Bic Abundance

Since 1945 the time price of a ballpoint pen for unskilled workers has fallen from 25 hours to 27 seconds.

On October 29th 1945, Gimbels department store in New York City unveiled a new kind of ink pen made by the Reynolds International Pen Company. It was called a “ball-point” pen and promised to not smear or leave pools of ink. The day the pen went on sale, an estimated 5,000 shoppers stormed the shop, and approximately 50 NYPD officers had to be dispatched for crowd control. But at $12.50 it wasn’t cheap. At the time unskilled workers were earning 50 cents and hour so it would take them 25 hours of work to earn the money to buy one of these new writing instruments. This would be equivalent to $430 today for unskilled workers.

Marcel Bich was the next pen innovator to change the word. His Bic company has been making ball-point pens since 1950. Since then they have sold over 100 billion of these beautiful writing instruments. There are currently around 20 million units sold every day. They were first introduced in the U.S. in 1959 and sold for 29 cents. In 1959 unskilled workers were earning around $1.16 per hour, so the time price was about 15 minutes. You would get 100 Bics in 1959 for the time price of one Reynolds in 1945.

The power of the pen is not in the colour of the ink it spills; but the power of the word it spells. - Reynolds International Pen Company

Today you can buy a 10-pack at Walmart for $1.27 (12.7 cents each). Unskilled workers are earning closer to $17.17 an hour today. That would put the time price at 27 seconds. You get almost 34 Bics today for the time it took to earn one in 1959. You get 3,400 Bics today for the time price of one Reynolds in 1945. The time price has fallen from 25 hours to 27 seconds.

Bic continues to innovate. In 1970 Bic introduced the retractable four-color pen for 98 cents. At the time unskilled workers were earning around $1.85 per hour. It took them 32 minutes to earn one of these status symbols. Today you can get a three pack for $5.99 at Staples ($2.00 each). Unskilled workers are earning closer to $17.17 an hour today. That would put the time price at 7 minutes. You get 4.6 pens today for the time price of one in 1970.

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Gale Pooley is a Senior Fellow at the Discovery Institute and a board member at Human Progress.