Established in 1923, Scripto was known initially as the M.A. Ferst Company and it produced leads for mechanical pencils. The Latin verb was adopted as a name in 1924; the meaning is “I write”, which makes a good deal more sense to the casual observer of Latinate company names than Lego’s “I read”. For most of their existence, it was pencils that Scripto dealt with, making only occasional forays into other writing instruments. Both fountain and ballpoint pens were offered in the early 1950s, with the former quickly disappearing from the lineup; no doubt even then it was seen as an unprofitable dinosaur.
In 1988, Scripto was bought by Tokai (with whom they had been in a disposeable lighter partnership since 1974). Production moved from the US to Mexico, and it seems that in 2006 the company more or less gave up on writing instruments altogether and rendered its name rather silly. I find that Scripto is now subservient to Calico Brands, but still has something of an existence.
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