By Way Of Introduction

[Samskara]

Hi!

Obviously I'm new here, although I suspect I'm on the geriatric side, since I can recall a time in school when we learned to write with dip pens, and had little ink wells in our school desks. I remember a brown Esterbrook as my first fountain pen, and then a few Parker 51s. I was never a collector, but had one pen at a time. My favorite pen was a Parker 61 that I bought in high school for $8 and carried with me through college and the army, then graduate school and into my first job.

 

The Parker 61 suffered from the problem that they all did -- if the ink dried up, there was nothing to push or squeeze to rinse it out, and so I would take the A train to 42nd Street to Casella's Fountain Pen Hospital to have them clean it out. Of course this only made things worse, because at every visit I would see another pen that I wanted, and the more pens I had, the more often the 61 would dry up. I don't recall all the pens I had -- nothing really collectible, all for use, and I didn't really have a formal rotation, just a series of pens that I used until I decided to switch to a different one. I don;t even recall what happened to them, except for one, a Mount Blanc that I have to a friend who was leaving for the Air Force (she was a dentist, so it was safe to assume that the pen would get a lot of use.) That was before Mount Blanc became a status symbol, and my memory (which is very fallible) is that it set me back $5. It was a smooth writing pen, but nothing exceptional.

 

Over the years I built up, not a collection, but enough pens for a rotation, although I tended to go back to a Cross and a Waterman Phileas most of the time. Then -- I won't go into details -- but I was deprived of my house and car, and that included books, music and fountain pens. My house and my books were irreplaceable but I could replace my fountain pens since I just wanted a few for routine use, My favorite pens are a couple of Parker Sonnets, but they get used when I'm at my desk. On any given day I usually carry a Levenger L-tech 3.0 as the pen that goes best with jeans.

 

Anything else? Well, I came to this forum in search of opinions about the Sailor 1911S, since one blogger made it sound like a unique experience in fountain pen writing. After reading some opinions, I decided to do without. I am also in search of the perfect turquoise ink -- I normally use Pelican but will accept any recommendations.

 

Oh yes, I live in New York City but plan to move to the suburbs this spring.

 

 

[Chrissy]

Hello and welcome to FPN.

[jar]

Welcome home. Pull up a stump and set a spell.

[PAKMAN]

Hello and Welcome to FPN!! Glad to have you as a member!!

[mitto]

Greetings and welcome to FPN.

[ThomasB]

Hello and welcome from Baton Rouge, Louisiana...Enjoy your time here

[Sasha Royale]

Welcome !

 

Sorry that you were alone, all those years. My Parker 61 fountain pens do not dry out. When I finish using them, I use a rubber earbulb to push water through the system in both directions. The cleaning process takes 60 seconds. I hope this will encourage you to find and use a Parker 61. It rally is a wonderful writing experience.

[Wahl]

[DaveT]

Hello and welcome from Indiana!

[Henricum_Tropen]

Hello and welcome to FPN, from Cape Town, South Africa.

[Carrau]

Welcome aboard, from Charleston, SC.

Mike