Why Do I Collect Pens

[Koshy]

I am sure many if not most us us have faced this question from friends, relatives and enemies: Why Do You Collect Pens?

Ever since I started 'collecting' pens as against just owning them, almost everyone who knows me have asked me this question. People in India perfectly understand someone who likes to write with fountain pens. There are still many, at least of my generation who still consider ball pens, gel pens, roller ball pens and such 'use-and-throw' stuff as infra dig and would never be seen with one of them even in their death-bed. But most of them have or will think of having just one good pen. If the pen does not write well or is damaged, it will be thrown away and another working model would be acquired. But collecting pens! It is like polygamy. Why does one need more than one: wife or pen? I have no easy answer. I try to compare my desire to collect pens to the proverbial Indian woman's obsession with gold ornaments, or of the indulgence of old landed gentry in Kerala of collecting elephants. Unfortunately, both these habits are considered avoidable addictions by the majority of men.

 

Even though I have no answer for the question, at least no answer that the uninitiated seem to accept, the sight of a pen sets off a reaction within me. 'My heart aches and a drowsy numbness pains my sense as though of Hemlock I had drunk'. The desire to own it and to know about that particular pen gets stronger and stronger. Much against my logical mind, this uncontrollable desire takes charge of my mind and heart. It is sheer torture thereafter. How I have to struggle, cajole and control my heart to desist or at least postpone the purchase, only I know. Maybe, I am different. My be, I am weird!

Please tell me, do you also feel this way, at least some times? Do I need to be sent to an assylum or some institution? Do I need to be locked up and treated?

Edited August 4, 2011 by Koshy

[vickiehof]

Hi Koshy,

 

You could say, "Each pen is a unique combination of beauty, mechanical design and functionality. Vintage pens have been held and loved by generations of people. Modern pens represent the continuing quest for perfection." Your simplest thoughts can become beautiful words in swirls of color and form that may last for years after you're gone.

 

People collect everything from shoes, clothing, tools, musical instruments, fishing equipment, and cars (just look in their closets or garage) but they may not consider it "collecting". I didn't know that elephants were collected. I guess that one is never enough.

 

Most people I meet don't understand the fascination of fountain pens, which is why you can come here. We'd love to hear about your latest purchases or pens, inks and paper and many can help you by giving advice on repairs or can answer your questions on pen subjects. You don't have to spend a fortune on each pen when beautifully restored vintage pens can be bought for a very reasonable price.

 

Best wishes, Vickie

[Tennessee Dave]

I am really new to this hobby and it was quite by accident that I now find myself so fascinated by fountain pens. Back in 1979 my wife gave me a Sterling Silver ballpoint pen and pencil set to use for a professional examination that I had to take. It was the Parker Cisele set. She purchased them for $50 which was a lot of money to us in those days. I used them for the exam and for several years after. After nearly losing the ballpoint I put them away and only carried them when I wore a jacket or a suit. Eventually they found there way into a drawer and spent many years put away. About 7 weeks ago I was going through my desk looking for something when I can across the boxed set. I opened the box and a flood of memories came back of the wonderful woman who had given me the set. We had been married 25 years when she died in 1998. The set was tarnished and the mechanical pencil was bound. I set about trying to find someone to restore the set for me as I would like to give it to my daughter one day. During that search I found the FPN. I even discovered that it might be possible to find the fountain pen that matches my ballpoint pen and pencil set.

 

I also discovered that there was an entire world of fountain pens out there that I knew nothing about. Given my predilection with thinks like old Gillette razors, badger shaving brushes, hand carved knives, bamboo fishing rods and old American made side by side shotguns, this hobby was just a natural. I will never own many fountain pens but those I do own will have some attachment to me for whatever reason. I am a user not a collector ; though there is absolutely nothing wrong with being a collector. Those things I love I want to use. It adds quality to my life. Fortunately my present wife( a gift from my Heavenly Father) supports my many interests and encourages me to do those things in life that add value.

 

Well I am still looking for that Cisele fountain pen to go with the set that was presented to me so many years ago. I only have 2 pens right now with a third to join them in a week or so. After that there are 2 other pens that are on my list to purchase. Then I might be done with the buying part of my collection. But then again I may not.

