Why Pelikan?

[stoen]

Thanks for the explanations. BTW, here’s another one of my reasons “why Pelikan”:

[Bo Bo Olson]

21 hours ago, Bikerchick said:

My shirts are pocketfree. 

That's the problem when unless female, one allows others to dictate one's own fashion, that should be usable.

Shirts bought by my wife with out a pocket including Polo Shirts get used as seldom as possible by me.

 

Shirt pockets were invented in @ 1895 to hold slide on clip fountain pens.........that was when the woman got to rest and read, while peddling the washing machine. So shirts with sewed on cuffs and collars came into being. No more dirty collars and cuffs....or expensive hand starched linen or celluloid button on ones.

She no longer had to wait to Monday to do the wash, and Tuesday to iron.

The upper classes started changing underwear daily instead of once a week.

 

A pocket is so needed, and it can with the help of a sewing machine or a tailor made into a pocket with pen sleeves so the pen will not fall out if one is break dancing.

 

But then again I'm old fashioned and tend to carry odd things in pockets....what ever I don't want in my pants or my hand.

Don't need to have a man bag, for my gun....which is not allowed over here in Germany.

I shudder at the thought I could put a valuable bundle of pens in it, so I could lose a whole lot of pens instead of having one or two secure in a pen pocket. (prefer a nice briefcase.....like I said, old fashioned.)

 

I had a shirt by Land's End with such a pen pocket built in. I'm sure they would sew you a single or double pen pocket in a pocket for no or very little cost.

The shirt wore out in only 18-20 years....good quality.

[mana]

"Could someone remind me of what the topic was again?"
"Oh yeah sure, it reads there at the top of the page, in quite big bold letters for those who care: “Why Pelikan?"
"Sweeeeeet, thanks buddy!”

Back on topic then, for I have few more a reason to add.

My Pelikans evoke feelings of joy, contentment and happiness in me. Why, indeed, they do!

Just like this morning, a moment ago, when I picked up one of the inked ones, seeing and feeling the quality and great design, knowing that I could count on that particular one, or hell, any of them, to write without a moments hesitation.

 

And then, sitting by the dinner table and sipping that first cup of hot black coffee while penning down a page or two for my morning journal, for a moment, I did not think about the minor nuisances of this world, the things that might irk or annoy me. There was just me and my Pelikan, and my thoughts appearing as beautiful shapes and shades of ink on those pages, flowing through my hand and that pen. My Pelikan.

 

In this world of terrible things moments like that are like a cool shade and a breeze on a sunny day, a dip into calmer waters, a momentary escape from all of the noise and heat.

 

I appreciate them enough to say without hesitation that my vintage Pelikan collection would be among the first physical things I would rescue if a fire broke out. It also kind of helps that they are portable as heck…

[SlowMovingTarget]

10 hours ago, mana said:

...snip...

Back on topic then, for I have few more a reason to add.

My Pelikans evoke feelings of joy, contentment and happiness in me. Why, indeed, they do!
...snip...

 

In this world of terrible things moments like that are like a cool shade and a breeze on a sunny day, a dip into calmer waters, a momentary escape from all of the noise and heat.

 

I appreciate them enough to say without hesitation that my vintage Pelikan collection would be among the first physical things I would rescue if a fire broke out. It also kind of helps that they are portable as heck…

My thanks. I don't mind digressions, but I can understand why the wandering might annoy some. 😀

 

One of the things I've been wondering is about the nibs. I hear many people talk about how special they are, and it makes me reticent to have them altered. For something as expensive (and seemingly worthwhile) as a Pelikan pen, I'd been working from the assumption that it I should have it pass by the workbench of a nibmeister before it finds its way to my desk. Yet I have this feeling that I would be changing what Pelikan had produced, if I had a nib turned into a cursive italic, for example.

 

Is that the normal route, though? From Pelikan to nibmeister to regular use?

[maclink]

36 minutes ago, SlowMovingTarget said:

Is that the normal route, though? From Pelikan to nibmeister to regular use?

 

Not for me and I doubt it's that way for most.

 

I have an M600 that I used once and haven't since.  I may well use it again at some point in the future, but doubt it.  This is so because the writing experience it gives is a prime example of how nib flexibility and grinds, to a large extent, have evolved to accommodate ease of use, rather than to allow the user to enhance their writing using line width variation achieved through nib flexibility, special grinds or a combination of both.  It would seem that the demand is skewed in the direction of more rigid nibs with 'straight-forward', rounded grinds.  

