Penol
A short history of Penol brand:
The Chr. Olsen Penol pens have their history rooted in Denmark, beginning in the late 1920s and early 1930s. Christian Olsen, who originally held distribution rights for Parker pens in Scandinavia, faced difficulties importing sufficient numbers of these pens. To address this, Olsen started producing his own brand called Penol around 1928-1932 in Copenhagen. The name "Penol" likely derives from a combination of "pen" and "Olsen," or from a cable address abbreviation linked to Parker Pen Olsen.
Penol pens were hand-assembled by Danish workers and are known for their exceptional craftsmanship and uniqueness due to variations in size, shape, imprint, feed, section, nib, and clip. Some Penol pens include Parker parts, and vice versa, due to shared manufacturing during material shortages, especially during the German occupation of Denmark in World War II. During this war period, production was mostly for black pens, but the popular Penols were in red, symbolizing the Danish flag.
Chr. Olsen’s Penol brand gained popularity through strong advertising campaigns in Danish magazines, targeting occasions like graduations and Christmas. Their factory opened in 1932 at Emdrupvej in Copenhagen, with innovations such as the Aero-Filler mechanism and Star feed introduced in the mid to late 1930s. Penol pens include notable lines like the President, Ambassador, Senior, Q-pen, and School pen.
The company also produced several sub-brands under Penol, including the distinctive Skribent line known for elegant snake-head clips. The factory manufactured Pens until around 1966 when production shifted abroad, and Penol focused on marking pens and other writing products.
Before producing Penol pens, Chr. Olsen acted as Parker’s distributor in Denmark from the early 1900s and also licensed manufacture of Parker pens (notably not the Parker 51 or 61) until the early 1960s.
In summary:
- Penol brand established circa 1928-1932 by Christian Olsen in Denmark to supplement Parker pen supply.
- Hand-assembled pens with unique craftsmanship, occasional Parker parts used reciprocally.
- Strong market presence during WWII, with popular red pens symbolizing Denmark.
- Innovations included Aero-Filler (1937) and Star feed (1937).
- Sub-brands included Skribent pens.
- Factory production ceased around 1966; later, production outsourced internationally.
- Chr. Olsen also distributed and manufactured licensed Parker pens in Denmark since early 1900s.
This history underscores Penol as a uniquely Danish brand born from practical needs and flourished through quality, innovation, and strong local identity.
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This table shows all in my database available Penol ballpoints.
To a particular Penol please use the above menu.
Click on a picture to enlarge it.
This list is sorted by period of production and model/number.
For more information about following writing instruments please select
| # | Model/Number | Period | Picture | |
| 1. | Q-Pen | 1949 |  | |
| 2. | Q-Pen | 1949 | | |
| 3. | Q-Pen | 1949 | | |
| 4. | Q-Pen | 1949 | | |
| 5. | Q JUBI | 1958-1964 | | |
| 6. | Standard | 1958-1964 | | |
| 7. | 4-Color BP | 1963-1966 | | |
