Write like The Traitors! Quill gross sales rocket due to murders within the turret on BBC hit present
These days, if we do manage to tear ourselves away from our computers to write on paper, we tend to use a ballpoint pen.
But thanks to the popularity of BBC One show The Traitors, it seems old-fashioned quills are making a comeback.
In the turret of Ardross Castle, the cloaked Traitors on the series use them to select which Faithful will be ‘murdered’.
And now retailers selling quills say sales are soaring – and they have put this down to the hit show, which was this year won by Rachel Duffy and Stephen Libby.
Ancestors Group, which makes and supplies quills to sites managed by English Heritage and Historic Royal Palaces and Westminster Abbey, says sales have gone up by 10 per cent.
Nick Humphrey-Smith, the company’s founder, said: ‘There has been a definite unexplained increase in online sales of our quill pens in the last three months that we can only reason is a result of The Traitors.
‘Our core business was previously with tourists but the success of the programme has brought a whole new interest in medieval stationery.’
Pen Heaven, which sells pewter and goose feather quills, has seen a 25 per cent uptick since The Traitors aired. There has also been a renewed interest in sealing letters with wax. This is used to give an additional dramatic flourish to the ‘murders’ on The Traitors.
Retailers selling quills say sales are soaring – and they have put this down to the hit show, which was this year won by Rachel Duffy (pictured) and Stephen Libby
In the turret of Ardross Castle, the cloaked Traitors on the series use them to select which Faithful will be ‘murdered’. Rachel and Stephen are pictured in the turret
Quills were used for writing for hundreds of years and their use only declined after they were replaced by mass-produced steel pens in the mid-19th century (file image)
David Cole, from Pen Heaven, said: ‘The Traitors has reignited Britain’s love affair with old-world mystery and intrigue. Suddenly, everyone wants to write with old-school feather quills on Original Crown Mill paper and seal their letters with wax.
‘It’s mysterious and theatrical and calligraphy is a wonderful way to de-stress and get back in touch with a slower pace of life.’
Quills were used for writing for hundreds of years and their use only declined after they were replaced by mass-produced steel pens in the mid-19th century.
However, those who do fancy using them are warned that while they may be beautiful, learning to write with a real one takes practice.
Mr Humphrey-Smith explains: ‘Quills used to be made from goose or swan feathers but without the feather. Real quills were stripped back to the quill – the stick of the feather – and then heated in sand to harden the nib.’
After cutting it to a fine point, the quill’s end was snipped with a fine blade and slit, allowing the ink to flow through it.
But he adds that today’s manufacturers ‘cheat a little’ by adding a ball point pen into the middle of the quill.
‘Ours means you don’t have to worry about the quill scratching the paper or creating blobs of ink if you write at the wrong angle,’ he says.
