The company was best known for its pen nibs, the "Pickwick", the "Owl", and the "Waverley", which were sold under the advertising doggerel: They come as a boon and a blessing to men, the Pickwick, the Owl and the Waverley Pen.In 1770, Nisbet MacNiven established a paper-making business at Balerno, outside Edinburgh.
The firm soon diversified into stationery and moved to premises on Blair Street in Edinburgh's Old Town.
The "Waverley" nib was invented by Duncan Cameron, another brother, and was unusual in having an upturned point, making the ink flow more smoothly on the paper.
The new nib was initially manufactured by Gillott and others, until the company bought a factory in Bordesley, Birmingham, in 1900.
[2] Macniven and Cameron also made pens called the "Pickwick", "Owl", "Phaeton", "Nile", "Hindoo" and "Commercial".