Hello From Brooklyn New York

[Bklynjava]

Great site tons of information. I look forward to contributing and sharing as I'm kinda new to the Fountain Pen Arena. I just started buying and its very addicting. 

You can see by my Profile Pic - Montblanc has me captivated, I love them all. This is my quick intro.  Happy to join!

 

 

[OCArt]

[Misfit]

Welcome to the community. 

[Bklynjava]

Thanks for the warm welcome  

[Wahl]

[inkstainedruth]

@Bklynjava Greetings from Pittsburgh!  

What part of Brooklyn?  I lived in the bottom end of Rockland County when I was little (really close to the NJ state line), then grew up in the top end of Westchester County.  Some year I'd like to go to Yoseka Stationery (my sister-in-law lives in Manhattan, and I can probably get there on the subway, or at least close to it), but this year the timing (and the weather) did not cooperate, and so I didn't get to make my annual "pilgrimage" to Fountain Pen Hospital.

I usually suggest that new folks here click on the "New Content" button when they log in (you can adjust how much/often it refreshes) -- and NOT do what I did when I first found my way here, which was to read the Parker Forum.  ALL of it....  Back then it was 175 PAGES of threads, and of course it's larger now.  And to check out the pinned Index to the Ink Reviews (I'm convinced we live in the "Golden Age" of ink, with new companies popping up all over the globe) even though some of the old images were lost after the "Great Photobucket Hijack" a number of years ago (a few people here  have kindly taken it upon themselves to try to resurrect the old images as much as possible).

But I ALSO warn people that they have found themselves amidst a den of enablers, who will be more than happy to help them spend their discretionary budgets on pens, inks, paper, desk accessories, repair tools, ephemera, and pen shows....  

Have fun here, and remember -- the only dumb questions are the ones that don't get asked.  I'm constantly amazed at the depth and breadth of knowledge to be found here (and not JUST pen-related at that!) and the generosity of the members in the sharing of that knowledge.

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

[Bklynjava]

27 minutes ago, inkstainedruth said:

@Bklynjava Greetings from Pittsburgh!  

What part of Brooklyn?  I lived in the bottom end of Rockland County when I was little (really close to the NJ state line), then grew up in the top end of Westchester County.  Some year I'd like to go to Yoseka Stationery (my sister-in-law lives in Manhattan, and I can probably get there on the subway, or at least close to it), but this year the timing (and the weather) did not cooperate, and so I didn't get to make my annual "pilgrimage" to Fountain Pen Hospital.

I usually suggest that new folks here click on the "New Content" button when they log in (you can adjust how much/often it refreshes) -- and NOT do what I did when I first found my way here, which was to read the Parker Forum.  ALL of it....  Back then it was 175 PAGES of threads, and of course it's larger now.  And to check out the pinned Index to the Ink Reviews (I'm convinced we live in the "Golden Age" of ink, with new companies popping up all over the globe) even though some of the old images were lost after the "Great Photobucket Hijack" a number of years ago (a few people here  have kindly taken it upon themselves to try to resurrect the old images as much as possible).

But I ALSO warn people that they have found themselves amidst a den of enablers, who will be more than happy to help them spend their discretionary budgets on pens, inks, paper, desk accessories, repair tools, ephemera, and pen shows....  

Have fun here, and remember -- the only dumb questions are the ones that don't get asked.  I'm constantly amazed at the depth and breadth of knowledge to be found here (and not JUST pen-related at that!) and the generosity of the members in the sharing of that knowledge.

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

Thanks for the warm welcome Ruth. I appreciate all the info and heads up on the den of enablers. lol I'll have to get over to the FPH and Yoseka one day. I'm still pretty new but I learn quick.   

[Mark from Yorkshire]

[KingsCountyWriter]

Hey Neighbor! Welcome!

[PAKMAN]

Hello and Welcome to FPN!! So glad to have you as a member!!

[welch]

On 12/30/2025 at 6:38 PM, Bklynjava said:

Great site tons of information. I look forward to contributing and sharing as I'm kinda new to the Fountain Pen Arena. I just started buying and its very addicting. 

You can see by my Profile Pic - Montblanc has me captivated, I love them all. This is my quick intro.  Happy to join!

 

 

 

Welcome from Washington Heights, better known as Upstate Manhattan. 

 

My advice, and I started writing with a fountain pen in the late 1950s: slow down before you buy another pen. It is a writing instrument, one that relaxes the hand. Buy sparingly, and, if you can, only after trying a pen. Join the Big Apple Pen Club (BAPC), where people show off their favorites and are delighted if someone wants to dip-test one. And people will answer questions.

 

After years of writing with ball-points and using a mouse (I'm a "software engineer"), my hand had fallen apart. Writing with a fountain pen was like physical therapy. (It helped that I had become senior enough that I wrote words on notebooks rather than code on sloppy printer-paper)

 

Eventually, I settled on four or five different Parker 51s, "vintage-pens". Before then, I spent too much on pens that now sit in pen cases in the closet or in coffee mugs at the back of my desk. And there is the risk and the reason to get advice and test before buying, and to join BAPC.

 

As a member named Bobo always says, the writing experience is a mix of pen, ink, and paper. Change one and everything is different. There are useful subsections on ink and paper here, as well.

