Why Do You Love Fountain Pens?

[CrunchiBiscuit]

I love fountain pens for the light touch required, they make even terrible writing look better, the beauty of the pens and nibs, the huge range of ink colours available and the ease and length of time I can write with fountain pens without getting a sore hand. There is also the joy you get from passing on the love of using fountain pens to others.

I even enjoy cleaning my pens because it means I can fill them with another ink colour! Different colours in all my pens makes life a bit more interesting and if you must write you may as well do it in style!

Now that I have become a fountain pen 'user' I have not been able to resist buying more pens and ink. I am expecting some more to arrive any day now!

[Jamesbeat]

I use a ballpoint every day for grocery lists. The reliability of it under mobile conditions is its greatest virtue. I use good ballpoints, Parker Jotter, Pelikan K400 and Montblanc 164. They have proven themselves over many working years. The charm of the fountain pen is its very variability, the fact that fellow IT people mocked them and the nearly infinite ink color combinations possible.

So true.

I consider ballpoints to be a compromise pen, to be used where I can't use a fountain pen.

It's like one of those miniature travel irons or hairdryers - it is portable and can get the job done, but you'd never use one at home.

 

The other use I have for ballpoints is addressing envelopes.

I don't do it frequently enough to warrant buying specific ink that is waterproof, and ballpoint ink is great for staying on paper even if it gets soaking wet.

[Yaakova]

From the time I was a child, I've had an obsessive interest in office supplies. While other children might make a beeline to the toy aisle on forced trips to the grocery store with the parental units, I always headed straight for the school supply aisle.

 

I have a keen interest in all the methods and mechanics of putting words on paper: Writing in manuscript (printing) with a pencil, writing cursive with a pen, typing on a manual typewriter, taking shorthand with a fountain pen, lettering in calligraphy with fountain and dip pens. When it comes to handwriting, nothing feels as good as a fountain pen.

 

I'm also fascinated by books, not just reading and learning from them, but how they're written, printed, and bound. If a lover of books is called a bibliophile, what would you call someone who loves pens, ink, and paper? (Besides someone with a potentially expensive hobby ...)

[dojocho]

If a lover of books is called a bibliophile, what would you call someone who loves pens, ink, and paper? (Besides someone with a potentially expensive hobby ...)

 

.....a graphophile?

Edited February 11, 2017 by dojocho

[Manalto]

 

.....a graphophile?

 

Gets my vote.

[Yaakova]

 

.....a graphophile?

That's a good start, but it doesn't seem to encompass the entire scope of fascination. A quick Google search will confirm that there are plenty of people with this particular predilection (Stan Laurel of Laurel and Hardy fame was fond of browsing stationery shops), there doesn't seem to be a catch-all term for people like us who become positively giddy over pens, inks, notebooks, etc.

 

Seriously ... a trip to Staples or Office Depot can cause me to hyperventilate.

Edited February 11, 2017 by Yaakova

[PAKMAN]

For me it's just that fountain pens make writing more fun and give me a tie back to a simpler time.

[flyingfox]

Hi everybody,

 

The question is as stated in title, why do you love fountain pen? What are distinctive features of fountain pen? How did your story begin?

 

Thanks.

For me, the color variation and smooth writing experience are the most important features.

 

I love writing letters. Since I suffered an injury on my right wrist (my writing hand) about five years ago, using a fountain pen is the only way I am physically able to write long letters without pain and risks of re-injury. But- ah, all the ink colors out there!!!!! Fun!!! Joy!!!!! What NOT to love??!! Is it win-win or what??!!

 

As for how my story began.... it actually has several chapters.

 

Come around the campfire, bring a drink or two, it will be a long story....

 

My Mom was a fountain pen user. She always used a black Montblanc pen with blue-black ink. I was quite curious about it as a child, but of course I was not allowed to even think of touching it.

 

I loved writing and receiving letters as far as I can remember, and started writing to my Grandmother as soon as I learned how to write. By the time I started elementary school, I had two more regular "penpals"- my aunt and a cousin. My cousin actually lived across the street from me LOL, but we did a full-force letter exchange games. We played post office, mail carrier, designed our own "postage stamps", all that... in addition to, of course, writing letters. Our Grandmother used to get such a kick out of handmade birthday cards, complete with our special "Happy Birthday" stamps!!!

 

As I got older, my circle of penpals widened. That's back in the olden days when people posted "Penpal wanted" ads on newspapers and magazines. Around 1991, when I was in high school, I got first penpals from overseas. One girl was from Italy, and the other was from Germany. Both were my age, but both of them used fountain pen to write their letters. It seemed incredibly grown- up.... I didn't know anyone around me who used fountain pens, aside from a couple of teachers (even my Mom has converted to gel pens by then). That prompted me to get my first fountain pen.... a cheap one, costed about $5.- that only took cartridge. The ink cartridge, however, was rather expensive then... about $3.- per package, and a package contained 5? 6? cartridges. I gave up using it very quickly, and lost the pen long time ago.

