Your First And Why?

[amcityink]

I'm amazed and forever infatuated with FP's and the way the ink spreads across the page. But lets face it, FP users are a very very very small % of the earths population.

 

I've been using MB pens since the 80's, but never used a FP until I read an article in a magazine (mid 90's) about an illustrator - Architect, and they showed all these pictures of his sketch's and doodles, from his sketch books... and he talked about his inspiration from using a MB Meisterstuck FP he had been using for years.

 

Being an illustrator,... and in an endless life long search of quality pens and paper.... the next day I went out and bought my first FP, an MB Meisterstuck FP, and still have it...(and many many more) Can't remember the name of the Architect, but he set me off on this amazing FP experience.

 

Made me think, what inspired people to get their first FP, and then make it a life long obsession.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[ac12]

Sheaffer Cartridge/School pen, and it was a demonstrator

Grade school.

 

There might have been a FP before that, but even that pen was a LONG time ago.

[ENewton]

I received a Waterman fountain pen as a gift from my husband about twenty years ago and was happily surprised by how greatly it changed the sensory experience of writing for me:

• No longer did I have to apply pressure to write.
• I could use purple ink.
• I could draw ink out of a bottle.
• I found the flow of ink to be very soothing.

I do not consider my use of fountain pens to be an obsession, any more than a person who enjoys showers more than baths would call showering an obsession, but I avoid having to use other types of implements for writing.

[pajaro]

Parker 51, because my father had one like it.

[Mihailo]

I wished to improve my chicken scrawl, and in my research and practice heard that using a good pen had the potential to help, figured a fountain pen was the best kind of pen and thus ordered one. before I knew it i was inescapably hooked and never looked back from that first metropolitan.

[mitto]

My first FP(s) were in the 60s. These were all Parkers and Sheaffers. And I still like both these brands. But I am a vintage guy. I couldnt develop interest in modern pens.

 

I dont remember which pen was my first (from memory I think it was a P45) but all the pens that I used in the 60s are still there in my collection.

[praxim]

..... what inspired people to get their first FP, and then make it a life long obsession.

 

In primary school we used dip pens. My parents were unwilling to buy me a fountain pen before secondary school, probably wisely. My "olde" secondary school forbade use of ballpoints on the grounds that they were a poor influence on writing quality so my first fountain pen, a Sheaffer, arrived. I no longer have it.

 

Owning over fifty fountain pens is quite clearly not an obsession. Everyone knows that.

[mike.jane]

In grade school (in Europe, 25 years ago) writing was taught first in pencil (all through printed letters) and then (for cursive writing) fountain pens were mandatory. My first was a Lamy ABC, in red (they still make them today), that was followed by my first Lamy Safari (in charcoal) maybe a year or two later.

Edited July 24, 2017 by mike.jane

[Chrissy]

I think my first pen was very cheap. A Platignum I think. Then I believe I moved up to a Parker.

[ParkerDuofold]

Hi Andrew, et al,

 

I really do not know. I've always had sort of a fascination with pens and pencils since I was 6 or 7... they've always been my "favorite school supply."

 

IIRC, what turned me onto fp's was watching a note get written in an old b&w movie and marvelling at the beautiful fluidity of it. I googled "highly rated fp's" and then "fp's for sale" and ended up getting an Ocean Blue Al-Star from the Goulets.

 

I know in this case, I bought with my head and not my heart, because I thought the Al-Star was an ugly mess... I still do... but it rated so well... it got my nod... but to make my heart happy, I skipped over the Safari and went with the deep metallic blue Al-Star; which I thought was the prettiest of the litter at the time, (late 2015).

 

Shortly after I received the Al-Star, I bought a Studio... which I think is a beautiful pen... the exact opposite of the Safari Series... after that, it's kind of a blur.

 

Btw, filling from a bottle, old-school style, also intrigued me; so my first inks were Lamy blue-black and Waterman Mysterious Blue in bottles... and with those two being my very first inks... it's a wonder I didn't give up on fp's then and there! But that's another thread.

 

 

- Anthony

[SoulSamurai]

When I was in school my father gave me a fountain pen: a solid sterling silver bodied Sheaffer with an inlaid gold nib (14k I think). It was a pen that he had been given upon his graduation (I believe it was an achievement award of some kind).

