In May, 1950 Frawley moved into a bigger building, boosted his advertising and hired designer Walter B. Spatz in order to create his own ballpoint pen [1]. He wanted a pen that would look like $5.00, write like $5.00 but sell for less than $2.00. A considerable amount of work and money was involved in its development.
As soon as Spatz started his job, Frawley bought his first air time in the form of radio (San Francisco) and TV (Los Angeles) spots. Sales rose up to $350,000 in 1950.
On August 4, 1950 the Frawley Corporation filed a patent (US 2,624,314, granted on January 6, 1953) for a retractable pen with button-click operation. Emphasis was given to dependability as well as to simplicity and an inexpensive construction. The new design was so versatile that it was suitable not only for a ballpoint pen but also for a mechanical pencil or other scribing tool. It included some interesting features such as, for instance, an extending and retracting mechanism wherein the operating end automatically retracted should it be subjected to shock loads as might occur if the pen is dropped. This mechanism was contained inside a plastic (inner) upper case which, in turn, was enclosed inside an outer metal shell. Another peculiarity was the existence of two springs, one inside the operation device and the other between the reduced end of the refill and the botttom of the lower case. Extension and retraction took place by means of both a lateral latch spring and the specially shaped button. It was the specific design of the lateral latch spring what permitted automatic retraction in case of a fall.
US patent No. 2,624,314
(assignee Frawley Corporation)
Spatz also worked on the external design of the pen (ballpoint or the like). It was characterised by a relatively abrupt taper at the top of the upper case in association with a gradual taper towards the barrel point, as shown in patent US D168,715 (filed on May 5, 1952; granted on January 27, 1953; assignee Frawley Corporation). The first real Paper Mate's ballpoint pen had been born: Called Paper Mate Deluxe, it was introduced in October, 1951 [2].
US patent D168,715
(assignee Frawley Corporation)
A harmonious combination of shape and proportions not seen before made this pen unique as well as really distinctive and attractive [2]. It was manufactured with great care and at not less expense in the selection of materials and in the supervision of quality control. The highly-polished metal cap shell, either gold- or chrome- plated, stood out between a contrastingly plastic barrel and an equally colored plunger. Firmly attached to the cap by means of four lugs, a strong clip exhibited an ornamental motif consisting of two interlaced hearts which soon became widely recognizable all over the world. Below the company's logo it read "PAPER - MATE USA". Barrels (as well as matching plungers) were available up to seven colors including black, red, brown, green and even white. The Deluxe model was a relatively small, lightweight writing instrument, but well balanced and easy as well as convenient to use.
During the first six weeks from its introduction, it sold at $1.49. After that, the retail price was always maintained at $1.69 while refills cost 49 cents ($1.98 and 69 cents in Canada respectively). From 1953 it was offered with an inconditional guarantee for 20 years.
Paper Mate Deluxe
(photograph from my personal archive)
Detail of the pen's top and bottom, as shown in advertisements
(Saturday Evening Post)
Gold- and chrome- plated caps
(photograph from my personal archive)
Cap and button
Notice the extraordinary brilliance of the highly-polished metal shell
Bottom of the upper plastic case
(photographs from my personal archive)
Clip
(photograph from my personal archive)
During the first six weeks from its introduction, it sold at $1.49. After that, the retail price was always maintained at $1.69 while refills cost 49 cents ($1.98 and 69 cents in Canada respectively). From 1953 it was offered with an inconditional guarantee for 20 years.
Albuquerque Tribune
(December 19, 1951)
The Deluxe model turned out to be the right product the public was waiting for. Even competitors acknowledged it as Number One in sales among ballpoints and probably the largest selling pen inside the U.S. Around 7,500,000 units were sold during the first year (roughly 30,000,000 at the end of 1954) [2]. In 1951 Paper Mate's sales skyrocketed up to $2 million.
Also a question of clever promotion and massive advertising.
The first two generations of Paper Mate pens
(photograph from my personal archive)
The Stanford Daily
(March 31, 1952)
Lafayette Ledger
(November 14, 1952)
Winnipeg Free Press
(September 4, 1952)
(Canada)
As soon as 1952 Paper Mate brought out a desk version of the Deluxe model. Retail prices were $2.95 for the pen only, $3.45 for the pen with chain and $4.95 for the complete desk set, which included a small, jet functional four-sided simulated onyx plastic base with a metal swivel penholder.
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, May 19, 1952
Some time later Spatz redesigned the base as well as the penholder, both elements becoming elegantly streamlined in the way shown in patents US D172,846 (filed on September 3, 1953; granted on August 17, 1954; assignee Frawley Corporation) and D172,847 (filed on January 29, 1954; granted on August 17, 1954; assignee Frawley Corporation).
US patent D172,846
(assignee Frawley Corporation)
US patent D172,847
(assignee Frawley Corporation)
Deluxe desk set
LIFE
(December 6, 1954)
The retail price of the complete desk set remained, however, the same. Sets for use in banks have been referenced [1].
