It Started Out Innocently Enough..

[WaskiSquirrel]

My obsession was slow to come, but it did come in my late 30s. I started with a Parker Vector purchased in fourth grade. It was a nice pen and I used it regularly up through high school. After I got my first job, I got a Cross fountain pen. When I started working as an adult, I added a Parker of some kind (with a rubberized grip).

 

And then, a few years ago, I remembered that I had always wanted a pen with a built-in filling mechanism. I discovered the Noodler's Creeper, and the rest is history. I had a guest at my house this morning and had to hide away the pens and ink bottles so I wouldn't scare him.

 

And what is scary is that while I'm happy with the pens and inks I have, and I'm even editing the collection, there are others I really want. I also get surprises: put a pen I don't like (Lamy ABC) with an ink I don't like (Noodler's Manjiro Nakahama) and I get a great writing experience. So do I give them away or not? And are my other pens waiting for the right ink?

 

It's easy to see how I could fall so far down the rabbit hole that I'll never get out.

[John54green]

Wonderful thread! A love for old things, a love for history, and a love for bringing them back to life has led me to fountain pens. There isn't an aspect I don't enjoy. I even enjoy making my own repair tools. Pens have also helped me deal with rough times.

[Cob]

Wonderful thread! A love for old things, a love for history, and a love for bringing them back to life has led me to fountain pens. There isn't an aspect I don't enjoy. I even enjoy making my own repair tools. Pens have also helped me deal with rough times.

Amen to that in every way.

 

Cob

[Greenie]

For me, there is nothing better than bringing these vintage functional and artistic objects back to life. I love them unrestored, needing overhaul, polish, and sometimes real repairs - fix cracks, replace clips, and other such things.

 

I hate to offend the professional pen people, but I also like to figure out what those tools that they sell really are, and then buy them for $2 on ebay from china, or $1 at a local swap meet. It is an exercise in on line sleuthing.

 

As a buyer and seller of very fine vintage pens said to me at his table at a pen show, "You like 'em with flaws." And I do. Too pristine just seems like it has not hidden stories to tell.

 

We all have our own insanity level and our own budgets. I have a pretty broad collection (324 pens, not counting parts pens...), but my favorites are the strange and unusual fillers. Many of these are quite reasonably priced. Most are black chased hard rubber, but they are often less costly, and almost always more fun to hunt for and work on. They also tend to tell some of the stories of how to get around a patent, business partners breaking up, and some are just so interesting but utterly pointless.

 

That being said... I have a weakness for beautiful Swans.

[Cob]

For me, there is nothing better than bringing these vintage functional and artistic objects back to life. I love them unrestored, needing overhaul, polish, and sometimes real repairs - fix cracks, replace clips, and other such things.

 

I hate to offend the professional pen people, but I also like to figure out what those tools that they sell really are, and then buy them for $2 on ebay from china, or $1 at a local swap meet. It is an exercise in on line sleuthing.

 

As a buyer and seller of very fine vintage pens said to me at his table at a pen show, "You like 'em with flaws." And I do. Too pristine just seems like it has not hidden stories to tell.

 

We all have our own insanity level and our own budgets. I have a pretty broad collection (324 pens, not counting parts pens...), but my favorites are the strange and unusual fillers. Many of these are quite reasonably priced. Most are black chased hard rubber, but they are often less costly, and almost always more fun to hunt for and work on. They also tend to tell some of the stories of how to get around a patent, business partners breaking up, and some are just so interesting but utterly pointless.

 

That being said... I have a weakness for beautiful Swans.

As you know, you are not alone in regard to those beautiful Swans; and Mabie Todd made so many beautiful pens that are superb writing instruments too.

 

Rgds

 

Cob

[missuslovett]

I'm quite new to this but as a writer/artist-calligrapher, I've always been around beautiful pens. My mother was also a writer and I can still recall her eccentric longhand, decipherable only to me and her (I edited a lot of her books). She always used fountain pens and every so often there would be an expedition to the local stationers for a new one. I always thought it was like looking at jewellery, all the shiny things under the glass counter. She had a thing for Sheaffers and I still have two of her old Imperials and a pretty Lady Sheaffer. It wasn't until recently that I started, though. I bought a scarlet Baor from China because I couldn't believe you could get a fountain pen for £2.99, inc postage and packing. It's a startling colour and actually writes quite well. Then the rot set in when I accidentally acquired a Waterman 515 that needed re-sacking...

 

Oh dear, oh dear. My little collection is growing and having very little money makes it especially exciting when I acquire something new. Fountain pens have that perfect combination of art and practicality that's always appealed to me. Now I'm finally indulging myself, who knows where it will end?

[Cob]

I'm quite new to this but as a writer/artist-calligrapher, I've always been around beautiful pens. My mother was also a writer and I can still recall her eccentric longhand, decipherable only to me and her (I edited a lot of her books). She always used fountain pens and every so often there would be an expedition to the local stationers for a new one. I always thought it was like looking at jewellery, all the shiny things under the glass counter. She had a thing for Sheaffers and I still have two of her old Imperials and a pretty Lady Sheaffer. It wasn't until recently that I started, though. I bought a scarlet Baor from China because I couldn't believe you could get a fountain pen for £2.99, inc postage and packing. It's a startling colour and actually writes quite well. Then the rot set in when I accidentally acquired a Waterman 515 that needed re-sacking...

