Hello Everyone,

I recently rediscovered my old fountain pens in a box I hadn't opened in ages. They were both quite dried up and after soaking/cleaning them they are finally working. I had kept the fountain pen I used in primary school for sentimental reasons and I'm so surprised it still works. Two weeks ago my husband and I purchased a Lamy Al-star and a Lamy Vista respectively. We both use our FPs everyday now.

I was amazed at the wonderful spectrum of inks available at the pen store, not to mention the gorgeous pens of every shape, size and colour. Quite mind-boggling and exciting. The list of pens and inks I want seems to get a little longer everyday now. I do have my eye on some gorgeous Maki-e pens (Nakaya!) though they are part of the long term plan of FP acquisition.

As a person recovering from chronic pain in my right arm and shoulder, writing with fountain pens has been wonderfully painless. It has brought me a great sense of presence and purpose as I write. The nib gliding across the page is pure bliss and a constant invitation to write more. I'm loving it.

I am so glad to have discovered this nook of fountain pen and ink lovers on the net. I'm sure the number of pens and inks I own will multiply as I dip into the inkwell of knowledge at this site. Looking forward to it!

PS. Waterman Havana Brown ink is simply divine!

That sounds very interesting! What brand is your old school fountain pen? Could we possibly get a/some photos of it?

It is an Osmiroid from what I can tell. The nib is an Italic fine made in England with a gold tone. Unfortunately, it's quite beat up. All the outside markings have disappeared and the clip is gone so I can't tell you more. I began using this pen two decades ago and even though it's quite battered on the outside, writes suitably well. I seriously doubt it would be considered vintage, however. Not much to look at from the outside. More sentimental than anything.

Penache,

Welcome to FPN!

Hey, great description of writing with a fountain pen. I always appreciate someone that describes the feeling of writing with a fountain pen. I feel instant comraderie.

What is your avatar?

Great quote, too by the way.

Dave

Thanks for the welcome Dave! So pleased to 'meet' you as well.

The avatar is a picture of an ancient manuscript from India. The writings were done on palm leaves which were dried and treated and then threaded between two panels of wood. This allowed the text to be opened up like a fan or circle the way it is in the picture. I've always been fascinated by ancient writing and book making techniques. This avatar seemed especially appropriate for a forum where pens and writing are valued so much.

Welcome Penache from a "local" FPN nut. There is a local die hard group of fountain pen nuts who get together once a month in Cambridge. If you are interested, I can email the details to you backchannel.

Glad to see another Canuk in our midst. Enjoy the site, I know you will. There is so much to learn and express here that I end up spending way too much time surfing the site.

Cheers,
SG

Ditto! I'm from Vancouver

Hey, since you're from T.O, you might want to consider attending the Toronto Pen Show
http://torontopenshow.com/

(from the site)
Show Date: July 21 & 22, 2007
Location: Casa Loma, Toronto
Hours: 9:30 a.m. - 5:00 p.m. (Last admission : 4:00 p.m.)
Admission: Free with Casa Loma admission

The more Canucks the merrier!
Thanks for the invite to Cambridge, SG. Unfortunately, I don't travel up that way too much since I don't drive (yet) but I shall keep it in mind for the future. Let's see how FP addicted I get!



Thanks for the info, Maja. I'll definitely try to make it to Casa Loma for the Pen show this year. I'm so clueless about vintage pens that it would be a good opportunity to see and feel a variety of them. Are you planning to fly down for it?
I've always wanted to visit Vancouver, I've heard it's lovely.

I'll be at the Toronto show, look for the guy madly doing repairs in the corner Please do come down to the show if you can, it will be a blast this year in this location.

I would be glad to show you some of the vintage pens that I have in my collection and maybe feed your FP habit a bit.

Cheers,
SG

I'll definitely try to make it SG. Look forward to meeting you and your pens.

Another welcome from the West!

Murdoch

I'm curious what pen shop you checked out in Toronto - where did you find the array of colours? My wife and I were in T-O a couple of weeks ago and she did a(n admittedly limited) tour of shops. From surfing the Web, she found three or four in the area we'd be walking through. Some were better than others, but on the whole the sense we got was that shops aren't stocking as wide a range of pens and products as we'd like to see. It's even more deficient here in the capital - you'd think no one made any ink but Waterman! I exaggerate, but I suppose like all things it suffers from a critical mass of users. As Tennyson put it, "To rust unburnished, not to shine in use."

Anyway, welcome!

Welcome to the forums!

Welcome to FPN. We are a helpful bunch and we will encourage your acquiring more and more pens. We are enablers of penaholics.

It is a nice place to live, yes
As for the T.O show, I'd love to go...but I have to limit myself to one pen show per year (unless I get a much better-paying job...or win a lottery ) so I will be going to the Portland pen show (also in July) this year... Have fun at Casa Loma!

Thanks for the welcome. You're all such a friendly and enabling bunch.