[Bklynjava]

@welch Thank you, I appreciate all the advice. It’s great to have someone with your experience share your knowledge. I will check out the BAPC and see about joining.   

[AkitaMom]

Aloha and Hauoli Makahiki Hou ( Hello, and Happy New Year) Bklynjava! 

[inkstainedruth]

@Bklynjava -- FPN member welch's advice is very sound.  A year or so back, when the Lamy SoHo store was still open, I went in there to try a Lamy Studio, because I liked how they looked.  But the pen was just a little too heavy for me to be comfortable to use .  So I ended up buying one of the Lamy al-Star "Harry Potter" series pens -- the original ones with the engraved designs on the barrel, not the ones with the shields on the clip -- instead.  And of course I think I ended up paying as much or MORE than I would have for the Studio  -- but the "Ravenclaw" pen caught my eye and of course I have a bunch of Safaris and al-Stars so I know that they're comfortable for me to use.

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

[KingsCountyWriter]

On 1/1/2026 at 9:47 PM, inkstainedruth said:

When the Lamy SoHo store was still open...

That store was so small compared to the real estate that they occupied! Two customers and it felt cramped!

[Bklynjava]

On 1/1/2026 at 9:47 PM, inkstainedruth said:

@Bklynjava -- FPN member welch's advice is very sound.  A year or so back, when the Lamy SoHo store was still open, I went in there to try a Lamy Studio, because I liked how they looked.  But the pen was just a little too heavy for me to be comfortable to use .  So I ended up buying one of the Lamy al-Star "Harry Potter" series pens -- the original ones with the engraved designs on the barrel, not the ones with the shields on the clip -- instead.  And of course I think I ended up paying as much or MORE than I would have for the Studio  -- but the "Ravenclaw" pen caught my eye and of course I have a bunch of Safaris and al-Stars so I know that they're comfortable for me to use.

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

Hi Ruth, I took a look at the various Lamy models. Very nice indeed quite a few are sold out though. I think I will buy one just to see how it feels, plus I am a Potter fan as well.  On another note I looked up the shops, Yoseka and The Fountain Pen Hospital both within a stones throw. I will definitely have to stop in there one day.  Overall I just started this Fountain Pen journey in December and I have 8 pens already.

Edited January 3 by Bklynjava

[inkstainedruth]

4 hours ago, KingsCountyWriter said:

That store was so small compared to the real estate that they occupied! Two customers and it felt cramped!

Yeah, but it was fairly convenient, since I was taking the subway down from Midtown and then hitting there on the way back from FPH....  

And I've been in smaller stores....

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

[welch]

On 1/3/2026 at 11:02 AM, Bklynjava said:

Hi Ruth, I took a look at the various Lamy models. Very nice indeed quite a few are sold out though. I think I will buy one just to see how it feels, plus I am a Potter fan as well.  On another note I looked up the shops, Yoseka and The Fountain Pen Hospital both within a stones throw. I will definitely have to stop in there one day.  Overall I just started this Fountain Pen journey in December and I have 8 pens already.

 

Go to Fountain Pen Hospital! It is about the last fountain pen store in NYC, and we should support it. The people there know pens and will answer questions, which makes FPH a better place than buying something on-line. 

 

The few other places I know:

 

Kinokuniya, a Japanese book, paper, stationery store that also sells fountain pens. It is on 6th Avenue about 43rd Street, across from Bryant Park. Great for Japanese paper, and especially for Japanese "one-dose" pens. Those are inexpensive cartridge pens, like Platinum Preppy. Kinokuniya would prefer you buy their more expensive Japanese pens, like Sailor or Pilot. Mainly a store for beautiful Japanese paper, noteboooks, journal, and such. (As well as books)

 

I don't know Yoseka...ah, it's in Greenpoint! Never been there, but it looks a delight. (I don't know Brooklyn, other than Park Slope, where our daughter lives, and the numbered streets and avenues around it)

 

Janoff's Stationery, about 112th Street and Broadway. Morningside Heights. Important art supply store near Columbia; also caries a selection of good fountain pens, inks, and notebooks. 

 

 

[inkstainedruth]

Thanks for the info!  I didn't know about those two stores you mentioned.  Not sure when I'm getting to NYC next (we didn't go away for Christmas this year) but I'm definitely going to keep them in mind, if and when I do get to the city next).  

There used to be some other places in Manhattan as well, but don't know if those stores are still open.  And I did get to Art Brown's once or twice, back when that place still existed.

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

[KingsCountyWriter]

On 1/5/2026 at 1:03 PM, welch said:

Go to Fountain Pen Hospital! It is about the last fountain pen store in NYC, and we should support it. The people there know pens and will answer questions, which makes FPH a better place than buying something on-line. 

 

FPH is a shell of their former selves, and they are not the only game in town. In addition to the listed stores, niconeco zakkaya, Goods for the Study (multiple locations), Kinokuniya, and even some Blick branches carry fountain pens. There are are also a few Montblanc boutiques, a flagship on Madison and a Pineider flagship at Rockefeller Center.  FPH ownership has changed and their service has fallen further down. There is no need to support them if they don't improve their business practices.