On May 18, 1953 the Paper Mate Manufacturing Company filed a patent (US 2,813,512, granted on November 19, 1957; inventor Clarence O. Schrader) for a method of improving the life of ball-point writing instruments by plating the tip with a metal from the group of nickel, copper, silver, platinum, gold, rhodium, osmium and chromium. Such a process avoided the corrosion, pitting, leakage of link, seizure of the ball, etc. due to galvanic action between the brass of the socket point and the steel ball that resulted in a serious loss of the pen's performance. In addition, the metal layer enhanced the traction between the tip and the writing surface so that the ball did not slide or skip upon a calendered or slightly oily surface, but instead deposited ink as soon as contact and relative motion was stablished. New refills with "exclusive silvered tip" for faster start and smoother writing were introduced by April 1954. Available in fine and regular (medium) points as well as in four ink colours (red, green blue and black), they fitted equally all the Paper Mate's ballpoints in production for several years.
US patent No. 2,813,512
(assignee Paper Mate Manufacturing Company)
The Daily Reporter
(September 2, 1954)
The Daily Illini
(May 17, 1955)
The Deluxe model, re-designed, enjoyed from 1955 a second life under the name Tu-Tone.
Once Frawley had a winner, his next target was the New York market [1], from where he planned to expand to the rest of the U.S. Frawley bought full-page newspaper advertisements and heavy radio and TV spot schedules. He began providing dealers all kinds of point-of-purchase material too. 22 salesmen were hired, who called on 2,400 stores in a six-week period, leaving six free pens with every dealer. Frawley gave away about 10% on his 1952 output but got nearly 100% distribution in that city. At the same time, he brightly spread the rumor that Paper Mate was broke in order to discourage the competition. The truth was very different: Sales continuously increased, reaching $7 million that very year.
Vassar Chronicle, Volume X, No. 2, 4
(October, 1952)
Paper Mate's advertising on a Deluxe pen
Notice the copy point "bankers approve"
(photograph from my personal archive)
The Pittsburgh Press
(February 5, 1953)
So confident was Frawley on his product as well as on the power of advertising that he launched a huge campaign with the aim of getting nationwide recognition of the superior qualities of his pen and ink. Only in 1953 Paper Mate spent around $2 million in the biggest advertising budget of the pen history never seen before. Full-page advertisements, in which well-known celebrities such as Zsa Zsa Gabor, George Burns or Gracie Allen showed themselves as really satisfied customers, appeared in major magazines such as LIFE and The Saturday Evening Post. Frawley's advertising strategy proved to be immensely successful, sales growing steeply to almost $20 million that very year (foreign sales came to roughly $3 million). Paper Mate increased its advertising budget up to $4,500,000 in 1954 in order to include the sponsorship of different popular radio and TV shows (“People Are Funny”, “Cavalcade of Sports” and “The World Series” among others). Eventually, Groucho Marx, Arthur Godfrey, Art Linkletter, Bert Lahr, Gary Moore and Imogene Coca also worked for the company. Of this huge amount of money, around 60% ($2.8 million) went into spots, air time becoming major media in boosting Paper Mate to the top.
LIFE
(May 4, 1953)
Saturday Evening Post
(June 6, 1953)
The Daily Ilini
(May 1, 1953)
LIFE
(September 7, 1953)
Together with the copy point "bankers approve", similar advertising claims such us "principals approve", "mothers approve" and "winner of nation-wide acclaim from ... aviators ..." or "millions of users acclaim Paper-Mate's superiority" were also utilised along time. Just as with the first Paper Mate pen Frawley placed most emphasis on the ink ("new chemical discovery", "formula X-217 bankers approve ink", "won't fade or soak out of paper", "guaranteed not to leak", "can't smear, transfer, stain", "safe for checks and legal work", "it dries in 1/89th of a second", "no ink-stained hands or clothes", "easily washes ...", "70,000 words without refilling", etc.). However, in the case of the Deluxe model the ballpoint itself played a very important rule in advertisement too: "the precision-made pen", "new writing luxury", "the finest of all retractable pens", "smooth click-click push-button action, "guaranteed 20 years mechanicaly", ... The pen is neatly (I'd daresay proudly) shown in advertisements, alone at first, in the foreground, but in the hands of smiling, celebrities later as well as different kinds of professionals. And mates, always happy mates ("famous mates picks Paper-Mate"or "give your mate a Paper-Mate"). The two hearts logo became a synonym for success, the classical American success story.
