Ignore: Gutted...I don't understand this. Everythings gone backwards...

[Ron Z]

I think 1900s pens would be hard rubber.

The early pens were hard rubber. The first celluloid pens were introduced around 1926 by Sheaffer, with Parker close behind. It shook up the pen industry because the material was less brittle, and it came in colors. Waterman was rather slow in catching up by comparison. They had the ripple hard rubber pens, but it was a while before they moved to celluloid.