Giuseppe Zanini, founder of one of Italy’s oldest producers of fountain pens, was born. His interest in stationary was whetted by his first, American fountain pen, a present from a relative. Imported from abroad fountain pens in Italy were expensive luxury items with a very limited market. Giuseppe Zanini, however, was too eager to create his own equipment and start his own pen production to pay attention to such “trifles.”
Immediately after World War I Giuseppe who had never betrayed his dream bought a stationery shop in Bologna where he opened an office and launched his own production of fountain pens he called Ancora.
Having accumulated enough commercial experience Giuseppe Zanini opened a pen-making factory in Sesto Calende; from that time on his company began developing its own style.
Thanks to his experimenting skills Mr. Zanini opened a large production unit in Arone at Lake Maggiore. The Illustrazione Italiana newspaper offered the following comment: “We are confirmed that the fact that the Ancora pens are produced in Italy with the help of Italian equipment from Italian materials by Italian workers and engineers is their great advantage.”
For many decades the firm remained dedicated to the quality standards its founder Giuseppe Zanini had established early in the 20th century. Beauty and reliability were never forgotten even in the moderately priced products. The firm, however, did not survive the crisis caused by the ball-point pens invented by Laszlo and George, the Biro brothers—the high share of handwork made the Ancora pens too expensive.
Giuseppe Zanini’s son Alfredo inherited the firm after his death and proved worthy of his father. Inspired by the postwar dolce vita he introduced all sorts of technological novelties: Ancora started three new lines of high quality pens—Dama, Maxima and Lusso—marked by excellent designs that went perfectly with the mood of the times.
The day Giovanni Santini, a well-known collector of vintage pens, bought the company from the Zanini heirs can be described as Ancora’s second birthday. His enthusiastic interest in pens equals that of the company’s founding father. For some time the new owner had had a shop in Turin. The zeal he demonstrated from the very first day fitted the energy Giuseppe Zanini had displayed at the dawn of the Ancora brand.
Ancora marks its 90th birthday; during its nearly century-long history it has preserved its original technological traditions of fountain pen production with the world’s smallest filling system that decreases the pressure and saves up to 40 percent of ink. The firm restored its former tradition of pens decorated with mother-of-pear that requires handwork. It is going on with the production of exclusive pens such as St. George, Luca Signorelli, the Kazan Kremlin and others to satisfy the most demanding tastes.
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