Undoubtedly, advertising was what made Paper Mate such a renowned brand. But Frawley's advertising strategy had no startling innovation at its core [1]. Instead of making one-shot novelty promotion, i.e. flying with pens around the world in record time or sunk them under water at great depths, he sold his products in a steady advertising pressure as if they were just mere consumer goods such as soap or cigarettes (a change of viewpoint probably needed). In radio and TV repetition played a big part in helping to record the brand's name into people's memory. "Yet the way it’s handled, the repetition doesn’t bother people. … the product name has to be woven … in a smooth way", was absolutely convinced David Kittredge, Eastern advertising manager. Indeed, Paper Mate's approach in radio and TV was so tightly orientated to repetition that, for instance, the advertising jingle used during the period 1951-54 (composed, as a matter of fact, by Song Ads) was never changed. Day after day its single words-and-music message was drummed to listeners and viewers, "Paper-Mate" being mentioned at least 12 times:
Undoubtedly, advertising was what made Paper Mate such a renowned brand. But Frawley's advertising strategy had no startling innovation at its core [1]. Instead of making one-shot novelty promotion, i.e. flying with pens around the world in record time or sunk them under water at great depths, he sold his products in a steady advertising pressure as if they were just mere consumer goods such as soap or cigarettes (a change of viewpoint probably needed). In radio and TV repetition played a big part in helping to record the brand's name into people's memory. "Yet the way it’s handled, the repetition doesn’t bother people. … the product name has to be woven … in a smooth way", was absolutely convinced David Kittredge, Eastern advertising manager. Indeed, Paper Mate's approach in radio and TV was so tightly orientated to repetition that, for instance, the advertising jingle used during the period 1951-54 (composed, as a matter of fact, by Song Ads) was never changed. Day after day its single words-and-music message was drummed to listeners and viewers, "Paper-Mate" being mentioned at least 12 times:
Paper-Mate ink is leak-proof,
Use a Paper-Mate pen.
Paper-Mate ink is smear-proof,
Use a Paper-Mate pen.
...
Recording of an advertising jingle for Paper Mate by Song Ads
(image from Sponsor [1])
Commercial
(1954)
(click on the image to watch it)
Commercial
(1954)
(click on the image to watch it)
Paper Mate carefully selected its time buying approach in air. Frawley’s company would rather buy early-morning radio (sports shows and disk jockey programs), but Class A, evening TV. On the other hand, there were no summer hiatus for Paper Mate: "My $2.8 million base is spent evenly the year around", stated Kittredge in 1954. Nevertheless, Paper Mate placed particular emphasis on four special campaigns: Christmas, Valentine's Day, spring (Father's Day and graduation) and back-to-school.
The Deseret News
(August 31, 1954)
By 1954 the company’s advertising expenditure was divided 70-30 between Paper Mate Eastern (every state east and four states west of Mississippi, incorporated in March 7, 1952) and the Paper Mate Company (the Western Division, incorporated in March 13, 1952) respectively. Both partnerships were sales organizations. The pens themselves were manufactured by another Frawley’s entreprise, the Frawley Manufacturing Corporation, whereas the ink was produced by Frawley Industries. Frawley liked to integrate every part of its campaigns so that Paper Mate's advertising was handled by one company only, Foote, Cone and Belding [3]. In addition, a Philadelphia agencyman helped too with ideas. Frawley soon contracted sponsorship of a net show in order to achieve extensive coverage of the national market [4].
Copy approach: Like boy goes with girl - that's the way Paper-Mate ink goes with paper
Heart shaped trademark and boy-girl duo were constantly used in TV spots
(image from Sponsor [1])
Kittredge asserted that there is no sure way of correlating sales to advertising. However, three different surveys made in 1954 showed that 42% of the people interviewed recalled Paper-Mate's TV pitches over all other advertisements. Even TV comics joked about Paper Mate's "70,000 words without re-filling": "I'm too young to die - I still have 30,000 words left in my Paper Mate" [5].
Paper Mate's plant in Santa Monica during the fifties
(picture from thehealthycitylocal.com)
At that time, sales were running at the extraordinary rate of 67,000 pens a day. National distribution was virtually complete. The company's supply couldn't keep up with demand. Not only had Paper Mate built a second plant in its home town of Culver City, California, but it had just completed another one in Puerto Rico. Life smiled at Frawley!
Paper Mate's business during its first six years of life
(source: Sponsor [1])
Next article: The successful Capri (mid 1954 - mid sixties).
References
[1] Sponsor, February 22, 1954
(https://ia902500.us.archive.org/16/items/sponsormagazine-1954-02/Sponsor-1954-02-2.pdf)
[2] Frawley Corporation vs. Penmaster Company, United States District Court N. D. Illinois, E. D.,
November 23, 1954 (http://www.leagle.com/decision/1954159131FSupp28_1152).
[3] For more information, take a look on the Foote, Cone and Belding worldwide history
(http://www.fundinguniverse.com/company-histories/foote-cone-belding-worldwide-history/).
[4] Billboard, February 20, 1954.
[5] Things You Never Knew About Your Fountain Pen, Modern Mechanix, September, 1956
(http://www.fundinguniverse.com/company-histories/foote-cone-belding-worldwide-history/).
[4] Billboard, February 20, 1954.
[5] Things You Never Knew About Your Fountain Pen, Modern Mechanix, September, 1956