 

The Parker Flighter 75 Cisele ballpoint pen and pencil set that kicked all of this off for me was returned to me Tuesday looking and working like brand new. You never know when something is going to crawl out of a drawer and bite you.

[Stoneguard]

We all collect something i guess. watches, Coins, Stamps, toy models. im sure the people who ask you why pens, would also have a few things stuffed away that they are collecting too, as for me, i guess maybe i am just a hoarder, i got toy planes, basketball cards, watches, calculators. I have no idea why i do it. i just like too.

 

I have an Omega watch which i brought for my 20th birthday, when people find out how much i payed for it, they often ask why i would pay so much for a watch, when their mobile phone can do the exact same thing, or a cheaper watch. and i have to explain to them that the watch is mechanical, it's not some cheap quartz movement with a battery in it. there is hundreds of little parts all working in union to tell the time and as Vickiehof, has said it's the continuing quest for perfection. and something to hold on to, and pass down to my kids, (when i have them) who i hope will like me Appreciate the quality, in the modern world of disposable items.

 

As for pens, i like them because of their rich history. the way the nib looks. using real ink. not that sticky oily stuff cheap disposable ballpoints are made with. that being said i seem to like things that are old, i have a really old bottle of Vaseline and Brylcreem. back when they came in a nice glass jar, not plastic.

 

At the end of the day, we only live once, if collecting pens, bottlecaps, toothbrushes, radios, whatever! if you get enjoyment out of it, who cares what people say. Maybe there is some way to psychologically define why we feel the need to collect things, but to be honest, i wouldn't know.

[Russ Prechtl]

You're not wierd at all! I bet many of us feel the same way. At least you have something creative to collect. If you enjoy it, that's all that matters.

[jar]

Used to collect cars.

 

Fountain pens take up far less space.

[Florida Blue]

We all collect something i guess. watches, Coins, Stamps, toy models. im sure the people who ask you why pens, would also have a few things stuffed away that they are collecting too, as for me, i guess maybe i am just a hoarder, i got toy planes, basketball cards, watches, calculators. I have no idea why i do it. i just like too.

 

I'm the same way. I guess it is a certain type of personality the person who loves to collect things. I think I also got it from my mom and grandma who were also compulsive collectors and taught me everything I know about surviving the hunt in the wilds of flea markets and antique shops. They were both collectors of pottery and glassware. My mom collected coins as well which got me started off on my own coin collection. I've been collection coins for about 12 or 13 years now and pens for about 2 years. What can I say I'm a magpie, I like to hoard shiny things :roflmho:

[Redbarchettayyz]

What can I say I'm a magpie, I like to hoard shiny things :roflmho:

 

I think this fits me perfectly. Pens, mechanical watches, double egde razors, coins, cufflinks, etc. If it is shiny, chances are I want it.

[danthemann5]

When I was very young and in school, I hated writing. My parents searched for a way to get me to want to write in class and to do homework. Than somoene gave ma acheap Cross BP as a gift. In retrospect, it wasn't very interesting, but it was enough to get me interested. Then someone gave me my first FP, then I bought a Lamy Safari...

[Lothianjavert]

I've always been a collector of assorted items, many of them vintage, and some living (orchids). As a child, I collected marbles- especially the old hand blown glass and glazed clay marbles. My first intro to fountain pens was the old sheaffer school pen that took cartridges. At first, I just thought it was cool, but it was also so much easier to write with. I also loved being able to switch out inks for colors that you couldn't get in the cheap little erasable papermate pens my classmates all used. That was 3rd or 4th grade, and I've had fountain pens ever since. For the most part, I've had inexpensive pens- plenty of sheaffer school pens in the various permutations, a few inexpensive wearevers and parkers and as of this year, some nicer pens. I enjoy looking at each pen, but most of all, I enjoy using them, and the variety of inks that I am accumulating. Each pen has a distinct feel and personality, and every switch of ink color is like a breath of fresh air.

[JefferyS]

Functional jewelry, utterly predictable, and I'll never have to get rid of them because they are taking up too much space. In an era of disposable everything, it's wonderful to be able to reuse something and even get it restored to functional status by a few remaining artisans.

