Do You Think There Is A "snob Factor" With Fountain Pens Or Pens In General?

[PabloAU]

IMO the use of FP's would not make one a snob if that choice is made for the improvement in writing pleasure. Similarly, having nice things does not make one a snob. Each person chooses different nice things. For some it is pens. For others it's clothes, household items, sporting goods etc.

 

What makes these things snobbish is the flaunting of these "nice things" in front of people who can't afford them. In my mind, use for the intended purpose (writing) is not an act of flaunting. To another party who desires your "nice thing" and is unable to obtain it, use for it's intended purpose may cause jealousy, but this is unrelated to snobishness.

 

In my experience using fountain pens, the far more natural and frequent reaction is curiosity. As a willing enabler, I'm always happy to recommend ways for others to start using FP's with minimal expense.

[owend]

I find most people who don't use FPs regard me using one as just one of those things - I don't think that I am regarded as a snob, elitist, upper-class or anything for FPing.

 

I meet so few FP users in the flesh that we don't get as far as snobbery and boosting one pen against another, so no snobbery there either.

 

The only place where I encounter what could remotely be called snobbery is on FPN with some people referring to their great pens. And I don't think that writing about a pen, even if I can't afford it or I don't rate it highly, counts as snobbery - envy, jealousy, scorn, pity perhaps .

 

So in conclusion, no, I don't think there is a snob factor involved. The closest would probably be the satisfaction of using a nicer writing instrument that a ballpoint, rollerball, felttip etc (although to be fair they too do have their places in the writing armoury).

[inkeverywhere]

Does the price paid for a FP decide if your are a "snob" of not - I don't think so.

 

I am just an "average joe" on an average income who happens to love using and collecting FPs. From my reading of this forum there are many many people who contribute with much much more knowledge of FP's than me but I don't think this equates to being a snob either.

 

The most expensive pen in my collection is a Lamy 2000, a couple in fact, at just over $250 Australian. Do I aspire to own more expensive FP's - too right I do, but this again comes back to disposable income. For me, and I guess alot of others hereabouts, what a FP feels like in your hand when writing with it and the finished product on paper is the buzz.

 

I write with FP's ranging from a $14 Pilot demonstrator to the 2000's and enjoy them all the same, the price of the pen has no bearing on how much enjoyment I get from my FPs.

 

I have used this expression elsewhere on the forum - "opinions are like bums, everyone has one" - that is the beauty of this forum everyone has an opinion and we live in a society where we can have that freedom. Look at threads where a member asks advice on what FP they should buy for a particular purpose, there are many varied responses based on experience, I don't always agree sometimes, but all are entitled to an opinion.

 

If there are snobs on this forum let them enjoy their little world!

 

Greg

[TheRealScubaSteve]

I've never seen a fountain pen in person being used prior to buying my first a month ago. Weird? No, but I'd certainly be intrigued. Then again, I've been sucked into pens now, too.

 

Snob factor????-- in this country, if you are seen using a fountain pen you are just consudered wierd

[TheRealScubaSteve]

We use the much more vulgar expression 'round these parts.

 

"opinions are like bums, everyone has one"

[Buzz_130]

On FPN, I've rarely seen a post which demonstrated any aspect of being a snob. We have enthusiasts, hobbyists, collectors, and aficionados of fountain pens. Members own thousands of FPNs or only a few. Inks take up closest, dedicated furniture, and valuable space. Paper, journals, and cases have their own collections. But look at the number of people that post when someone asks for a first fountain pen, $50 pen, $100 pen, or even $300 pen. The posts are cordial and genuinely helpful for the OP.

 

Outside of FPN, people rarely notice or care what type of pen is being used. I usually check to see if it's a nearly-free BP, a Pilot G2, or someone with a FP. In my office, close to 20% of the people use and enjoy FPs. It's created some fun discussions on vintage vs. modern and Western vs. Japanese. But we go back to writing with what we have.

 

Buzz

[sandy101]

In England fountain pens are seen as rather posh to use.

I used my fountain pen to sign a work document in front of the manager and he was stunned that I would use one (I give off a lower class vibe lol)

 

That says more about the age of your manager. Until some point in the 90's pretty much every secondary school child had to use fountain pens. You didn't get to use biros until you were in sixth form. Most FPs were unbranded or WH Smith FPS (which were much better quality than WH Smiths current stock). They were plastic/resin barrels with a medium nib and were half or a third of the price of the Parkers. Nobody took more expensive FPs at they got lost/nicked.