 

This is one of the big reasons why there is so much interest in vintage pen models.  The nibs are spoken of with passion because of their character which translates to more interesting and enjoyable writing.   Although none of my Pelikans have been to a nibmeister, it's not because of a lack of interest.... but more ease of access to the service.  Once you experience a special grind, you will wish to have at least one of the pens from your favourite brand with one, either inherent thanks to its vintage state, or custom.  I don't like sending my pens away unless it's for needed repair, a return or a sale.  All my special grinds have been done at the time of pen preparation before shipping.  I currently don't know of one in the UK that does offers this sort of service for Pelikans and would be happy to hear any suggestions.

 

At work, I do not write in the same way as at home.  The paper quality is unpredictable, and I'm often distracted, even rushed at times.  I'm more thinking about work than enjoying writing perse.  I therefore do not use pens with special grinds and prefer ones that offer good ease of use.  It doesn't matter so much how I hold the pen, so I can write standing, with the paper tilted etc.  An average, modern Pelikan nib grind works well.

[mana]

1 hour ago, SlowMovingTarget said:

One of the things I've been wondering is about the nibs. I hear many people talk about how special they are, and it makes me reticent to have them altered. For something as expensive (and seemingly worthwhile) as a Pelikan pen, I'd been working from the assumption that it I should have it pass by the workbench of a nibmeister before it finds its way to my desk. Yet I have this feeling that I would be changing what Pelikan had produced, if I had a nib turned into a cursive italic, for example.

 

Is that the normal route, though? From Pelikan to nibmeister to regular use?

With new/modern nibs? For those who really care about the experience and feel, yes, it can be very much worth their while (and the associated cost).

So with modern nibs, hey, do carry on and have them tuned or modded to your liking/specs and hearts content. I mean, they are readily available. And does Pelikan of today always get it right? Eeeeeeeh... nope. Especially if your idea of a perfect nib differs from what they thought it should be/offer in stock.

Let me put it this way, if I ordered a modern, more expensive Pelikan I would most definitely have it ground to spec at the retailer that I trust. For example, here in Europe Fritz Schimpf is well know for producing quality work in the form of broader nibs turned into cursive italic ones etc. for new pens when requested so. Also, Appelboom has a wonderful nib specialist, Ms. Anabelle Hiller. She can work her magic on the nib of your choosing (also, IIRC, on pens ordered from them). I do like my crisp Italics and more forgiving Cursive Italics so that would most definitely be the way to go for me for the special pens.

For a regular M200 with a steel nib? Those nibs are pretty great to begin with... and I can tune them to my liking myself.

 

Vintage ones are special. They are not produced anymore so there is limited stock, that once altered, is gone. So no alterations to them, thank you very much.

[maclink]

1 minute ago, mana said:

Also, Appelboom has a wonderful nib specialist, Ms. Anabelle Hiller. She can work her magic on the nib of your choosing (also, IIRC, on pens ordered from them).

Bingo! 

[Bo Bo Olson]

12 minutes ago, maclink said:

At work, I do not write in the same way as at home.  The paper quality is unpredictable, and I'm often distracted, even rushed at times.  I'm more thinking about work than enjoying writing perse.  I therefore do not use pens with special grinds and prefer ones that offer good ease of use.  It doesn't matter so much how I hold the pen, so I can write standing, with the paper tilted etc.  An average, modern Pelikan nib grind works well.

I see the point.

But could see a normal F or M in stubbed semi-flex, in I write just as fast as any other nib...........poor paper ..... could perhaps use a more rounded nib....like a regular flex.

I think  one could well use a nice springy regular flex nib on poor paper if one has a good poor paper ink.

 

Awkward angles of writing materials was not something I had thought of......because back in the Day.....I was still a Ball Point Barbarian. ....and I had free cheap company ball points.

It wasn't a place where I'd wanted a real pen in my pocket, nor leave it on or at my desk.

I was still ignorant of nib Pretzel Benders back then; but could see that happening when doing other department work.

 

Thankfully I'm retired and don't have to worry about the point proven.

[maclink]

29 minutes ago, Bo Bo Olson said:

I see the point.

But could see a normal F or M in stubbed semi-flex, in I write just as fast as any other nib...........poor paper ..... could perhaps use a more rounded nib....like a regular flex.

I think  one could well use a nice springy regular flex nib on poor paper if one has a good poor paper ink.

