A brief review of marker history.

The very first felt-tip marking pen was patented by Lee Newman in 1910. Until then, people used quills and various homemade instruments to make their mark. Being the first of its kind, the design was a rather primitive one: a cylinder filled with ink that led to a felt tip.

It was not until 1926 when things started to evolve in the marker-world. It was then that Benjamin Paskach patented what he termed his “fountain paintbrush". It had a sponge-tipped handle, making it more enjoyable to use and was filled with different paint colors. Although the selling point was the variety of potential colors for the user, these marker pens were not commercially viable and did not really take off.

In 1944, Walter J. De Groft patented a "marking pen" that held ink in liquid form in its handle and used a felt tip. 

The first modern (as we know it) marker pen was Sidney Rosenthal's “Magic Marker”. This was invented and started selling with a short turn-around in the same year of 1953. This marker consisted of a glass tube, filled to the brim with ink for a body and a felt wick. The name comes from its unique ability to write on virtually any surface.

Yukio Horie of the Tokyo Stationery Company invented a modern fiber-tipped pen in 1962. Since then, markers have become a hot commodity for office supplies, mom-and-pop stores, and artists. 

We can thank our marker predecessors for all of their trial and error that eventually led to the modern design of our Art-n-Fly markers. Our markers are refillable, dual-tipped, durable and best of all: long-lasting!