 

Oh dear, oh dear. My little collection is growing and having very little money makes it especially exciting when I acquire something new. Fountain pens have that perfect combination of art and practicality that's always appealed to me. Now I'm finally indulging myself, who knows where it will end?

Thanks for a great post. I met a bloke today at the London Pen Geeks' Meeting who has hundreds of pens; as a mere amateur with about 75 or so I can understand how this can happen.

 

Why are they irresistible?

 

Cob

[sexauerw]

I started collecting using fountain pens about 20 years ago. My first pen was so nice I wanted another so that I could have two pens inked at once, with different colors. Then I saw a prettier pen, and so on. 20 years later at about 20 pens per year . . . well that 's a lot of pens. I had no idea when I started that they were addictive.

 

Quit now while you can!

[silicon]

Hello ... I am new to FPN ... and on reading this particular thread I decided that there was no way I could be considered a Pen Collector... my wife said otherwise and suggested I counted the pens ... just in my office.

 

27!

 

Couldn't believe it.

 

I have some that need identifying so will post them to the forums here.

 

Interesting hobby? or total madness?

[sexauerw]

Hello ... I am new to FPN ... and on reading this particular thread I decided that there was no way I could be considered a Pen Collector... my wife said otherwise and suggested I counted the pens ... just in my office.

 

27!

 

Couldn't believe it.

 

I have some that need identifying so will post them to the forums here.

 

Interesting hobby? or total madness?

Both!

Welcome to FPN. The members here will be happy to help you identify your pens. Good clear photos will be a big help, especially if you include closeups of the nibs and clips.

[sidthecat]

Pen2paper, I had a relative who was a major collector of ephemera; he created several collections for institutions like The Red Cross and the Santa Fe Railroad. I don't think his family ever quite understood his love for old paper, and I shudder to think what they did with it when he died.

[missuslovett]

I know what Greenie is talking about. It's great owning a 'mint' item but those oddities and others that have fallen by the wayside are just as appealing. They all repay careful attention. I've just bought a pen called a Skater. It's a Japanese attempt at a Vacumatic and on its own merits the colour and handling are lovely, a real sweetie. There's something about oddballs and crocks that appeals to my bank balance as well!

[Cob]

I know what Greenie is talking about. It's great owning a 'mint' item but those oddities and others that have fallen by the wayside are just as appealing. They all repay careful attention. I've just bought a pen called a Skater. It's a Japanese attempt at a Vacumatic and on its own merits the colour and handling are lovely, a real sweetie. There's something about oddballs and crocks that appeals to my bank balance as well!

Yes, amen to that. Today I bought for a small sum a MHR job that rejoices in the name "Golden Cockerel"!

 

These things are hard to resist - to me anyway!

 

Cob

[IllamaNati]

SImilar expirience- Fountain pen inks. That is all.

[missuslovett]

SImilar expirience- Fountain pen inks. That is all.

 

Haha! Indeed.

[akustyk]

Yeah, pens and inks have the potential of developing a deeply personal and irresistible connection with us. For me, the idea that the pens have been owned by various people over the years before they ended up with me is very enticing. I have a few pens, around 10 good pens, all but one bought used. It took me a while to put this collection together, with about twice the number ending up being sold. It's been a while since I bought a pen, but that is only because I am not tempted by pens that don't offer anything special, beyond what I already have.

[Pen Therapy]

I did't class myself as any kind of collector, knowing friends at FPN are way ahead of me in terms of numbers but I was 'outed' at a training course when a fellow delegate spotted my six pack EDC case loaded with my essentials. He thought I might have been a diabetic when I took out my TWSBI 580, currently loaded with the new J. Herbin Emerald of Chivor. I think the gold in the ink blocked the feed at some point and I primed it, causing a lovely green/gold blot which I efficiently cleaned up with blotting paper. At which point he handed me a bic "never!" I said.

At the end of the day he asked to see the rest and interest was sparked in the other delegates. "How many do you have?", they were keen to know. "Only about thirty" I responded. They looked a little shocked " some people have hundreds!" I said defensively.

But the pens I showed them were lovingly admired. "there's nothing quite like writing with a fountain pen" one said. Perhaps I have infected someone else.

[bobje]

It's therapeutic, this focus on arcane details of pens and ink behavior, eccentric entrepreneurs, Byzantine marketing and distribution strategies. It maintains a personal and historical connection to people and companies with dreams, some fulfilled and some not, and it focuses our attention on the tactile world, much like slicing tomatoes or restoring typewriters or listening to vinyl records. It builds bridges to countries and cultures, shows similarities and differences in values and goals, and enables an escape from the always-connected, always-seeking-the-clever, always urgent rabbit hole of digital hive-mindedness.

[Cob]

It's therapeutic, this focus on arcane details of pens and ink behavior, eccentric entrepreneurs, Byzantine marketing and distribution strategies. It maintains a personal and historical connection to people and companies with dreams, some fulfilled and some not, and it focuses our attention on the tactile world, much like slicing tomatoes or restoring typewriters or listening to vinyl records. It builds bridges to countries and cultures, shows similarities and differences in values and goals, and enables an escape from the always-connected, always-seeking-the-clever, always urgent rabbit hole of digital hive-mindedness.

Some of Onoto's advertising was strange indeed. As an example have a look at these pictures - two sides of a period "flyer" on a little card; I have it framed on the wall now.

 

 

 

Cob

[ac12]

It is a slippery slope that you are on.

I refuse to count my pens.

 

After pens it is ink and paper.

There are soooooo many nice inks out there

Edited August 12, 2015 by ac12