 

Every summer you'd share a packet of 50 (blue) International Standard Cartridges with your siblings and nobody thought much more of it. Now, if you were waving a massive cigar shaped pen - that would be a bit of 'Director of the Company' bling.

 

Now I work in the 16+ sector the kids have hardly seen a fountain pen - in fact they don't want to use them - it's as if the humble preppy scares them.

 

Incidentally, whilst Smith's FPs are not much cop, their cartridge ink is not terrible. You can get a variety pack with violet, turquoise and rose ink and the ubiquitous ba=lack & blue. It looks suspiciously like Pelikan 4000N ink.

[edorsky]

Long ago I stopped caring what other people think. Life is way too short. Just enjoy what makes you happy

[pendexter]

It is just that I am not rich, and I am guessing that not everyone on here is, and as an Australian, growing up in a country that has no class system where lawyers and doctors and builders and waiters can be friends at a BBQ, I find classism abhorrent.

 

I'm curious... Which society/culture do you think has a class system such that "lawyers and doctors and builders and waiters" can't be friends at a BBQ?

 

I'm not an Aussie, but I've been to plenty of BBQ's where people from all walks of life gather together... It seems kind of snobby to assume that Aussie culture is less classist than others around the world... Just giving you a hard time

[WaskiSquirrel]

There are snobs here, but not many. A bigger issue is the perception of snobbishness or the eagerness of some to take offense.

 

What unites us all is that we are paying ridiculous prices for writing instruments. Even my beloved $20 Noodler's Konrad is an extravagant expense to someone who is used to the cheap or free disposable ballpoints. Someone who pays whatever an expensive Montblanc costs would be placed in approximately the same category as I would: people who pay too much for pens. I've learned not to tell the public what my Edison Collier or my Pilot Custom 823 cost me.

[Cryptos]

 

Until some point in the 90's pretty much every secondary school child had to use fountain pens.

 

That's not my experience. My school years in the UK were from 1971 to 1983 and I don't recall at any time that fountain pens were obligatory. In fact my entire secondary education was done using ballpoint (regular Parker Jotter mainly - but a steel version was de rigeur - and also some Sheaffer ballpoints). The same could be said of people I know who attended the local Public School. I don't even recall any of the teachers using anything other than a ballpoint.

[owend]

When I was in school in the 1960s, we were forbidden to use ballpoints (detention if caught!). Since rollerballs, fibretips etc hadn't been introduced and we couldn't work in pencil, we had to use FPs by default. Other local schools were the same.

 

It wasn't snobbery but practicality, as ballpoints weren't as consistently well made then, and sudden surges of ink were frequent, and ballpoint ink in quantity doesn't dry! (I believe it forms a skin very quickly which is fine with a thin layer like a line when working propely, but a blob forms a skin on the outside leaving the inside liquid).

[LamyOne]

When I was in school in the 1960s, we were forbidden to use ballpoints (detention if caught!). Since rollerballs, fibretips etc hadn't been introduced and we couldn't work in pencil, we had to use FPs by default. Other local schools were the same.

 

It wasn't snobbery but practicality, as ballpoints weren't as consistently well made then, and sudden surges of ink were frequent, and ballpoint ink in quantity doesn't dry! (I believe it forms a skin very quickly which is fine with a thin layer like a line when working propely, but a blob forms a skin on the outside leaving the inside liquid).

 

Hello Owend and everyone else,

 

Yes, I remember the '60s vintage ball points when I was growing up in the '70s; they were pretty awful, (the '70s era pens were a lot better). I also remember you used to be able to get blue-black ball-points in the early days, but by the '70s, they were nowhere to be found on store shelves - only in the backs of drawers and closets.

 

Yes, since ball-point ink is oil based, it likely will never dry when it is in a blob.

 

Best regards,

 

Chris

[fpconvert]

I am asking this as from my experience on this board, I seem to feel that the world of fountain pens is inhabited by many different types of people... some are truly "geeks" or "nerds" about fountain pens (such as myself) and some seem to just like the "snob factor" as I call it of a expensive pen.

 

Now please no hate on this thread, I am just voicing how I see it, but feel free to say I am wrong, however can we please not get aggressive to each other.

I am simply bringing up something and I want to know if this is in fact true or if I am mistaken in my assumption.

 

It is just that I am not rich, and I am guessing that not everyone on here is, and as an Australian, growing up in a country that has no class system where lawyers and doctors and builders and waiters can be friends at a BBQ, I find classism abhorrent.

 

I feel that we should all should appreciate that as fountain pen enthusiasts, no matter how rich or poor we are that we can appreciate and respect each other, and also hold respect for the pens that we buy in our price range without coming off as superior etc.

 

Anyway, I will post this video as I put this as a suggestion for another poster as a good pen thats not too pricey, and I am wondering if people would shun it even though it apparently gets a thumbs up from this youtube reviewer.

He seems to know what he is talking about...

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jGfgQtL0I24

YOu know that is a great post. I often wondered the same thing. Im an artist type, tattoos and all. And whenever I use my fountain pens either in public or in a social situation, I do get comments. The comments are not class based. People often associate fountain pens as something a senior or someone very old would use and is even sort of considered old fashioned.

 

I have a Mont Blanc Mb in classic silver and it really catches the eye and people know its expensive. And my other work horse pen Pilot custom heritage 92, and a Lamy al-star. I do often get people asking me about them.

[KBeezie]

Anymore of a snob factor than other niches like photography when it comes to things like needing to go full frame or only buying canon/nikon high end versus the Leica/Hasselblad/etc camps?

[senzen]

There definitely is a snob factor, but that doesn't mean everyone who uses a fountain pen is a snob. The other aspect is that in some cultures others will assume you're a snob if they see you using a fountain pen, whether you are one or not.

[LamyOne]

Anymore of a snob factor than other niches like photography when it comes to things like needing to go full frame or only buying canon/nikon high end versus the Leica/Hasselblad/etc camps?

 

Hello KBeezie,

 

Here is where I cross the Great Divide; I love German pens, but I love Japanese cameras - I'm quite fond of my Canon.

 

Best regards,

 

Chris

[legume]

Have we finally become self-aware? Of course there are snobs on here. I see people being condescending to others on this forum all the time.

 

Even at the best of times when no one is being rude, we're all still snobs. Fountain pens are frivolous whether we like to admit it or not, when a person these days could go their whole life without ever buying a pen. That we insist that fountain pens are just so much better and apparently provides such a higher level of writing experience is pretty darn snobbish. Even BIC sticks I pick up from the ground these days write reliably and with little pressure so they get the job done. We're the ones that insist they're not enough when evidently the rest of the world gets on by fine.

 

Believing that vintage fountain pens, or Montblanc fountain pens, or economy fountain pens are best, or that a certain attitude toward fountain pens is best is just arguing semantics within an already entirely subjective hobby.

 

This whole forum, and especially this thread is all of us arguing in favor what we individually believe is the "right" way of looking at this hobby, and of course this post is too.

 

I think as long as we don't get rude in expressing our POV, as we sometimes unfortunately do, we should all just embrace being snobs. What's wrong with liking fountain pens and liking them in certain ways? I don't think there's anything wrong having things that aren't strictly necessary in our lives.

[Cryptos]

I would never have got back into journaling nor letter-writing if I hadn't been reintroduced to fountain pens. I find that I just cannot bear to to do that kind of writing with a ballpoint or a pencil or a rollerball. And using an electronic format - though useful for a great many things - simply left me feeling that there was no life to the writing.

 

So, for me, the fountain pen actually represents a qualitative difference in experience between it and other modes of written expression. Of course this isn't snobbery but rather the choosing of the approriate tool to fulfil the physical and aesthetic requirements of writing.

 

Snobbery to me is not the owning of expensive things, nor necessairly the flaunting per se of said things, but rather the implication - overt or otherwise - that those things chosen by other people that do not conform to my things are - by definition - inferior. If you see what I mean.

 

Do I see this on FPN? Absolutely. Every day. Humans are like that. We have heirarchical tendencies built in.

[proton007]

Go against the convention but be knowledgeable about your interests -> labelled as a 'Snob'.

Go against the convention but don't care much about details -> labelled as 'Exhibitionist'.

I just think one should follow one's interests, but keep them to yourself, and only respond when questioned.

 

About the internal state of the hobby, the way I see it, we want to hear others' opinions, but only on our own terms and conditions. Unless the entire FP enthusiast collective is promoting classism and discrimination, I don't see the reason why it should bother anyone when posting a question on a public forum draws comments both pleasant and otherwise.

Edited September 29, 2014 by proton007