 

Perhaps, I could do one of these things, which still amounts to a compromise of sorts.  The paper quality can be so compromised that what's needed is predictable ink-flow with no line variation.  One does wonder why I don't simply use a roller ball.  Nah!, with all the compromise, there's still a difference. 🙃 

 

Quote

Awkward angles of writing materials was not something I had thought of......because back in the Day.....I was still a Ball Point Barbarian. ....and I had free cheap company ball points.

It wasn't a place where I'd wanted a real pen in my pocket, nor leave it on or at my desk.

I was still ignorant of nib Pretzel Benders back then; but could see that happening when doing other department work.

 

Thankfully I'm retired and don't have to worry about the point proven.

 

The pandemic has certainly created a lot of opportunity for doing stuff at home that I normally wouldn't.  One such activity is attending online workshops or mini-conferences/symposia.  A few days back I spent the day at home online attending one of them.  I knew that I would likely have to do frequent jottings and decided to continue using an M200 F with Yama Guri ink that I was enjoying.  I would also have control of paper too.  Well, there was a point where I was interacting with a moderator while also writing notes intermittently.  It was relatively intense and after the second note with the M200 (I found myself sort of saying in my head, 'I need a pen that just rights "), I quickly switched pens to using my M205 with a F nib inked with Platinum pigmented black.  That ink/nib performance provided that extra non-fussy performance that allowed for quick jotting without you having to give it your full, or, uncomfortably, too much of your attention for it to happen.

 

I do think a nice FP, with a nice special grind that makes it worthwhile to watch your penmanship as much as the actual words and their meaning, makes for a form of meditation.  Makes for nice justification for our little hobby doesn't it? 

[SlowMovingTarget]

2 minutes ago, maclink said:

 

Perhaps, I could do one of these things, which still amounts to a compromise of sorts.  The paper quality can be so compromised that what's needed is predictable ink-flow with no line variation.  One does wonder why I don't simply use a roller ball.  Nah!, with all the compromise, there's still a difference. 🙃 

 

 

The pandemic has certainly created a lot of opportunity for doing stuff at home that I normally wouldn't.  One such activity is attending online workshops or mini-conferences/symposia.  A few days back I spent the day at home online attending one of them.  I knew that I would likely have to do frequent jottings and decided to continue using an M200 F with Yama Guri ink that I was enjoying.  I would also have control of paper too.  Well, there was a point where I was interacting with a moderator while also writing notes intermittently.  It was relatively intense and after the second note with the M200 (I found myself sort of saying in my head, 'I need a pen that just rights "), I quickly switched pens to using my M205 with a F nib inked with Platinum pigmented black.  That ink/nib performance provided that extra non-fussy performance that allowed for quick jotting.

 

I do think a nice FP, with a nice special grind that makes it worthwhile to watch your penmanship as much as the actual words and their meaning, makes for a form of meditation.  Makes for nice justification for our little hobby doesn't it? 

I work entirely from home at the moment. That means dozens of meetings over Zoom. But it also means I take roughly three pages of notes per day on an average day. At the moment, I use Red 'n' Black spiral-bound notebooks with Optik paper, and they are reasonably good for fountain pens. They lay flat, and there's usually no bleed through, and no show through. That means both sides of the page may be used. Drying is an issue with some inks.

 

Aside from my day job, my use of fountain pens includes journaling, and fiction writing. Maybe that means two different Pelikans, an m200 for work, and an m805 or m1000 for that novel I will totally write any minute now. The best pen I own, at the moment, is a Lamy 2000, and I'm looking to step up. The two obvious directions in the short term were a Pilot Custom 823 and Pelikan.

[stoen]

16 hours ago, mana said:

My Pelikans evoke feelings of joy, contentment and happiness in me. Why, indeed, they do!

Thanks for putting this thread back on track. 

 

As for the nibs, I’ve had literally dozens of pre-war 100 & 100N models in my hands and all of them had great nibs in many ways. Yet, all of them were not what I was looking for in a vintage Pelikan. It is normal, since back then they’ve also been made to meet various demands.

What I also found empirically, all these nibs (I’m writing only of those well preserved) had kind of personality. It may have had to do with them having been used, but I’ve never come across two nibs of the same type behaving quite the same. I was looking for a particular combination of resistance, springiness and angle control. Those I found closest match are now with me.

 

In general, the nibs I suspect having been outsourced or made in-house before 1937 caught my special attention.🙂

 

I’ve also started a thread about early Pelikan nibs made by Montblanc, which got many worthy comments & ontributions from FPN members.

[inkstainedruth]

On 3/3/2021 at 7:26 AM, Bo Bo Olson said:

Yes, Virginia, pens use to smell new, once upon a time, just like Santa's sled....well lets leave that subject before the sled starts flying and has a new non-plastic smell to it.

