Ohio Pen Show, Nov 2-5, 2017

[TheRealMikeDr]

Well I got hotel reservations made yesterday.

Now, all I have to do is start my packing and shopping lists, and to try to get over this stupid respiratory virus (went to the doctor today and got told it takes two or three weeks to run its course...).

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

 

Ah - I've had a nasty cold for about a week - hopefully it will be fully gone by the time the show rolls around.

 

We are going on Saturday, a three hour drive one way for us, too. We generally do it in a day. I am not wedded to anything in particular, but I am sensing either a Franklin Cristoph, Edison or something Japanese in my future. My husband is looking to spend the money on combos that he wasn't able to spend at the DC show (because there were very few combos to be had).

 

Sharon in Indiana

 

It's a 2.5 hour drive for us. We're going to leave around 6 on Saturday - giving us time to stop for a quick breakfast - arriving at 9:00 in time for the show opening. We'll spend all day at the show and stay overnight at the Crown Plaza - heading home early Sunday morning. My mother-in-law is coming with us this year - it will be her first pen show so it should be quite a lot of fun.

[inkstainedruth]

For me it's 3 to 3-1/2 hours, depending on traffic. Last year got, um, interesting, as I was driving past a town where there had been a police standoff after some guy shot (IIRC) his wife and some other people and then barricaded himself inside his house -- I was expecting police roadblocks on I-79....

The first year I went, I day tripped it because I had a prior commitment for the rest of the weekend. I got to the show around noon, and after things shut down I hung out with some people near the check in table for a while, then went and grabbed dinner at the Max & Erma's a couple of blocks away. Stopped partway home to get gas. Stumbled into my house about 12:30 AM. Decided afterwards to not do that again (I'm not as young as I once was... ). So now I get a hotel room for a couple of days, finding a place that's close enough a commute to the show, but less expensive (the less I have to pay for accommodations and food, the more I get to spend at the show ).

And the last couple of years, I go out on Thursday and hit antiques stores before grabbing dinner and getting to where I'm staying. Last year it was pretty much every one on US 40 between the WV state line and Zanesville (after that it got too late in the day). The year before, it was the Heart of Ohio Antiques Mall. Silly me -- I figured I'd do a couple of hours there and then maybe go on to the one an exit or two west on I-70; instead, I got there around 12:30 or so and stumbled out the door at about a quarter after 5...! That place is so huge that they have MAPS and unlike most places, if you see something you want to look at, you need to find the person who has the keys for that section, rather than going back to the front desk (yeah, it's that large a place...).

Ah, need to remember to add my loupe to the packing list! My main plan is to get some pens repaired, but there are definitely things on the wish list....

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

[sharonspens]

For me it's 3 to 3-1/2 hours, depending on traffic. Last year got, um, interesting, as I was driving past a town where there had been a police standoff after some guy shot (IIRC) his wife and some other people and then barricaded himself inside his house -- I was expecting police roadblocks on I-79....

The first year I went, I day tripped it because I had a prior commitment for the rest of the weekend. I got to the show around noon, and after things shut down I hung out with some people near the check in table for a while, then went and grabbed dinner at the Max & Erma's a couple of blocks away. Stopped partway home to get gas. Stumbled into my house about 12:30 AM. Decided afterwards to not do that again (I'm not as young as I once was... ). So now I get a hotel room for a couple of days, finding a place that's close enough a commute to the show, but less expensive (the less I have to pay for accommodations and food, the more I get to spend at the show ).

And the last couple of years, I go out on Thursday and hit antiques stores before grabbing dinner and getting to where I'm staying. Last year it was pretty much every one on US 40 between the WV state line and Zanesville (after that it got too late in the day). The year before, it was the Heart of Ohio Antiques Mall. Silly me -- I figured I'd do a couple of hours there and then maybe go on to the one an exit or two west on I-70; instead, I got there around 12:30 or so and stumbled out the door at about a quarter after 5...! That place is so huge that they have MAPS and unlike most places, if you see something you want to look at, you need to find the person who has the keys for that section, rather than going back to the front desk (yeah, it's that large a place...).

Ah, need to remember to add my loupe to the packing list! My main plan is to get some pens repaired, but there are definitely things on the wish list....

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

 

Hmm. I actually will need t board our dog for the weekend, and now I'm realizing that we cold decide to stay over on Saturday night and head back Sunday. My husband loves antiques, books, and tarot - all of which we can find in Clintonville during our stay. I'll have to looking this a little more.

