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How A Pen Case Started My Addiction...


holgamike

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Hello from Germantown, MD! Back in the fall I decided I would try backing a company on Kickstarter for the first time and pledged $15 to Nock, a small company in GA who wanted to make great pen cases. In January the case arrived in the mail and it was amazing. I got the "Hightower" which held 3 pens on the left and a small 3x5 pad on the right. Then it hit me, I have no cool pens. One of my students (I'm a high school photography teacher) told me about a Lamy Safari so for $25 I took a chance. That was it. Once I got that pen I loved it so much I stayed up late reading forums and learning as much about fountain pens as I could. Then I got a Lamy Al-Star and realized how much better a F nib was than a scratchy EF. Then yesterday I found Bertrams Inkwell a local store near me and the guys were incredibly nice given I had a million questions as a nubie. I tried a Duke Carbon Fiber from them with a medium nib and really liked it - to my surprise, just $30 so I now have my 3 slots filled in my Nock! The guys helped me change my nibs to Mediums, got me two converters so I could start using ink bottles and I walked out with Mont Blac Toffee Brown and Private Reserve American Blue. So happy!

 

But here is why I'm already addicted. I am a throwback. I like shaving with an old safety razor, I still shoot black and white film photography and develop my work in an actual darkroom. I like repairing things rather than throwing them out and buying new. I've always preferred the pen over the computer and yet I just discovered how fun "real" pens can be. Last week I took out my new Lamy, some old notebook paper and I wrote my 89 year old grandmother a really long letter in the best penmanship I could. It was a tribute to her really. A thank you. When she got it in the mail and read it she called me immediately and was so happy, so emotional. Nothing is more nostalgic to me than writing a personal note to someone. Nothing is more impersonal to me than "shooting someone an email." As a teacher I often receive emails from former students but one in particular is now a teacher herself up in Maine. She sends me a wonderful, handwritten card about four times a year and I'm so touched when I get "real" mail from her. So today I'm pulling out a hand painted, blank note card I bought to support a local artist and I'm going to sit down and write to her and tell her how proud I am of what she's accomplished. I'm excited about it. I know she will be happy and that's a great feeling.

 

I may never be able to write a post for this great community explaining why I love my new expensive Mont Blanc because I will never be able to afford such pens but I do know that I will be here often, searching for other folks hoping to connect with other people who really love the kind act of writing to someone. To me it's an art form that has suffered at the hands of the internet/computer. That's why I love that FPN exists because it is the best example I've found on the internet where people might still feel like I do. Thanks for sticking through this really long hello! :o) I hope to make a ton of connections!

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There are only two things in life that you control: Attitude and Effort.

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Hi holgamike, welcome.

 

What a lovely intro and how unusual to start your addiction with a pen case.

 

I too backed the Nock Co Kickstarter and eagerly await my goodies here in the UK.

Looking forward to seeing you around the site.

Edited by Tas
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Welcome to FPN! Looking around, you'll soon find out that collecting fountain pens doesn't have to be expensive at all!

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Hi Mike (I guess that's the name people usually call you) and :W2FPN:

 

 

Reading your story I think you'll fit right in here with the crowd.

 

Don't worry about that MB. They are good pens but you can get equally good pens for a lot less. Only these pens lack "status"

 

Enjoy the forum

 

 

D.ick

~

KEEP SAFE, WEAR A MASK, KEEP A DISTANCE.

Freedom exists by virtue of self limitation.

~

 

 

 

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Hello and Welcome to FPN!! Glad to have you as a member!!

PAKMAN

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Welcome!

 

I suppose you could have just said "hello all". But we'd have missed the great story you have.

 

There are a few photographers around the FPN. And, just recently (I think from Scotland) a chap joined who collects vintage razors. So, you'll see we're a rather broad bunch....you'll be just fine (see got some nibs in)....

 

You are right about the lost (or fast becoming) art of writing. Great to see you doing a note to grandma....the personal touch of a FP probably can't be topped.

 

I too don't yet have a MB...one dreams...there's hope...another chap got one at an estate sale for $5 !!!! But U have a LAMY safari or two, and yes, they are great, versatile FP's.

 

Happy snapping...and happy fountain penning.

thanks & best wishes, Captain Nib

...keep nibbing on...

