Donating Fountain Pens?

[p-zero]

I am downsizing my fountain pen collection & dont know what to do with the very low-end fountain pens I have. Id be glad to just mail the lot of them off to someplace. They are older Sheaffer calligraphy pens and the cheap Parkers that you used to be able to buy in the school supplies aisles at places like Walmart 20 years ago. I have converters for the Parkers and assorted ink cartridges, most of which will fit the Sheaffers. Any advice on what to do with these pens?

[Fuzzy_Bear]

There are some of us around who give them to students. As well, you can also give them to anyone who shows any interest.

[JayHomeBody]

This sounds like such a nice thing to do.

[Dr_Jekyll]

Hello p-zero,

 

As a student who has received my first fountain pen as a gift, I would like to say that giving fountain pens to students is a very meaningful gift. I think it is a very thoughtful thing that you are doing.

 

I have a few friends in my science faculty that have shown interest in my pens (I'm litteraly the only one who uses a fountain pen, if not the only one who writes notes down instead of using a laptop in class). Unfortunately, my own funds are quite low and I do not have any money to spare to gift them any fountain pens. If you are willing, I could pass some of them along to my fellow students. Of course, do not feel obliged to do so if you are to find another student who is in need of a fine writing experience

[Freddy]

I am downsizing my fountain pen collection & dont know what to do with the very low-end fountain pens I have. Id be glad to just mail the lot of them off to someplace. They are older Sheaffer calligraphy pens and the cheap Parkers that you used to be able to buy in the school supplies aisles at places like Walmart 20 years ago. I have converters for the Parkers and assorted ink cartridges, most of which will fit the Sheaffers. Any advice on what to do with these pens?

 

Consider contacting the Pen Collectors of America and donate your pens for the Pens for Kids program.

 

Fred

[Dr_Jekyll]

 

Consider contacting the Pen Collectors of America and donate your pens for the Pens for Kids program.

 

Fred

That's an excellent idea! I didn't even know that existed!

[p-zero]

Thats a great idea!

[SBrock]

Spread the love of fountain pens to friends or something, we always need more people to keep the fountain pen demand up. You could also donate as stated above.

[inkstainedruth]

I think there may be a dedicated thread or two to PiF pens on FPN as well. Sometimes the person giving the pen away will put in stipulations such as limiting the giveaway to new people, or to places to which it's relatively easy to ship the pen to (such as saying "CONUS only" or whatever. Sometimes they'll number the potential entrants and then pick a random number (there are random number generator websites). Ian the Jock made a PiF into a game, having people come up with captions for a photo he posted of his dog -- I was the runner up in that, because I wanted to give the pen to a friend of mine who I knew would get a kick out of having it, even if she never uses it. And since it was an Inoxcrom "Tin Tin" pen, she was *doubly* ecstatic when I gave it to her a few months ago.

But donating the pens to the Pens for Kids program sounds like an awesome plan. Good luck in finding new "forever" homes for your pens, whatever you decide to do.

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

[Runnin_Ute]

There have also been occasions where members who are in the teaching profession give pens to students. Or at least have them available to try out. Some use whatever they can get their hands on, others buy inexpensive Chinese pens. I have PIF'd pens a couple of times. One a medium nibbed Cross, that just didn't get enough love from me - it was a nice writer, but I didn't use it much. Another was a Jinhao 159, that I didn't care for. (to heavy for my tastes)

 

I have a couple that I could do, but haven't for a variety of reasons.

[TSherbs]

For various reasons, my school does not permit me to gift things to my students (except upon graduation). I have begun using graduation to give pens away, but I have felt obligated to give a bottle of ink too. This gets expensive. After the school year is over, I will likely give away some "lots" here, for newbies. We'll see.

[Fuzzy_Bear]

For various reasons, my school does not permit me to gift things to my students (except upon graduation). I have begun using graduation to give pens away, but I have felt obligated to give a bottle of ink too. This gets expensive. After the school year is over, I will likely give away some "lots" here, for newbies. We'll see.

Wow. That's strange. I drive a bus and I give pens away and so does our librarian.

[pitonyak]

I teach Sunday School and I give away pens. If you have a variety, I would love to first give them a try and then distribute them. I typically buy a batch of pens, try some of them, then I ink them in the color of the student's choice and give them away. I am currently waiting on another batch of pens to arrive since I have some children asking about more pens. Last time I did this, kids that had been in my class years before came looking for me to see if I had more pens.

 

What really interests me is that you also have a few calligraphy pens. I am just starting to try and teach myself calligraphy... You mentioned that you have a few of those as well. I purchased some Pilot Parallel pens for myself, but one parent (who lives near me and is friends with my wife) asked me if I could teach one of her daughters calligraphy over the summer. I told her that maybe we could learn it together, but, having a few extra calligraphy pens would be helpful.

 

The girls have been asking for Pink ink, so I purchased a bottle of Diamine Hot Pink. It is very pink, I must say... I inked up a pen to try it in, but, I am waiting on my next batch of pens to arrive before I bring the ink in.

[TSherbs]

Wow. That's strange. I drive a bus and I give pens away and so does our librarian.

 

Gifts can be misunderstood, misperceived, and even misused between adults and children, between teachers and students. We also discourage the giving of gifts to teachers from families (certainly nothing of any monetary value). We take a very cautious and professional approach to keep relationships clearly defined and more free (not perfectly so) from misunderstanding or misinterpretation by all parties involved. This may seem like overkill, but we operate under the standard of "rather safe than sorry." As I said, upon graduation the professional relationship (but not the ethical one) changes, and the exchange of presents is common, and I enjoy it.

[Sasha Royale]

Give a SHOUT !

 

Our membership includes fountain pen enthusiasts who are school teachers. I like the idea of

infecting the younger generation with my fountainpenism.

[amberleadavis]

If you feel up to it, do individual PIFs.

 

If you want to gift the whole lot to one person to organize the PIFs, you can send them over to me and I'll slowly share them. I've been sending out pens and ink for quite a while now and it is a lot of fun. We also gift them out as give aways to encourage people to use their pens and ink.

[pitonyak]

I did a single PIF and gave away a bunch of pens individually from the same PIF. Cost me about $75 in postage to send them out since I was sending some of them over-seas.

 

Very enjoyable if you can gift them directly to the kids though, I really enjoy doing that.

[p-zero]

i so appreciate everyone's responses! Thank you! shortly after a

I posted this request for advice/suggestions, we began a remodeling project in our small house. its going way longer than expected (DIY) so i haven't been able to act on any of these suggestions yet. I hope to act on some of these suggestions before the end of the month.

[pitonyak]

i so appreciate everyone's responses! Thank you! shortly after a

I posted this request for advice/suggestions, we began a remodeling project in our small house. its going way longer than expected (DIY) so i haven't been able to act on any of these suggestions yet. I hope to act on some of these suggestions before the end of the month.

 

Oh my, DIY remodeling always takes a long time. I did my kitchen with my Father-in-law's help.... Although I "made" the trim, I have not gotten around to cutting it to size, staining, applying finish, and installing it.

 

Right now I am building a small cabinet to hold my fountain pens and supplies. I do most of my joinery by hand, so it takes a while to do otherwise simple tasks such as "build a drawer". The top three drawers have been dovetailed so they fit together, I still need to add a bottom and glue them. Four drawers to go.... Then apply oil, let dry at least one week, mix and apply shellac, add hardware (handles), then I can use it. Will look mostly lifeless until I apply the oil and shellac, then it should pop.

 

 

[p-zero]

Pitonyak, if you could message me, i need your address to send some pens too.I can't figure out how to private message you or I'd contact you that way.