[eharriett]

I shall be there as well. And don't forget, Ohioans: the Central Ohio Pen Club will have a meetup there on Saturday afternoon.

 

I have a very small shopping list of vintage I want to acquire. I am still, however, in the midst of paying off the DC show, so I gotta take it easy. Plus, I have hopes to drive up to the MI show a couple weeks later.

[inkstainedruth]

Well, I just looked at the dates for the Michigan show, and clearly am going to be passing on that one -- I have another commitment that same weekend, and one I don't want to give up (when juggling pens vs. fiber, the fiber is going to win...).

I blew most (read "pretty much all and then some") of my "this year only" pen budget. Okay, that included the two M405s -- which I do not regret buying in the *slightest*. So at OPS most of the discretionary funds (such as they are) are earmarked for pen repairs. But there are a few things on the wish list, if the price is right (for some things on the list, the price will NEVER be right, but a girl can dream).

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

[Parker51]

I live about 30 kilometers away, so my drive time will be about half an hour each way, each day, 40 minutes if I have trouble with the rotaries. Suffice to say my favorite show in regard to convenience and cost.

[hh1990]

I'll be there Friday and maybe part of Saturday morning. Going to try to limit myself to a couple of bottles of ink and some notebooks. We'll see how that goes (!).

[cherylmarie]

I hope to drive down from the Cleveland area on Saturday to spend the day.

 

I've been reading about wooden pencils and itching to try out a couple of the classics.

Do any of the vendors also sell wood pencils? I'd like to try some Japanese pencils.

 

See you all there!

[inkstainedruth]

I hope to drive down from the Cleveland area on Saturday to spend the day.

 

I've been reading about wooden pencils and itching to try out a couple of the classics.

Do any of the vendors also sell wood pencils? I'd like to try some Japanese pencils.

 

See you all there!

 

I'm trying to remember on that, but I'm afraid probably not. A lot of of what's for sale at OPS is geared towards vintage pens.

OTOH, since I'm not looking for pencils, I suppose there's a possibility that there might be some and I just bypassed them.

I tend to do a quick zoom around just to see who's got what at any given show, and make notes if there's something specific I'm looking for at any given time. Last year it was trying to FINALLY get my hands on an Emerald Pearl Parker Vacumatic; at the Commonwealth Show last month I didn't have much of a budget so I was mostly just buying ink, although I went ahead and bought a bottle of the new J Herbin 1798 ink right at the beginning from the Bob Slate's table (on the grounds that while other vendors MIGHT have it, the odds were good that by the time I got back over to that table they'd be sold out...).

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

[gryphon1911]

Last year I remember someone had a bunch of Pelikan pens for a good price, might see about getting one of those... And I'm always interested in what Howard Levy brings for the show. Bexley Pens are my fav!!

[eharriett]

I hope to drive down from the Cleveland area on Saturday to spend the day.

 

I've been reading about wooden pencils and itching to try out a couple of the classics.

Do any of the vendors also sell wood pencils? I'd like to try some Japanese pencils.

 

See you all there!

John Veley, owner of the Legendary Lead Co, is most likely going to be there, I expect (not sure if he isn't an FPN member or not). But he's really nice, although crazy busy at these things. If he doesn't have one there, you can ask him where to look and he WILL have that answer.

 

I spoke to him at both the D.C. Show and last year's Ohio show and both times he managed to take one glance at the broken pencils I brought with me, tell me what to get, and got them working. And when I asked him a question about another, he pointed, told me what to ask for, and I found it.

[matheda]

This will be the first pen show for me and my wife, we are very excited! What should we expect as far as inks and paper/journals for sale? Has anyone ever seen glass dip pens available?

[eharriett]

Inks are kind of the hidden gems of these shows, as far as I'm concerned. There's a lot there, usually at a really good price, but no one talks about them. Some of the inks I got at the D.C. Show this year we're among the best of my acquisitions. In addition to the stuff you can buy online now, keep a watch out for people offering the occasional old limited edition or vintage ink.

 

As far as paper and journals, I don't know too much about those, but I did see the usual suspects available, as well as one or two specialty brands.

 

And yeah, there were a bunch of glass dip pens last year. I distinctly remember seeing a fair amount.

[TheRealMikeDr]

This will be the first pen show for me and my wife, we are very excited! What should we expect as far as inks and paper/journals for sale? Has anyone ever seen glass dip pens available?