Don't look down on someone, unless helping them up :D

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Welcome from Westminster, Maryland! I too like sending handwritten notes - it is fun providing that personal touch.

 

We are fortunate to have two good shops reasonably close by - Bertram's Inkwell and Pen Boutique. We also have the Baltimore-Washington pen show coming up the first weekend in March and the DC Supershow a few months later.

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Welcome to the addiction. Great story. Thanks for sharing.

PELIKAN - Too many birds in the flock to count. My pen chest has proven to be a most fertile breeding ground.

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THE PELIKAN'S PERCH - A growing reference site for all things Pelikan

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Bertram's Inkwell is the only place I know that sells Duke Ink. Tell the guy who runs it that some guy from Detroit says hi and wants a discount on that ink.

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Bertram's Inkwell is the only place I know that sells Duke Ink. Tell the guy who runs it that some guy from Detroit says hi and wants a discount on that ink.

Funny story about that. When I was there yesterday and bought the Duke pen I had told my wife I was going to REI and never mentioned Bertrams (for obvious reasons). Not a half hour after I walked out she walked in and told the guys she was looking for a pen or two for her husband for Valentine's Day. He showed her the same Duke pen I had just bought not knowing she was my wife! She also came home with two bottles of Duke ink (one black and one blue) I haven't opened them yet as I only own three pens and they are filled with the MB Toffee and PR American Blue that I had also purchased at Bertram's a half hour prior to her walking in. When we met for lunch late yesterday we were both so excited about the Valentine's Day gifts we had got each other (I got her a Scheaffer 100 pen, ink and journal from Goulet's earlier in the week before I found out about Bertrams) that we agreed to open them when we got home. We had a really good laugh over this and now we don't have to worry about Valentine's Day this week! Maybe we'll just sit down and write each other a letter! :D

There are only two things in life that you control: Attitude and Effort.

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Welcome, Holgamike !

 

As you enjoy the notes four times a year, you know the impact of personal writings. Write to your grandmother,

and others often. While computer screens are projected light, ink on paper, like photographs, are reflected light.

I don't have to tell you how warm and satisfying it can be.

 

We have some of our best members in Maryland. Are you old enough to remember Germantown, MD, before all

the development ? One could walk the fields, hunting rabbits, quail, and Ringneck pheasant >> sometimes with

a shotgun from Remington, other times with an Exakta from Dresden. Good ole days !

 

As for the Montblanc fountain pen that you will never have, "Teacher, teach thyself." There is no "never" in

A-M-E-R-I-C-A . Stay focused on which Montblanc will be yours.

 

Write with joy.

Auf freiem Grund mit freiem Volke stehn.
Zum Augenblicke dürft ich sagen:
Verweile doch, du bist so schön !

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Welcome, Holgamike !

 

 

" One could walk the fields, hunting rabbits, quail, and Ringneck pheasant >> sometimes with

a shotgun from Remington, other times with an Exakta from Dresden. Good ole days ! "

 

I wish I were here for those days! I'm actually from upstate NY originally (moved to MD in 94') and my entire family has worked at Remington almost since it's inception. My brother still works there to this day and my Remington 870 is still my favorite for both function and family ties….

There are only two things in life that you control: Attitude and Effort.

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Funny story about that. When I was there yesterday and bought the Duke pen I had told my wife I was going to REI and never mentioned Bertrams (for obvious reasons). Not a half hour after I walked out she walked in and told the guys she was looking for a pen or two for her husband for Valentine's Day. He showed her the same Duke pen I had just bought not knowing she was my wife! She also came home with two bottles of Duke ink (one black and one blue) I haven't opened them yet as I only own three pens and they are filled with the MB Toffee and PR American Blue that I had also purchased at Bertram's a half hour prior to her walking in. When we met for lunch late yesterday we were both so excited about the Valentine's Day gifts we had got each other (I got her a Scheaffer 100 pen, ink and journal from Goulet's earlier in the week before I found out about Bertrams) that we agreed to open them when we got home. We had a really good laugh over this and now we don't have to worry about Valentine's Day this week! Maybe we'll just sit down and write each other a letter! :D

I wish I had a wife like that. :(. Aww. That sure is swell!

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