Vintage ink tablets

[jbb]

Here are some vintage ink tablets from India that were originally used in fountain pens. I'm testing them with good results so far.

https://c2.staticflickr.com/2/1527/25407376732_6d5a7b13a2_b.jpg

[Anne]

How cool! I never knew anyone made such a thing.:)

[Crazyorange]

Does a tab fill a bottle?

[jbb]

Does a tab fill a bottle?

Basically...but the ink is not as saturated as modern ink so I'm testing one tablet in only ½ oz. of water.

[Anne]

I just read how they were made here in America too, for the soldiers during WWI. How interesting:)

[Marsilius]

Yep, others will know more, but here is a quote and a link for one site about ink tablets in WWI:

"Parker sold special ink tablets. These dried tablets could be dropped in a cup of water or any other small container for a nearly instant supply of ink to fill a pen and write your family or sweetheart back home."
http://www.thepenmarket.com/vintage-pens-blog/tag/parker-duofold/

There were tablet pens, as described below:
"In 1916, the Parker Pen Company, quick to sense a business opportunity, developed the “Trench Pen,” which a year later the U. S. War Department ordered in quantity. The Trench Pen was a conventional safety pen that had a compartment for storing ink tablets. A doughboy could pop an ink pill in the barrel of his pen, fill the barrel with water (all too easily found in trenches and shell holes), and write the folks back home. Parker sold a box of thirty-six ink tablets for ten cents. Many fountain pen companies in the United States and Europe soon came out with their own version of the “trench pen.”"
and
"A Mabie Todd “Swan” trench pen. The blind cap is unscrewed to show the hole where one would drop in ink tablets to be stored until they were needed. To make ink, one dropped a tablet into the pen barrel and added water."
http://www.richardspens.com/?page=ref/history/war_and_fp.htm

[jbb]

There are some red tablets too: https://c2.staticflickr.com/2/1484/24940221183_4f09ec0ca6_b.jpg

[naimitsu]

That's really cool. Much easier to travel with than a potentially leaky bottle with fluid!
Out of curiosity, what's the dimension of the tabs?

[jbb]

That's really cool. Much easier to travel with than a potentially leaky bottle with fluid!
Out of curiosity, what's the dimension of the tabs?

The tablets are about ½" in diameter.