[knitknitfrog]

I you write, need to write or want to write, pens are like tools. Would some one ask any craft-person why they 'needed' so many specialist tools, or would most accept that each tool is suited to a particular application or task. My mother in law once told a story about traveling on the tram as a young woman in the 1930's, and overhearing a conversation between two women about possible birthday presents for a young man they both knew. One suggested 'a book' and the other answered 'Oh I think he already has a book'.

 

I think if you suggest that there is art and craft and design in most quality pens, and that you love to write, and these are tools that provide great joy to use (even if you don't actually use them you know you can use them). In many ways pens are to some what flower gardening, or keeping fish, or painting, or singing are to others. A way to keep about you things that are useful and or beautiful (here I borrow from William Morris).

When many in the world are suffering because of war, intolerance, greed and other vices such as uncontrolled gambling there seems little point in determining what people collect and why.

[orfew]

I collect them because I like them. Why do I like them? Well I suppose I am a geek at heart and the unusual interests me. I also appreciate the sense of history one gets from looking at and using fountain pens.

 

By the way, thanks for the Keats quote, I have the folio quarter leather bound version of his works. He is one of my favorite authors.

[toomanypelikans]

Cheaper than cars and photography, less liquid than wine, more usable than stamps and coins. I can use my purchases everyday or not at all.

[Pepin]

I suppose I collect pens because I like their smell. My girlfriend's hair always smells great, so every now and then I would clip a pen to her hair and smell the combination again. Now, some plastics give off a weird smell, but the occasional hard rubber smell (e.g.vintage Wahls and Watermans) coupled to citrusy shampoo can produce a somniferous lull. Those J. Herbin scented inks can take it up a notch if you run out of pens.

[Postscript]

We all collect something i guess. watches, Coins, Stamps, toy models. im sure the people who ask you why pens, would also have a few things stuffed away that they are collecting too, as for me, i guess maybe i am just a hoarder, i got toy planes, basketball cards, watches, calculators. I have no idea why i do it. i just like too.

 

I have an Omega watch which i brought for my 20th birthday, when people find out how much i payed for it, they often ask why i would pay so much for a watch, when their mobile phone can do the exact same thing, or a cheaper watch. and i have to explain to them that the watch is mechanical, it's not some cheap quartz movement with a battery in it. there is hundreds of little parts all working in union to tell the time and as Vickiehof, has said it's the continuing quest for perfection. and something to hold on to, and pass down to my kids, (when i have them) who i hope will like me Appreciate the quality, in the modern world of disposable items.

 

As for pens, i like them because of their rich history. the way the nib looks. using real ink. not that sticky oily stuff cheap disposable ballpoints are made with. that being said i seem to like things that are old, i have a really old bottle of Vaseline and Brylcreem. back when they came in a nice glass jar, not plastic.

 

At the end of the day, we only live once, if collecting pens, bottlecaps, toothbrushes, radios, whatever! if you get enjoyment out of it, who cares what people say. Maybe there is some way to psychologically define why we feel the need to collect things, but to be honest, i wouldn't know.

 

Watches helped hook me into pens. It seems that many watch collectors have a concurrent pen fetish, and I read the pen reviews in Watch Time magazine. When my wife bought me a Conway Stewart recently I knew it was all over.

 

At least pens are (relatively) less expensive. Cheers,

 

Post Script

[MCWB]

Cheaper than cars and photography, less liquid than wine, more usable than stamps and coins.

Spot on! I actually look forward to writing with my fountain pens, which means I do more work more efficiently.

[Pen2009]

Fountain pens do not become obsolete as long as I can still write on the paper and take notes. I started using fountain pens because I wanted to use something nice to write with if I needed to take notes (usually at work). Better having fun with something nice to write with comfortably, especially at work.

 

Electronic gadgets become obsolete so quickly and I even stopped getting a new Mac (and anything electronic) every a few years.

 

I have a full control over who uses my pens (myself only). If you collect cars and other larger products you could not shelter well, there are always someone who wants to mess with them.

[denjsmith]

Who knows why anyone collects anything? If you don't have enough interest in something to collect it you will never understand. That's my outsiders view anyway, as I have no real interest in collecting anything, so I can't really understand why people collect anything. But you enjoy, so enjoy it and don't worry about explaining the unexplainable.

[kalali]

Hmmm...And all this time I thought I was the only one collecting elephants..!!! Had to give that up a while back. Found them a little hard to trade and shipping costs were killing me...