Dear Len and Others,

Yes, you're right--I do laugh when something is historically inaccurate and I recognize it. My current favorite: zippers on a gown in a historical TV drama set in the early 1800s. Howe (sewing machines) invented something like a zipper in the early 19th Century, but it wasn't marketed or accepted until a Swede named Sunback improved on Judson's "clasp lock" and came up with the modern zipper--which got marketed and accepted around the beginning of WWI, or just before.

Quill pens with ballpoint tips suggest a really low budget for historical accuracy--maybe they couldn't afford a goose's feather.

Ike did use a '51 when signing Germany's article of surrender in 1945--what other pens were used is an interesting question. Waterman used to bray that the 52 was used to sign the armistice, and MacArthur used a 1920s' Duofold at Japan's surrender.