 

I got my first "real" fountain pen back in 2002. I was on a vacation, visiting Montreal, Canada. I walked into a stationery store, and fell in love with an ink color. It is Poussiere de Lune by J. Herbin. The dusty purple looked incredibly beautiful. I picked up a Lamy Safari there and then, just so that I can use the ink. For a couple of years, until I ran out of the ink, I did all my personal writing with that combination. Then- the pen took a long nap in my desk.

 

In 2011, I was in New Orleans for a vacation. I walked into a stationery store (yea, deja vu all over again.... I always walk into a stationery store pretty much whenever I see one LOL!) and saw that they sell... fountain pen ink!!! I thought of my Safari and all the fun we had together. I knew I needed a bottle or two or three, but was agonizing over the color choice. I wanted them all, but there were only so many bottles I could bring home. The lady told me that they have an online store as well, in case I want more later, and- that changed my fate. Online store for fountain pens! Of course!!!

 

That night, I looked at Amazon for fountain pen ink, and was dazzled by all the colors they had. I have purchased so many items off of Amazon by then, but I somehow never thought of looking for ink there. I then searched fountain pen on Google, fell into the virtual doorsteps of Goulet, sew several of the video clips on their site, and- never looked back since.... My first Safari is still in the regular rotation, although I have soooo many more pens now....

[Arkamas]

That's a good start, but it doesn't seem to encompass the entire scope of fascination. A quick Google search will confirm that there are plenty of people with this particular predilection (Stan Laurel of Laurel and Hardy fame was fond of browsing stationery shops), there doesn't seem to be a catch-all term for people like us who become positively giddy over pens, inks, notebooks, etc.

 

Seriously ... a trip to Staples or Office Depot can cause me to hyperventilate.

 

It doesn't seem to exist. Maybe we of FPN need to just make up a new kind of -phile for it.

I used to love office supply stores but the ones around where I live don't have much of interest since I became fine-tuned to the particularly higher quality things of the like. I get what you mean though. My obsession is the study. Hardwood floors, thick italian leather journals, cherry book cases and desks, alabaster book case ornaments, bank lamps, framed antiqued world maps and whatsits, sealing wax, notebooks and stationary, ink bottles, beeswax candles, salt lamps and fireplaces(make for my best writing environment), leather volumes - especially burgundy , that mysterious hidden safe somewhere, and of course, my hoard of fountain pens in their leather case, tucked away in the safe, and I lock the study door late in the night, pop the safe and sit on the floor in the darkness, stroking each of them and whispering precious in the darkness like a lunatic who went off the edge years ago.... Oh to have that fantasy! Well most of it anyway.

 

It would all seriously be missing something without the fountain pens.

Edited February 12, 2017 by Arkamas

[Manalto]

Aficionado, the past participle of the Spanish verb aficionar, meaning "to inspire affection," and which exists in English too, says it but without including the source of inspiration.

[Yaakova]

 

It doesn't seem to exist. Maybe we of FPN need to just make up a new kind of -phile for it.

I used to love office supply stores but the ones around where I live don't have much of interest since I became fine-tuned to the particularly higher quality things of the like. I get what you mean though. My obsession is the study. Hardwood floors, thick italian leather journals, cherry book cases and desks, alabaster book case ornaments, bank lamps, framed antiqued world maps and whatsits, sealing wax, notebooks and stationary, ink bottles, beeswax candles, salt lamps and fireplaces(make for my best writing environment), leather volumes - especially burgundy , that mysterious hidden safe somewhere, and of course, my hoard of fountain pens in their leather case, tucked away in the safe, and I lock the study door late in the night, pop the safe and sit on the floor in the darkness, stroking each of them and whispering precious in the darkness like a lunatic who went off the edge years ago.... Oh to have that fantasy! Well most of it anyway.

 

It would all be seriously be missing something without the fountain pens.

 

Is it getting hot in here or is it just me ... ? <clutches pearls and fans self>

[Arkamas]

 

Is it getting hot in here or is it just me ... ? <clutches pearls and fans self>

 

[Yaakova]

Aficionado, the past participle of the Spanish verb aficionar, meaning "to inspire affection," and which exists in English too, says it but without including the source of inspiration.

 

That's a good one, too. There are all kinds of suffixes: -phile, -philia, -mania. What escapes me is a collective, descriptive noun for pens, ink, notebooks, and all the other accouterments of this wonderful madness into which we all seem to have fallen.