 

I loved that pen, and used it for years. At one point the nib was damaged, and we were only able to replace it with a significantly less impressive steel nib. I don't remember when I stopped using it; perhaps I was worried it might get further damaged or lost, but when I started moving around a lot (first for studies then work) I returned it to my father to keep safe for me.

 

I hope that someday, when the time is right, it will be inked up again, and perhaps even get a nicer nib.

[jar]

I got tired of only using pencils.

[Mech-for-i]

I did not got inspired, I was required to write with a proper pen ( and brush ) for calligraphy and penmanship in my junior school years. Am sure the younger one among the members here sure would not have this experience. None the less habits do get dig in once one get used to the craft

[Martini25]

I don't really know how it started. I just know that I have always loved dip pens, fountain pens, and quills. There was just something so satisfying about laying down a line of ink across paper. The pens always looked cool and kind of elegant.

 

First fountain pen? Lamy Safari, Medium, Blue. Bought it while I was in college. I wandered into a pen store and looked at the pens, most of them being way outside my budget and then I saw the Lamy line. I tried one out and the rest is history. I don't have that pen anymore because it was broken beyond repair...so I went out and bought 2 new pens to fill in the hole in my heart.

[Moonshae]

In the late 90s, I saw them in a catalog. I had no idea FPs were still being made, so I bought one. Then a few more...

[Jennings]

Growing up in my little market town, early 80s, we had one little paper shop which sold newspapers, cards, some toys and stationary...I always remember being fascinated by all the toys and writing equipment, and when I was in primary school my mum bought me a grey plastic Helix cartridge pen. It had a very basic and scratchy steel nib, but that never mattered to me at the time...I loved it and never looked back...in '88 I went to high school and my mum took me to the same shop to pick out a "proper" pen. I remember it like yesterday...and must have spent nearly an hour agonising over the selection. In the end I picked a Parker 15 with brushed stainless cap and barrel. Had that pen through high school, took all my exams and wrote my coursework with it...even took it to uni with me! Sadly I lost it at uni. I bought a couple of new Parker 15s, but by that point the quality of the parts weren't what they had been and the two new pens just leaked, and were noticeably cheaper in construction. However that was probably the point that started my search for a new writing companion and thus my collecting!

[amcityink]

In grade school (in Europe, 25 years ago) writing was taught first in pencil (all through printed letters) and then (for cursive writing) fountain pens were mandatory. My first was a Lamy ABC, in red (they still make them today), that was followed by my first Lamy Safari (in charcoal) maybe a year or two later.

 

WOW... FP's were mandatory... wish they did that here in the States. Most of the people I know or who see me using a FP are intimidated by it, thinking it's difficult to use... having to use one in school would give everyone the experience.

[PAKMAN]

Back in the 70's I had a Sheaffer School pen, was away for a long while but in the 90's a friend reintroduced me to FP's and I've been hooked ever since.

[LizEF]

I can't remember why I bought my first fountain pen. It was 1993-ish and I was in my early 20s, in Austria on vacation with a friend, and we went into a pen shop. There was probably some early 20s thoughts about being sophisticated and a "real writer" and things like that. (Plus the fact that I always liked putting ink on paper.)

 

I bought a Waterman Laureat, fine nib, marbled blue color. I'm sure I got that because I loved the look, had heard the name Waterman before, and it was the best I could afford - though I'm not sure how much I paid for it. (All I really remember is standing out the counter as we paid for our purchases.) Still have it and love how it writes. (Though it sat in its box from not long after I got it until early 2016 when my brother and I fixed a crack in its section - I'm not sure when that happened as I don't remember whether inky fingers is why I put it in the box or not.)

 

Fast forward to November 2015, and YouTube kept trying to get me to watch SBRE Brown review fountain pens (no clue why YouTube thought I would want to watch those). Curiosity finally got the best of me (I mean really, how could you spend that much time talking about a fountain pen?). After an obscene amount of time spent with videos, reviews, web pages, and online window-shopping, I finally decided on a TWSBI Eco EF and was hooked instantaneously. My pen buying has slowed and I'm in the ink-variety phase, but I'm beginning to feel withdrawal and may not be able to hold out on a new pen much longer.

[BillH]

Sheaffer School pens in grade school, late 50's early 60's. Used them all through HS and college, only going full-BP when I went to work.