Jump to content

Collecting Antique Fountain Pens

gibsonworks

By gibsonworks
in Fountain & Dip Pens - First Stop

 Share

Recommended Posts

gibsonworks NOS (New Old Stock)

gibsonworks

Posted
Posted

Hello

I am not sure where I "heard" that black fountain pens are not considered collectible and/or as valuable as other pen colors. Is this true? Thanks.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
  • Replies 12
  • Created
  • Last Reply

Top Posters In This Topic

  • gibsonworks

    6

  • inkstainedruth

    2

  • Bristol24

    2

  • ParramattaPaul

    1

Popular Days

Top Posters In This Topic

Popular Days

inkstainedruth Ancient Artifact

inkstainedruth

Posted
Posted

Well, I have one Sheaffer Snorkel that FOUR people tried to buy off me at a pen show a few years ago -- INCLUDING the guy who did the rehab on it.  Of course, that was likely more because of the nib.... :rolleyes:

And of course there's the "Black Pen Society".  I'm not a member, BTW -- but I somehow keep finding vintage and semi-vintage pens that are black....

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

"It's very nice, but frankly, when I signed that list for a P-51, what I had in mind was a fountain pen."

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Bristol24 Vintage

Bristol24

Posted
Posted
6 hours ago, gibsonworks said:

Hello

I am not sure where I "heard" that black fountain pens are not considered collectible and/or as valuable as other pen colors. Is this true? Thanks.

No.  Not hardly.  Early fountain pens were nearly all black. I collect pens from the 1930s.  Pick virtually any pen from that period and you can pretty much rest assured that it was offered in black.  Pursue your tastes.  Black can be an elegant color for a pen.

 

Cliff

“The only thing most people do better than anyone else is read their own handwriting.”  John Adams

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Bristol24 Vintage

Bristol24

Posted
Posted
15 hours ago, gibsonworks said:

Thanks, Cliff.

 

You are quite welcome!  If I can find the time, perhaps later this week, I will gather all of my black, vintage pens together and photograph them as a group, and then post them to this thread.  They're nothing spectacular but include a 1927 Sheaffer Flat Top, a 1930's "dollar pen", a few Parkers (51s, 45s, 21s, Parkette) and some others.

 

Cliff

“The only thing most people do better than anyone else is read their own handwriting.”  John Adams

Link to comment
Share on other sites
ParramattaPaul Antique

ParramattaPaul

Posted
Posted

My small collection of vintage British pens has more black pens than the others put together. Why? I like black pens, and I suspect most people in the 1920s, '30s, and '40s did as well. Hence more black pens from that era were made, and as a result, more are available (and perhaps cheaper) now.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
inkstainedruth Ancient Artifact

inkstainedruth

Posted
Posted

It could be that black was easier to get/make than to change things around to using other colors of rodstock.

Of course I'm now minded of the old Ford adage about the Model T: "You can have any color you want, as long as it's black...."

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

"It's very nice, but frankly, when I signed that list for a P-51, what I had in mind was a fountain pen."

Link to comment
Share on other sites
amberleadavis Pen Dust

amberleadavis

Posted
Posted

Besides at several of the fountain pen shows, I've found the group, The Black Pen Society.  If you like black pens, then go for it!

Fountain pens are my preferred COLOR DELIVERY SYSTEM (in part because crayons melt in Las Vegas).

Create a Ghostly Avatar and I'll send you a letter. Check out some Ink comparisons: The Great PPS Comparison 

Don't know where to start?  Look at the Inky Topics O'day.  Then, see inks sorted by color: Blue Purple Brown Red Green Dark Green Orange Black Pinks Yellows Blue-Blacks Grey/Gray UVInks Turquoise/Teal MURKY

 

 

 

 

 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
 Share
Go to topic listing

  • Most Contributions

    1. amberleadavis
      amberleadavis
      43844
    2. PAKMAN
      PAKMAN
      33553
    3. Ghost Plane
      Ghost Plane
      28220
    4. inkstainedruth
      inkstainedruth
      26724
    5. jar
      jar
      26101

  • Upcoming Events

  • Blog Comments

    • Shanghai Knife Dude
      Links to web pages or articles about Chinese typesetting, signwriting, etc.

      By Shanghai Knife Dude · Posted

      I have the Sailor Naginata and some fancy blade nibs coming after 2022 by a number of new workshop from China.  With all my respect, IMHO, they are all (bleep) in doing chinese characters.  Go use a bush, or at least a bush pen. 
    • A Smug Dill
      Skeleton of a primer for a budding hobbyist

      By A Smug Dill · Posted

      It is the reason why I'm so keen on the idea of a personal library — of pens, nibs, inks, paper products, etc. — and spent so much money, as well as time and effort, to “build” it for myself (because I can't simply remember everything, especially as I'm getting older fast) and my wife, so that we can “know”; and, instead of just disposing of what displeased us, or even just not good enough to be “given the time of day” against competition from >500 other pens and >500 other inks for our at
    • adamselene
      Skeleton of a primer for a budding hobbyist

      By adamselene · Posted

      Agreed.  And I think it’s good to be aware of this early on and think about at the point of buying rather than rationalizing a purchase..
    • A Smug Dill
      Skeleton of a primer for a budding hobbyist

      By A Smug Dill · Posted

      Alas, one cannot know “good” without some idea of “bad” against which to contrast; and, as one of my former bosses (back when I was in my twenties) used to say, “on the scale of good to bad…”, it's a spectrum, not a dichotomy. Whereas subjectively acceptable (or tolerable) and unacceptable may well be a dichotomy to someone, and finding whether the threshold or cusp between them lies takes experiencing many degrees of less-than-ideal, especially if the decision is somehow influenced by factors o
    • adamselene
      Skeleton of a primer for a budding hobbyist

      By adamselene · Posted

      I got my first real fountain pen on my 60th birthday and many hundreds of pens later I’ve often thought of what I should’ve known in the beginning. I have many pens, the majority of which have some objectionable feature. If they are too delicate, or can’t be posted, or they are too precious to face losing , still they are users, but only in very limited environments..  I have a big disliking for pens that have the cap jump into the air and fly off. I object to Pens that dry out, or leave blobs o

  • Chatbox

    You don't have permission to chat.
    Load More

  • Files






×
×
  • Create New...