2016 Commonwealth Pen Show - Sunday, September 25Th!

[0xabad1dea]

I blew pretty much my entire budget on my first antique pen - a tiny little gold-plated eyedropper Moore. I like the idea that it's Bostonian. I wrote a few pages of fiction with it last night, starting to get the hang of it, it's easy to railroad.

 

I'm glad the (very nice, and whose name I somehow didn't get??) lady was willing to come down a bit on her price, which was over how much cash I had Because my goal was to go and find One Special Pen Just For Me, and when I picked this pretty little thing up, and realized the manufacturer was from New England...

[gopool]

This was my second Commonwealth Pen show. I arrived at 10am and got the following.

 

1. 1920s 18K gold nib for one of my Indian ebonite eyedroppers.

2. The red and blue exclusive inks from Noodler's Ink, which came with two Charlie pens.

3. A nice large journal from Jay at paperforfountainpen.com

4. Large Rhodia dot pad.

 

All told, it was a great show and I'm happy I went. My wife has already claimed the red ink from Noodler's as her own, so happy wife, happy life.

[inkstainedruth]

I would have loved to have been able to go, but it wasn't in the cards this year. That pink Noodler's ink looked interesting in another thread. I suspect I wouldn't like the brown/black/whatever one.

To make up for not being able to go, I'm going to treat myself by hitting some antiques shops the next town over from where my inlaws live. And I have already warned the Philistine (er, darling husband ) that I want to stop at the big antiques places when we drive east from here to visit some old friends later in the week if the timing works out. May not find anything but you never know....

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

[JoaoFrost]

This was my first ever fountain pen show and had a great time.

 

Got 2 of the Noodler's LE inks, the Suffragist Carmine (dark pink) & North Star Liberator (blue). Also considered the Proctor's Ledge, but on paper it just seemed to be yet another almost black and have enough of those (for now).

 

Also managed to get 2 Tomoe River notebooks from the paperforfountainpen guy (sorry, forgot his name). Very pleasant to talk to, and clearly very committed to the quality of his notebooks. When I got back home I immediately tried this paper and I now completely understand why people go nuts over it. If an ink can sheen or show special properties, it does it on this paper. And it just feels good to write on!

 

And then I wondered around the show, looking at all the beautiful pens. I am very very glad I followed the advice to bring exactly the amount of cash I planned to spend and no more, as otherwise I might not have resisted the temptation to be very unwise with money. It was surprising to me how many of the vintage pens were quite small and/or thin, hadn't quite realized the scale from the pictures you find on the websites.

 

All in all, a great show, very friendly people.

[Larry Barrieau]

Thanks to Dave, Jim and his wife, Pier, and all other Boston Pen People who got this going again this year. Nice to see people I knew. I got Nathan's inks and an Ahab. Richard did a nice oblique for me and I really like it. Of course it's a little harder to keep the pen in the correct position compared to the stub he did last year, but the line is so nice, and after an hour writing with it last night I know it won''t take long.

 

Oxabad1dea, I also like that a vintage pen was made locally. It sounds odd but it means just a little bit more to me. Since I married a girl from Toronto, I like Toronto pens too. That's one of the reasons I like Nathan's goods. When you watch his videos you can see that he is immersed in the local history here. It has nothing to do with the pens, it's just another check mark in the plus column.

[camoandconcrete]

Well, this was my first show. I only had time for about an hour, but enjoyed walking around seeing what offered and meeting people. I was able to pick up a pen I had been looking for a long time, the Wahl-Eversharp Doric with no. 9 adjustable nib; I got it from Gary Lehrer and he threw in the pencil for free. Also, got to pick up two of the Noodler's inks. All in all, a good time, and looking forward to more pen shows in the future.

http://i1287.photobucket.com/albums/a629/Kevin_Keller/Screen%20Shot%202016-09-26%20at%207.28.32%20PM_zpse1pllxr6.png

[Dragonmaster Lou]

I also had quite the good time, and this was my first show... I only ended up buying a couple of the Paper for Fountain Pens notebooks as I couldn't quite pull the trigger on anything else.

 

I also didn't stay super long, though long enough to get a view of the whole room, as I was starting to get a bit dizzy (temporarily on a medically-ordered special diet here that doesn't really satisfy).

 

I think I may have seen 0xabad1dea walk in just as I was walking out... but I didn't say anything as I thought it would be a bit awkward.

