Speedball
Est. 1899
Heritage & History
William C. Ross and Carlton Heilman founded Speedball in Statesville, North Carolina in 1899, beginning with the production of pen points — the metal nibs used in dip pens and ruling pens that were the primary writing and drafting instruments of the era. The company's early success was built on the quality and consistency of its pen nibs, which became standards in American art schools and drafting offices. The Speedball name became synonymous with quality penmanship and lettering supplies through the first half of the 20th century, with the brand's instruction booklets teaching generations of American students calligraphy and lettering.
As printing technology evolved and the art education market shifted, Speedball expanded beyond pen points into the full range of printmaking supplies. Screen printing inks, block printing tools and cutters, linoleum, fabric inks, and calligraphy sets joined the product line over the decades, establishing Speedball as the comprehensive resource for American printmakers and art educators. The brand's presence in art education has been particularly durable — Speedball products are standard materials in printmaking courses at high schools, colleges, and art institutions across the country, introducing each generation of American artists to the craft through Statesville-made supplies.
Made in Statesville, North Carolina
Speedball manufactures its printmaking supplies, inks, and art materials at its facility in Statesville, North Carolina, the same city where William C. Ross and Carlton Heilman established the company in 1899. More than 125 years of continuous production in Statesville make Speedball one of the longest-lived American art supply manufacturers, with an institutional knowledge of ink chemistry, tool production, and art material formulation built over multiple generations of manufacturing experience.
The Statesville facility produces Speedball's screen printing ink line — water-based, oil-based, and discharge formulas for fabric and paper applications — using pigment and binder systems that the brand has refined over decades of printmaker feedback. Block printing tools, including the V-shaped and U-shaped gouges that art students use to carve linoleum and soft block printing materials, are manufactured and assembled in the North Carolina facility. The brand's calligraphy supplies — pen holders, nibs in the various Speedball styles developed since the company's founding, and lettering inks — continue to be made in Statesville, maintaining the pen craftsmanship tradition that William Ross and Carlton Heilman established when they opened the company more than a century ago.
