

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands (county), West Midlands, within the wider West Midlands (region), West Midlands region, in England. It is the Lis ...

, England, covering the history of Birmingham's steel pen trade. The only museum in the United Kingdom devoted to the history of the pen making industry, the Pen Museum explains how Birmingham became the centre of the world pen trade. The museum is run by the Birmingham Pen Trade Heritage Association, which was established in 1996 as a registered charity and became a

charitable incorporated organisation A charitable incorporated organisation (CIO) is a Incorporation (business), corporate form of business designed for (and only available to) Charitable organization, charitable organisations in England and Wales. A similar form, with minor differe ...

in 2018.

The museum is located in Birmingham's

Jewellery Quarter The Jewellery Quarter is an area of central Birmingham, England, in the north-western area of Birmingham City Centre, with a population of 19,000 in a area. The Jewellery Quarter is Europe's largest concentration of businesses involved in the ...

, at the Argent Centre. The Argent Centre itself used to house a pen

factory A factory, manufacturing plant or production plant is an industrial facility, often a complex consisting of several buildings filled with machinery, where workers manufacture items or operate machines which process each item into another. Th ...

and is a Grade II*

listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building is a structure of particular architectural or historic interest deserving of special protection. Such buildings are placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Hi ...

. The Birmingham Heritage Forum
/ref> The museum was opened in April 2001, and in June 2002 the adjoining Philp Poole Room gallery opened. The new exhibition and shop area with new entrance to the museum opened in November 2016. In the 19th century, around 100 companies distributed steel pens in Birmingham. The Pen Museum
/ref> The pen nibs produced were distributed worldwide, until the trade was overtaken by

fountain pens A fountain pen is a writing instrument that uses a metal nib to apply water-based ink, or special pigment ink—suitable for fountain pens—to paper. It is distinguished from earlier dip pens by using an internal reservoir to hold ink, elimi ...

and the

ballpoint pen A ballpoint pen, also known as a biro (British English), ball pen (Hong Kong, Indian, Indonesian, Pakistani, and Philippine English), or dot pen ( Nepali English and South Asian English), is a pen that dispenses ink (usually in paste form) ...

. The museum looks into the lives of the employers and workers involved in the business, as well as providing information on the pen companies. It also has information on how steel pen nibs were made and has pen nibs on display. Beyond the steel pen, the museum also aims to educate on other forms of writing equipment and on writing in general. Information at the museum is given through displays and tours by volunteer guides, as well as through demonstrations and ‘hands on’ activities, such as writing with different kinds of pen, early

typewriter A typewriter is a Machine, mechanical or electromechanical machine for typing characters. Typically, a typewriter has an array of Button (control), keys, and each one causes a different single character to be produced on paper by striking an i ...

s and

Braille Braille ( , ) is a Tactile alphabet, tactile writing system used by blindness, blind or visually impaired people. It can be read either on embossed paper or by using refreshable braille displays that connect to computers and smartphone device ...

machines, and making a pen nib using original factory presses. Entry to the museum is by admission. The museum hosts workshops for family and community groups on various themes, talks on pen trade history and provides for research into

genealogy Genealogy () is the study of families, family history, and the tracing of their lineages. Genealogists use oral interviews, historical records, genetic analysis, and other records to obtain information about a family and to demonstrate kin ...

References

External links

Official website
{{Pens 2001 establishments in England Museums in Birmingham, West Midlands Grade II* listed buildings in the West Midlands (county) Pens Museums established in 2001 Industry museums in England Literary museums in England Industrial archaeological sites in England

See also

References

External links