The Write Stuff | Up Close

The Write Stuff

There are office supplies, and then there are Oval Office supplies—and when the commander in chief needs something to scribble his name with, the call goes out to America’s oldest manufacturer of fine writing instruments, Rhode Island–based A.T. Cross. Founded in Providence in 1846, the company has a long history of putting customized pens into the hands of executives at major companies such as RCA, Ford, and GM, so it’s little surprise the nation’s own CEO would wield a Cross.

The firm has been supplying the official White House pen since the Clinton era, with the model and design elements tailored for each administration: For Trump, it’s a Century II in black lacquer with his signature rendered in, naturally, 23-karat gold. “Luckily we haven’t had too many issues yet fitting [the presidents’] signatures onto the pens,” says Andy Boss, North America sales manager for Cross (though Boss added that Obama did request his John Hancock be placed on the barrel of the pen, “which is not something we normally do”).

Boss, whose family roots at Cross go back to 1910, has long grown accustomed to spotting the company’s pens out in the world. “One of my earliest memories of seeing them in the movies is of a young Val Kilmer spinning one in his hand in Top Gun,” says Boss, who also couldn’t help but notice that Hannibal Lecter used a Cross pen to escape his cell in The Silence of the Lambs. But being able to turn on the news and see U.S. presidents sign legislation with Cross pens is a special point of pride—and an experience that Boss expects to keep enjoying for the foreseeable future. “On Inauguration Day, President Trump was heard saying about our product, ‘We’re gonna need some more pens.’ That’s music to my ears!” —Jenn Johnson