Progress is fine, but it's gone on for too long.: Esterbrook Ball Bearing Clip No. 20

This clip is a utilitarian object of simple beauty and engineering elegance.

Founded in 1858 by Richard Esterbrook, the Esterbrook Steel Pen Manufacturing Company of Camden, New Jersey was at one time the largest pen manufacturer in the U.S. It was bought by Venus Pencils in 1972, and eventually dissolved.