Report from NE Pen Show

[ElaineB]

I spent a couple of hours at the New England Pen Show this afternoon. It was a relatively small show, at least compared to other special-interest conventions I've attended. But that was actually a relief, because I'm new to this world of fountain pens, and anything more could have been overwhelming.

 

There were mostly vintage dealers, along with familiar vendors like Pendemonium, Bertram's Inkwell, and the InkPalette. Richard Binder was busy with his nibs, and the waiting line wasn't too bad, but I hadn't brought anything for him to customize. Penopoly was on the other side of the room, also tweaking and repairing things for people.

 

I cruised around the room twice, the first time to scope out what was there, and the second time to zoom in for a closer look at things I wanted to see. It was really crowded, and I often had to wait for a space to open up just to see what was being offered on display at each table.

 

I spent a long time at Nathan Tardiff's booth. My boyfriend had come along and was treating me to my birthday present, so I ended up with a really pretty green and brown celluloid Inkograph with a gold nib, and a very nice Sheaffer Crest (grey body, gold-filled cap, honkin' big Triumph nib, vac-fill) that was mechanically restored but needed cosmetic work.

 

And just as I was waiting to check out, I spotted a pretty green pen in a cigar box of vacumatics. It was a Parkette with both a lever and a button-fill mechanism. Very strange. I asked Nathan about it and he answered, yeah, it's pretty weird. He said it was rather rare, but the trim was badly brassed and the plastic all beat up, so he gave me a deal on it. The kicker is that the nib is really, really flexible. The tines are long and thin, and separated readily when pressed against my thumbnail.

 

Overall, the people at the show were quite nice and it was an interesting experience. I also learned that I'm not a hardcore pen collector. I saw a lot of big, expensive pens both vintage and new, and simply didn't find them appealing. It's just too much responsibility to own such objects. I was much happier poking through the low-end pens, the beaters and fixer-uppers, that had nice nibs and would work well after a bit of tinkering.

 

However, I got a chance to try out some Signum pens, and Oh. My. Goodness. How on earth did they get the nibs to feel like velvet? How could a metal pen feel like that? I was amazed. If I were ever going to invest in a high-end modern pen, I think would be one of these. Superlative writers. I've never felt anything like it.

 

As I left, I bought many bottles of the Noodlers LE ink for the pen show. I'll be packing those up and sending them out in the next day or two to everyone who asked for one.

 

ElaineB

[Maja]

Good to hear that the show was a positive experience, Elaine!

My first pen show was last year in Portland and it wasn't one of the "supershows" like L.A and Washington, DC but it was big enough for me! I was overwhelmed and, like you, had to take a couple of tours around the room just to take it all in. Being the geek that I am, I was actually pretty nervous around the pen "celebrities" (John Mottishaw et al.) even though they were all super-nice to me. Maybe they sensed a newbie in their midst

 

I think because I paid for the type of registration that allowed "early entry", I didn't experience the same crowding at the tables that you did. It did get much busier after they opened the doors to the public. Oh, I also enjoyed poking around the bargain bins (you never know what you will find that can be nicely fixed up with some know-how and a little TLC)....

 

Oh and congratulations on your purchases! May you use them in good health...

Edited May 23, 2005 by Maja