It's true that pen shops are limited and far between here in Toronto. I went to Laywine's which is in the Yorkville area and they had all the Noodlers, Waterman, PR and even some Herbin and De Atramentis inks. I did feel they had a good variety of pens though not as wide as I'm sure someone more knowledgeable would like. I haven't had a chance to go to the Sleuth and Statesman yet. I also found a little store in Pacific Mall but their sales lady was pretty clueless. While we were looking at the Faber-Castell Ambitions she suggested we buy the black one over the Pearwood, "since they're the same design but the black one is cheaper"! I'm sure the store owner is much more pen savvy but we didn't see him. Plus I was hoping they would have some of the Chinese pens (since it is a Chinese Mall) but no luck.

So far, I've seen the widest range of pens at stylo.ca and will probably order from them sometime. Next time I'm in Quebec I will definitely check out their brick and mortar stores. Can you recommend a good pen store in Ottawa? We're planning to be there for the tulip festival and it would be lovely to do some pen shopping while we're there.

Maja - Enjoy yourself at the Portland show. Hopefully you will win the lottery and then we'll see you in Toronto sometime.

Incidently, I'd appreciate any suggestions from Canucks on the best places to order from online. Has anyone had any problems ordering from the US online stores? What about custom duties? I'd expect they would charge GST, PST and $5 for opening the package but it would probably still be worth it if the pens were priced low enough.

Thanks, Manisha!
I haven't had any problems ordering from US online stores. The service has been uniformly good-to-excellent, and there have been no problems (so far---touch wood!). A friend on FPN tried to send me a bottle of ink from California a couple of times but it never arrived, however, my FPN LE (limited edition) ink made by Noodler's was sent from Utah and it arrived with no problems, so the first case was probably a fluke. My husband advised me to avoid having things shipped via UPS Ground from the US as the brokerage fees would be quite high (I worked for UPS in Canada ages ago, so I think I know what he's talking about ), so I try to have thing shipped via Global Priority or Global Express (depending on the value of the pen). I've been lucky with customs overall. It seems that the GE packages are almost always flagged for customs duties due to the higher $$ values of the items, but I've always just paid the GST and PST and $5 for Canada Post's handling (customs/brokerage) fee.
I've purchased from Stylo.ca and found their service to be good. There was a delay of a few days after I paid for my order online before they shipped it, but I guess since they also run a B&M (brick and mortar store), that is understandable.

Thanks for sharing your personal experiences Maja. Much appreciated.

Looks like I don't need to worry too much about the customs duty and posting issues. I'm sure there might be occasional hiccups but it seems generally sound.

I'll have to venture into the world of online ordering soon.

Two come to mind immediately. Wallacks Art Store has two locations on Bank Street. One, in the Glebe (s. of Hwy 417) is smaller and I don't know about their pens. But the main store north of the Hwy - I believe at the corner of Bank and Lisgar - has the best stock I've seen in town. The person at the pen counter may not always be able to help you with questions, but there's usually someone around the store who knows what he or she is talking about.

And Paper Papier in the Byward Market on Clarence St - almost right across the street from Major's Hill Park where lots of tulip-fest action happens - is also good. Not as wide a selection, but they have some really interesting pens there - this hexagonal Swiss one the guy let me try - and the owner is very enthusiastic. Opinionated, but enthusiastic.

On the Toronto front: my wife bought her pen at a shop called Essence de Papier. I don't know where in town it is, but she really liked it. Lots of selection, no rush from the sales person - let her try whatever she wanted. The parent company is in Montreal, where I think they have four shops, if you're up Quebec-way.

Welcome aboard Penache from another local pen nut (out in Oakville). We are scattered all over the GTA/Southern Ontario, don't forget there is The Toronto International Pen show July 21 and 22 at Casa Loma. a couple of local pen retailers include Laywines in Yorkville, Sleauth and Statesmen in the Exchange Tower on King St at York, Essance De Papier under Commerce Court and uptown on Yonge and the last remaining Nocean at Yonge and Richmond.

Bill

Hi there, Penache.
I like Toronto, it is a very nice city. I have family living there.

Ooops, missed the last few post somehow.

14lines - Thanks for recommending the Ottawa stores. I'll make it to the Byward one for sure. Love Byward Market.

Bill Smith - Thanks for the welcome and the list of stores. I'm looking forward to the Toronto Pen Show at Casa Loma.

Czolg - I love Toronto too. It is a lovely place to visit and live in. I have some very good friends and family in London. Would love to visit there someday.

Hello,

I'm from Kingston, Ontario and recently started hunting for stores selling fountain pens. I've got a few FP's and don't write with anything else, and wanted to increase my very small collection. I haven't found anyone in this city with any reasonable selection. Yes, there are lots online, but I still appreciate a little tactile sensing before a purchase. Can you suggest any names or websites of what you might have in Toronto. I'm hoping to get a Lamy.

I'm passing through tomorrow on the way to Niagara Falls.

Thanks,

Ed