[0xabad1dea]

 

 

I think I may have seen 0xabad1dea walk in just as I was walking out... but I didn't say anything as I thought it would be a bit awkward.

 

I didn't keep my attendance a secret from the uh ... fans ... although I did tell someone I'd consider it a bit odd if they showed up just to meet me if they didn't actually care about pens

[oculogyric]

The cult of personality around Mr. Tardif is weird.

 

Come on, drink the Kool-aid!

[redbike]

My wife's birthday is September 26, so I don't know that I'll ever get to this show. She's not exactly a fp fan.

[Jerome Tarshis]

The cult of personality around Mr. Tardif is weird.

 

The idea to get hold of is that by comparison with many other people it is Nathan Tardif himself, not his admirers, who can well be considered weird. I do not say that in a pejorative way, but I was educated in statistics and I do say he is well into one tail of the distribution curve. As I think he would agree.

 

Against that background, the existence of a Tardif cult is entirely understandable. Even pedestrian. Whatever else is true, the man is entertaining. Long before he began making Noodler's Ink he was one of those people not found in large quantities.

[TSherbs]

 

The idea to get hold of is that by comparison with many other people it is Nathan Tardif himself, not his admirers, who can well be considered weird. I do not say that in a pejorative way, but I was educated in statistics and I do say he is well into one tail of the distribution curve. As I think he would agree.

 

Against that background, the existence of a Tardif cult is entirely understandable. Even pedestrian. Whatever else is true, the man is entertaining. Long before he began making Noodler's Ink he was one of those people not found in large quantities.

I don't find his videos entertaining, personality-wise, at all. He speaks in monotone, does not joke, and uses little irony or wit (and the lighting is terrible). I have not heard him make a self-deprecating or humble remark yet. I do enjoy the pen and ink information, but this lasts usually only a few minutes in the video. Whatever "entertainment" you see you must either witness in person or you have very different understanding of what is "entertaining" from what I do. I buy Noodler's products and enjoy them, but the celebrity-gawking around him just strikes me as odd. I really don't get it (obviously). But, to each her own, even cults. That we sometimes make celebrity out of quirky folk is a recognizable phenomenon; I just don't understand it.

[Larry Barrieau]

Here's what I like, or find interesting, about Nathan:

 

1. His inks and pens. Not all of them obviously.

2. His work ethic. He seems to work hard to put out good products. It also appears that he is not in it just for the money. He doesn't want people spending money needlessly. i.e. look what he is doing with the new 308 cartridges and untipped nibs, He is selling them at, or close to cost, so people can understand and enjoy calligraphy nibs.

3. He is concerned about the environment and waste. i.e. He doesn't like throw away cartridges.

4. His knowledge about pens. His videos to help people tinker with pens. It looks as though he's been at it a while when you see him doing a beginners no-no like using flame.

5. His apparent knowledge about many things. History - Local History, politics, science, etc.

6. His backround; New Bedford Whaling family, Quakers.

7. His willingness to share

 

 

Don't think that this is a biased report because I'm his mother.

 

I don't consider him a celebrity. He' fairly well known in a tiny niche.

 

Things I don't like about Nathan:

 

1. I've only had a few words with him at the Commonwealth pen shows. I don't know him well enough to not like him.

[Dragonmaster Lou]

 

I didn't keep my attendance a secret from the uh ... fans ... although I did tell someone I'd consider it a bit odd if they showed up just to meet me if they didn't actually care about pens

 

LOL, well, I was there for the pens... and I guess I'd be considered a "fan..." I mean, I do follow you on Twitter as well... but I'm socially very awkward at times, plus, I'd feel weird walking up to you and saying "Hi, 'a bad idea', how are you doing?"

[RonLyke]

I found a nice Parker 51 Aerometric, which I had Richard Binder grind to a beautiful cursive italic. While at his table watching him work on the nib, I looked at a beautiful Hakase pen. Yup. He tuned that for me, as well. Also got the blue Noodler's ink & picked up 2 sets of Noodler's to mail to a couple of FPN members.

[eharriett]

Hope it is appropriate to post this question in this thread. Apologies if not. But I was wondering if there is any ideas yet as to the dates of the 2017 Commonwealth Pen Show. I have to visit my mother out there late summer and I was hoping to maybe combine the trip.

 

The two shows I'm really watching closely to plan a trip around are Commonwealth and D.C. And neither have dates yet. Argh!!