History of Marker Pens

The marker pen is a pen that has a tip made of porous, pressed fibers
(felt) and a reservoir of colored ink. This reservoir has a core of an
absorbent material which carries the ink. One more necessary part of a
marker is a cap that prevents drying of ink in a nib. The ink of a marker
has a solvent in it that keeps it in liquid form. Until the 1990s, that
solvent was toluene or xylene. These solvents are harmful and because of
that, we today use alcohols instead.

The first felt-tip marking pen was patented in 1910 by Lee Newman. It
was basically a cylinder filled with ink that led to a felt tip. Benjamin
Paskach patented his “fountain paintbrush" in 1926. It had a sponge-
tipped handle and was filled with different paint colors. These marker
pens were not commercially viable and didn’t sell. In 1944, Walter J. De
Groft patented a "marking pen" that held ink in liquid form in its handle
and used a felt tip. This is the patent that will become a “Sharpie” pen in
1964. First modern (and usable) marker pen was Sidney Rosenthal's
“Magic Marker” which he invented and started selling in 1953. This
marker had glass tube of ink for a body and a felt wick and its name
comes from a fact that it was able to write on any surface. Yukio Horie of
the Tokyo Stationery Company invented a modern fiber-tipped pen in
1962.

Highlighters and fine-line markers appeared in 1970's. Binney & Smith,

who made Crayola, bought name “Magic Marker” in 1989 and started
selling improved permanent markers and highlighters. In 1996 they
started selling Magic marker II and dry-erase markers for writing on
whiteboards and glass.

There are different types of markers which are made of various materials
for different purposes and they behave differently. “Permanent markers”
can write on many different surfaces like glass, plastic, wood, metal, and
stone. Their ink lasts for a long time and often cannot be removed from
the surface by rubbing or water. Depending on surface on which it is
used, ink can be removed with alcohol or acetone. “Highlighters” are
semi-transparent permanent markers which are used to draw attention
to sections of text (to “highlight” them). They are used over existing
writing but they still leave the writing readable. They are often made in
bright, fluorescent colors (the most often color being fluorescent yellow,
colored with pyranine).

“Non-permanent markers” (also known as “dry-erase markers” or

“whiteboard markers”) are markers that, when applied to surface, dry
very fast and do not stick to surface to strong so when they are erased,
with a dry sponge or cloth, they turn into dust. They are made of
erasable ink for use on slick, non-porous writing surfaces like
whiteboards and foils for overhead projectors. “Wet-wipe markers” or
“wet-erase markers” are similar to dry-erase markers but are more
resilient to wiping and must be cleaned with wet cloth or sponge.
"Security markers,” have invisible inks that are fluorescent under the UV
light. They are used for marking valuables as protection in case of
burglary. “Election markers” are similar to security markers. They have
“election ink” which is invisible until exposed to UV light. Its purpose is to
prevent double voting in countries where identification documents for
citizens are not always standardized or institutionalized. It is applied on a
forefinger of the left hand and stays for a week or two. “Porous point
pens” have points made of some porous material. This material is often
felt or ceramic. Ceramic is especially suitable for this purpose because it
does not lose a tip under pressure and lasts longer.

Resources:
http://www.historyofpencils.com/writing-
instruments-history/history-of-marker-pens/