For some reason, this reminded me of an episode of the old TV show Vega$.  

Tony Curtis's character, the owner or manager of the hotel/casino on the Strip that was the setting for most of the story lines (and the detective, Dan Tanna, lived in a bungalow behind) was having a new limousine delivered from the dealership.  And the guy completely freaked out when the "around the block" test drive caused the vehicle's value to depreciate 20% in the space of just a few minutes....  

@stoen -- the relevance (at least as far as Noodler's pens -- I have no experience with Ranga) is that some models are, like most Pelikans, piston fillers.  

I have and like both most of my Noodler's pens and my Pelikans.  But my Noodler's Konrads cost me less money combined -- (*including* two early resin ones I lost) than my 1990s era M400 Brown Tortoise.  And when you're an ink junkie like me, having multiple inexpensive but well behaving pens that write well (mine do) is not a bad thing.  And if I lose one?  Well, I'm annoyed but don't start hyperventilating like I did the time I lost my M400 Stresemann while on vacation a few years ago; I got lucky and it got turned into Lost and Found at the campground, but that isn't always going to be the case.

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

 

[A Smug Dill]

7 hours ago, SlowMovingTarget said:

Is that the normal route, though? From Pelikan to nibmeister to regular use?

 

For me, it depends on whether the nib work can be done prior to my new pen being dispatched to me from the retailer, and how much the nib customisation charges are as a percentage of the (stock) pen model's street price. I wouldn't say it's the normal or common process, though.

 

Pelikan M2xx steel nibs are generally good as they are, and there's no need to have work done on them. All the same, because replacement M2xx nib units are (or were!) relatively cheap to buy from Cult Pens, I was happy to buy quite a few and try my own hand at regrinding them to Stub and/or Italic nibs.

 

I picked up my M400 White-Tortoiseshell and (especially the) Tortoiseshell-Brown at very good discounted prices, and with free international delivery no less, so it wasn't worth paying 40%–50% more to have a nibmeister work on their nibs before I received the pens. No, I wasn't really happy with how those gold nibs wrote, and so eventually I fixed them myself.

 

However, The Nibsmith (generally) includes nib customisation work in the asking prices of its >US$300 pens, and so by the time I get to an M600 Vibrant Orange (quite heavily discounted at the time from The Nibsmith, even though it wasn't exactly the cheapest price at which I could get the pen off a different retailer), I thought I may as well take advantage and ask for the nib to be modified as part and parcel of the purchase, which implicitly includes the retailer's guarantee on the nib work.

[stoen]

On 3/4/2021 at 10:50 PM, inkstainedruth said:

 

@stoen -- the relevance (at least as far as Noodler's pens -- I have no experience with Ranga) is that some models are, like most Pelikans, piston fillers.  

I have and like both most of my Noodler's pens and my Pelikans.

Hi,

Does this mean that someone’s writing about Pelikans in a “Why Pelikan” thread may be regarded as showing disrespect for Noodlers? Hope it doesn’t.

🙂

I appreciate and respect every taste, opinion and argument. That said, I’ve also had a MB149 for 40+ years and I like it, and was lucky not to have it lost, stolen or damaged. Yet I don’t write about it in a “Why Pelikan” thread, because my idea of my being on-topic may be somewhat on the conservative side, with due respect to different ideas. Hope I’m not receiving criticism for that.

🙂

We all know that handwriting nowadays means something else than it meant 30 years ago. I understand quite a few pen brands with long history, including Pelikan are nowadays marketed and treated as luxury objects if new or as collectible items if vintage, which is a problem and requires a bit of “getting around”, possibly also a bit of knowledge and passion to find a great pen for a fair price. This is a downside from user’s point of view, but IMHO, not specific to Pelikan but to a whole bunch of “historical” pen maker brands who had to somehow manage surviving in a digital age.

 

I see “New Age” companies, like some established 2004, basing their market appeal on a modern set of ideas, such as environment friendliness, sustainability, affordability, ball-point alternative, and I believe it is fair that they do so in times past the golden age of handwriting culture.. 

 

Yet, I find Pelikans of their own “golden age” especially good because the company somehow managed to continously successfully combine mass production with innovation, durability and outstanding craftmanship for 60+ years. The fact that there are still many more of their vintage pens around makes them attractive to me. About their new models and historical reissues I cannot judge, cause I don’t have them. They mostly sell for beyond what I can afford.

 

Hope this can contribute to the thread. Thanks for reading...