Pelikan Pelikano

July 12, 2021

I found this fountain pen in a drawer. The cap is broken, one part is completely missing. The plastic of the grip was so sticky that none of my cleaning actions brought any success. I therefore taped a washi tape around it.
Likewise, I wrapped the cap with the same washi.

The cap practically doesn't hold anymore, so there is nowhere to take the fountain pen: The cap would fall off immediately.

I therefore only use this fountain pen at home. It just sits there and when I want to write something, it is immediately ready: although the cap no longer closes airtight, this fountain pen writes immediately. Always.
I'm surprised, because I once had a Parker IM, a real disaster, which never wrote. It was always dried out.

This Pelikan Pelikano is of course beneath the dignity of all fountain pen users, and no one compliments me on this great fountain pen and praises my good taste and exquisite aesthetics.

The nib glides wonderfully smoothly and softly over the paper, but that is probably due to decades of wear: All the burrs have now ground off and even polished.

I'm quite glad that I can't take this Pelikano into any business meetings, because I would be ashamed of it, and even more ashamed of the fact that I'm ashamed: What standards of others do I think I have to live up to that I bend myself like this?

That's why this pelicano is a memorial of self-knowledge to me, always reminding me of my immaturity, a memento of enslavement to others' opinions about me. This pelicano shows me quite drastically how dependent I am and how duck-mouse-like I live.

Some people book expensive self-knowledge seminars for this insight.
I found one - completely free of charge - in a drawer.
The fate means it well with me. Thank you Pelikano!

July 12, 2021

I got a used 1980s era (I think) Pelikano at a pen show a few years ago (I think it was aimed for kids and the kids' scavenger hunt). The pen broke awhile back at the juncture of the ink window and the barrel. I was completely bummed, because it was a very nice writer -- a nail, but an incredibly smooth nail. And I paid five bucks US for it.

If you got yours to write, good for you. :thumbup: So what if it stays in the house? Write with it at home. Cherish it for the memories and the awesome writing experience. And who cares what other people think?

Don't know where you're located, but there's a lovely children's book that comes to mind, called The Velveteen Rabbit. If you can track down a copy (not sure if it's available as a .pdf or not) I recommend reading it -- even if it *is* a kids' book. Because it says so much about what is REALLY important and not just what you might *think* is "important" -- or what other people might TELL you is "important".

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

July 12, 2021

These Pelikano Junior pens are wonderful writers! I have one permanently on my desk. I sealed the small hole at the rear of the barrel with finger nail polish, stuck an O-ring around the nib section and filled it with ink eye-dropper style. Had I used grease on the nib unit threads the O-ring might not have been necessary.

I used one with my travel journal for many years. Were it not for the aesthetics, always a part of our pen enjoyment, the Pelikano Junior would be my only pen.

You might also like a Pelikan pen marketed to young-adults--- the Pelikan Go! Its a piston filler and another good writer.

My guess is that Pelikan puts a Kugel (ball) nib on their pens aimed at youngsters. This would explain the smooth writing characteristics of both.

July 13, 2021

Personally, I don't mind using cheaper pens and wouldn't mind using a Pelikano. I simply don't own one

I have used baby powder on older pens to get rid of that problem of sticky silicone. I have also used baking flour to the same effect.

July 18, 2021

In a desperate attempt to help my stroke-ridden grandfather practice his writing, I bought a bright green Pelikano.

Unfortunately, he was too far gone. He wrote for a bit and smiled, but for the rest of his hospital visit he was asleep.

In tthe nearby cafe, I was working in a crossword when two brothers at a nearby table were doing their homework. I offered the pen, and passed it along to them with blessings. I hope it still gets use, eleven years down the road now.

You have, there, a secret, interesting, customized pen that you have brought back to life. Bring it into your meetings and roll your eyes at all those with boutique-purchased, off-the-shelf, bog-standard black pens.

I love the washi tape. Great idea!