Today, in a coffeehouse or an airport, and other places as well, people work on laptops and netbooks. In 1895, you could buy a “pocket inkstand.” One in the Montgomery Ward & Co. mail-order catalog (republished in 1969 by Dover Publications) had a screw top and promised that it could not leak, which would certainly ruin your clothes.
The catalog suggests that this is good for tourists. I suppose you could write “picture postcards” and keep a travel journal, writing while sightseeing. Within ten years, the Brownie camera would change the way ordinary people recorded their vacations.
If you were in business or teaching, you could order a portable blackboard, even a cloth one you could roll up, stick in a bag, and use anywhere.
I am a fountain pen fanatic, so I love any info about pens, ink, inkwell. In fact I did a quick search online and found one drawing and 2 photos of travel inkstands from the 1800s Here they are:
A drawing of a travel pocket instand
http://www.google.com/patents?id=7kptAAAAEBAJ&pg=PA1&source=gbs_selected_pages&cad=1#v=onepage&q&f=false
Small 1855 Pocket Inkwell
http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://cdn101.iofferphoto.com/img3/item/110/423/702/1855-redwood-pocket-inkwell-w-glass-insert-see-6c28c.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.ioffer.com/i/1855-redwood-pocket-inkwell-w-glass-insert-see-110423702&h=447&w=582&sz=55&tbnid=xyyNgeCy9H9fYM:&tbnh=97&tbnw=126&zoom=1&usg=__IOOb8ZkBZgU-N4p6UqUIltxsk0U=&docid=Vc93vUy1jbHidM&hl=en&sa=X&ei=I3ZOUfbFOYTQ2AW0mIHYDA&sqi=2&ved=0CHAQ9QEwDg&dur=170
Beatiful inkwell for travels (very long url be sure to get it all even the dashes)
http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.worldantiquecollections.com/FileUploads/Products/Big/antique-leather-travelling-travel-pocket-inkwell.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.worldantiquecollections.com/en/Collections/ink-tanks&h=335&w=500&sz=17&tbnid=AKH2RykixPoaPM:&tbnh=90&tbnw=134&zoom=1&usg=__trHXQp2uVVniMdyZq0X5pV9VMgE=&docid=EkMbiyiGdtVWmM&hl=en&sa=X&ei=I3ZOUfbFOYTQ2AW0mIHYDA&sqi=2&ved=0CGcQ9QEwCw&dur=1371
Those pictures are cool, Penny! The first one, patented in 1901, looks like a regular pen, with the ink in the pen. The inventor calls the pen a “travel pocket inkstand.” A great invention, though.
Very cool, and I love Penny’s contribution (the third is my favorite). We’d be the envy of all the other travelers.