 

People who collect papers like ticket stubs, theater programs, and stuff of that nature are called ephemerists - but that's not quite right either. It's a puzzlement.

[corgicoupe]

For me it's just that fountain pens make writing more fun and give me a tie back to a simpler time.

We older folks always look back to those times, maybe because we didn't pay enough attention to what we were experiencing.

[Manalto]

The nice thing about language is that, if the word doesn't exist and you want it to, you can always coin it.

[corgicoupe]

Is it getting hot in here or is it just me ... ?

It's called a "hot flash".

[Yaakova]

It's called a "hot flash".

 

I well-acquainted with hot flashes aka power surges aka personal summers.

[Orpilorp]

I feel as though I have always been intrigued by the plethora of available stationery items. I once thought the Pilot G2 Pro was the ultimate pen until a few years ago when FPN and the Pen Addict podcast were discovered almost simultaneously, and that quickly lead to Goulet and Jet. In addition, in my town we had a respectable pen shop (it closed 3 months ago 😫 but it's very likely a new one will open soon 👍🏼). Also there is a pen club in town with both a nibmeister and a PCA officer within the group. So I had found a relatively inexpensive hobby with plenty of like-minded folks with which to share it.

 

Besides stationery I also like scrounging through junk stores, and once the fountain bug bit me, then oh baby! Within the first year I bought 70+ pens (new and old) and 4 shoeboxes of ink. Our hobby provides so much to explore what with all the nib options, the different filling systems, the hundreds of inks, and great papers such as Clairfontaine, Leuchtturm1917, Quo Vadis and others.

 

I now have enough pens to last a lifetime, possibly enough ink too. Just for a second there I though I had discovered every thing there was to find; I actually thought I had peaked, but then ...

 

The game continues. Recently at several thrift stores I found old ledgers; the type used long ago to keep track of accounts -- the type used long ago with fountain pens, that is to say, the type with fountain pen friendly paper. And sometimes they have phenomenal colors, ike this:

[MrsHobie]

I began using foutain pens when I was 11, because it was compulsory at school (with "erasable" blue ink).

 

And I've never stopped using them because it's gliding on the sheet of paper so nicely, with a small voice. You can choose between so many colours of ink, you can use a fine nib or a broad nib ... There are so many shapes, colours ... you can find a pen that will be yours for years !

 

When I don't use a FP, most of the time I use a mechanical pencil. I hate ballpoints (and my writing is ugly with a ballpoint ...)

[kiavonne]

From the time I was a child, I've had an obsessive interest in office supplies. While other children might make a beeline to the toy aisle on forced trips to the grocery store with the parental units, I always headed straight for the school supply aisle.

 

I have a keen interest in all the methods and mechanics of putting words on paper: Writing in manuscript (printing) with a pencil, writing cursive with a pen, typing on a manual typewriter, taking shorthand with a fountain pen, lettering in calligraphy with fountain and dip pens. When it comes to handwriting, nothing feels as good as a fountain pen.

 

I'm also fascinated by books, not just reading and learning from them, but how they're written, printed, and bound. If a lover of books is called a bibliophile, what would you call someone who loves pens, ink, and paper? (Besides someone with a potentially expensive hobby ...)

 

 

 

It doesn't seem to exist. Maybe we of FPN need to just make up a new kind of -phile for it.

I used to love office supply stores but the ones around where I live don't have much of interest since I became fine-tuned to the particularly higher quality things of the like. I get what you mean though. My obsession is the study. Hardwood floors, thick italian leather journals, cherry book cases and desks, alabaster book case ornaments, bank lamps, framed antiqued world maps and whatsits, sealing wax, notebooks and stationary, ink bottles, beeswax candles, salt lamps and fireplaces(make for my best writing environment), leather volumes - especially burgundy , that mysterious hidden safe somewhere, and of course, my hoard of fountain pens in their leather case, tucked away in the safe, and I lock the study door late in the night, pop the safe and sit on the floor in the darkness, stroking each of them and whispering precious in the darkness like a lunatic who went off the edge years ago.... Oh to have that fantasy! Well most of it anyway.

 

It would all be seriously be missing something without the fountain pens.

 

 

Well, now. These sum it up for me. I have always been drawn to pens and ink and paper and books.

 

My first fountain pen was sold on the endcap of a grocery store register when I was about 12 or 13. It was novelty then, and I was unable to find refills. So the pens left memory for a while.

 

Then came my early arthritis and the quest to find a way to help my hands.

 

Toss in my need for ink (permanent, in many colors), sealing wax, wax seals, ink wells, desk sets, desks, wax jacks, correspondence cards and fine stationery.

 

I am obsessed with reading and writing, and everything associated with them.