 

There will be paper/journals available from the retail vendors IIRC. I bought a nice Leuchtturm journal last year - but I don't recall who I bought it from. I think Franklin Christoph had a selection of journals and some nice covers etc. It's mostly pens (and mostly vintage) but there's a smattering of other stuff including pen cases and watches and jewelry and funky stuff.

 

Have fun!!

[inkstainedruth]

This will be the first pen show for me and my wife, we are very excited! What should we expect as far as inks and paper/journals for sale? Has anyone ever seen glass dip pens available?

 

Anderson Pens has a good range of ink brands, and they should have a fair amount with them. Franklin-Christoph sells their own brand (some of the colors are nice, and they have tester pens). Federalist Pens sells several brands (I picked up some Robert Oster samples at the Commonwealth show in September. Ipenstore will probably have ink. Indy-Pen-Dance, thenibsmith.com and ink-pen.com all list ink on their websites, but I don't know what they'll have with them (those are all the vendors for whom I was able to check their websites; a couple of the links off the OPS website seemed to be bad). Additionally, I think Mario Campa may have some ink for sale -- at the Triangle Show in June he had a bottle of Parker Penman (but don't remember what color, because it was sort of "white noise" price, even though my husband asked me if I wanted it...). Weirdly, Pendemonium doesn't seem to be listed this year, and I know they carry some inks on their website as well.

Hope this helps you at least some.

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

[FrozenPen]

Showing up on Friday - leaving Sunday.

Bringing a shopping list this time.

Also plan on taking the time to keep track of what I see where so as to avoid the "I saw this neat pen ... I think it was over there by the table near that door...or was it that door?" moments.

Planning on hitting the Friday talks:

1:45 PM to 2:45 PM : Seminar, Howard Levy - ​"The Bexley Pen Company, The First 25 Years"

3:00 PM to 4:00 PM : ​Workshop, Ron Zorn - "Fountain Pen Repair- Back to the Basics"

​4:15 PM to 5:15 PM : Seminar, Rick Propas & Janet Wright - ​"How We Got To Pelikans, Two Collectors Journey"

[Federalist Pens]

See You There!

Tables in Hallway by large Ballroom!

 

Frank

Fed Pens

[inkstainedruth]

 

Showing up on Friday - leaving Sunday.

Bringing a shopping list this time.

Also plan on taking the time to keep track of what I see where so as to avoid the "I saw this neat pen ... I think it was over there by the table near that door...or was it that door?" moments.

Planning on hitting the Friday talks:

1:45 PM to 2:45 PM : Seminar, Howard Levy - ​"The Bexley Pen Company, The First 25 Years"

3:00 PM to 4:00 PM : ​Workshop, Ron Zorn - "Fountain Pen Repair- Back to the Basics"

​4:15 PM to 5:15 PM : Seminar, Rick Propas & Janet Wright - ​"How We Got To Pelikans, Two Collectors Journey"

 

 

Oh -- didn't look at the seminars list.... I took Ron's class last year at either OPS or Triangle (forget which now). Now if I could only remember where my notes went....

The Pelikan class sounds awesome. There was someone who did a history of the company last year and this year at Triangle and they were absolutely fascinating (and the entire large case full of *just* Red Tortoise pens was sort of staggering...).

Oh, and yeah -- learned my lesson after the first DCSS I went to (DC is WAY bigger than OPS -- and that's not small). Notebook and pen to list what what was seen, and where, and how much (to comparison shop -- comparison shopping is Good™...). Fortunately my "ooh, shiny -- must have!" list is somewhat smaller this year, since most of my budget is going to repairs on pens I already have, and I probably already have way too many inks I haven't tried yet.

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

[eharriett]

I have a request of those of you going to be at the show this week: please write your FPN name on your tag.

 

I don't know most of your names and I know none of your faces, but I'd like to say hi and introduce myself in person if I meet you.

[inkstainedruth]

I have a request of those of you going to be at the show this week: please write your FPN name on your tag.

 

I don't know most of your names and I know none of your faces, but I'd like to say hi and introduce myself in person if I meet you.

 

I always do that. Well, I couldn't at DCSS because most years I was able to go I was just buying day passes. But I agree with the sentiment. Most people are not going to know me by name, but will recognize the screen name. And I've found that people don't tend to look ANYTHING like I expect them to look from their posts or their avatars. (I really expected Lloyd to look like, well, Harold Lloyd, his avatar picture, for instance: I wouldn't even realized it was him standing next to me at the Commonwealth Pen Show this year, but one of the guys from Federalist Pens recognized the photo on Lloyd's shirt as being the avatar photo.)

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth