A.T. Cross

One of the oldest pen companies in the USA, head office in USA, production in China

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A.T. Cross A.T. Cross Co.
One Albion Road
Lincoln, RI 02865

Web Site: www.cross.com

Customer Service: US 800-AT-CROSS

When I was young, I think everyone was gifted an A.T. Cross pen - it was a graudation pen of note. I am no exception and I still have my ball point and felt-tipped roller Cross pen.

The company, founded by Richard Cross, was America's first manufacturer of pens. The company was founded by Richard Cross and Edward Bradbury whom both came from England and at some point in the 1830's they were making jewelry and pencils

The A.T. stands for "Alonzo Townsend". Cross and he registered over 20 US patents in 1873 marking read advances in pens and pencils. For example it was A.T. Cross that held the patent on the propel-repel mechanical pencil which was the forerunner the mechanical pencils used today. In addition, Cross's "Stylographic" pen is considered to be the precursor of to-day's ball-point pen.

In 1881 the company established its first manufacturing centre in Providence which remained until 1958. In 1964 the company moved its head office and factory to Lincoln, Rhode Island.

In 1916 Walter Boss, the company's top salesperson, was offered the option of purchasing the business. Boss, and later with his sons Ellery and Russell, lead the company in a range of developments. The company only went into world-wide marketing in 1962 and in 1971 became a public company. Headquarters are in Lincoln, RI.

Around 1973 Cross opened a manufacturing plant in Ballinasloe, County Galway, Ireland to serve the European market. For a period of time, the previously 100% US company was producing pens in both the US and Ireland. Pens produced in Ireland were marked "Made in Ireland", or simply Ireand" on the cap. Around 2000 the plant in Ireland was closed and all production returned to the US for a short time. That was brief with production of pens moved from the US to China in 2006/07. Pens made in China were not marked to show country of manufacturing. There were references in some of the packaging to say "Made in China" or "Designed in the US, "Made in China".

Production of Cross pens now is based from their manufacturing plant in China.

In 2013/14 the pen business of A.T. Cross was sold to a private equity firm - Clarion Capital Partners. As the new owners they expanded the business with the 2014 purchase of Sheaffer pen from the BIC Group. The press released notes "By leveraging the individual strengths of Cross® and Sheaffer®, two authentic, American fine writing brands, the A.T. Cross Company will create a business that is well-positioned to be a worldwide leader in the design, manufacture, and sale of premium, high-quality writing instruments."Older USA-made pens typically have silver metal threads, whereas many modern Chinese versions use black plastic.For fountain pens like the Townsend, the feed (the plastic piece under the nib) on USA or Irish models often has about 12 fins, while Chinese versions may only have 8 fins.

That lasted until 2017 when the Cross and its Sheaffer subsidiary was sold to a different private equity firm - Transom Capital Group, LLC.

That lasted for about eight years and in 2022 Transom sold the sheaffer brand to William Penn Private Limited in India. Wiliam Penn is a multi-brand retailer and distributor of pens.