Pens and Paper

Yes, you can mail a pigeon!

I just love it when one way-cool find leads me to an even way-cooler find, and that was the case with this stationery. Having some time in Texas to explore Austin, I happened upon a store that carried some neat writing paper. I bought one set made to look like old-fashioned telegrams, and then after humming and hawing, said what the hell, I'll buy the one with the Letter Writers Alliance imprint, mostly because the pencil was neat. (Yes, I bought a few other items, too. It's an illness.)

After checking the URL on the pencil (I know, the irony ...) it turns out there really is a Letter Writers Alliance, which includes pen pal listings, a blog, some really nice cards and writing paper, and a carrier pigeon. Yes, really. It's a plastic pigeon that's legal to send through the U.S. mail, providing you put the proper amount of postage on it. It doesn't get any better than that. To find out more, visit the website.

New York looks at pens!

I missed Fountain Pen Hospital's Spring Pen Expo, but a New York radio station didn't. You can read all about it - and hear the broadcast - by clicking here.

Wedgewood: A cameo appearance by a pen

It's funny how our minds work. I was raised by my grandparents, but life with my grandmother wasn't always rosy. Still, I have some very good memories too, and I always remember her Wedgewood cameo brooch. She wanted one so badly, and so she saved up some money and went to the jewellery store and bought one.

I don't know what happened to it after she died, but I always remembered it fondly. I thought it was so pretty. I'd love to have one today, but I'm not even really sure where I'd buy one, or when I'd ever wear it. And so it was quite the day when I discovered the Wedgewood fountain pen.

I'm not sure if Wedgewood actually makes it, although all the paperwork that came with it uses that name. It's very heavy, and it has that same matte enamel finish on it, and the same colors, as my grandma's cameo pin. You can get a brown version, too, but I had to have the blue one. It writes beautifully, but that's just a bonus. I finally got my cameo. And when I pick it up, I remember the good times.

Fountain pens: Each one's a character

They may be inanimate objects, but fountain pens seem to have their personality quirks. This came to me the other day when I inked my Conklin, shown in the photo.

Although it's a good-looking pen - and a nice large one, at six inches capped - it always frustrated me. It writes "wet," which I really like, and its nib is firm but never scratchy, but I seldom used it because it dries up so quickly. Nothing's more aggravating than putting a pen to paper and nothing happens.

Well, it's back to being one of my favorites again, because I discovered its quirk. I usually leave my pens lying horizontally on my desk, but I figured since this one had an ink-flow problem, I'd see what gravity could make of it. Sure enough, when stored standing on its head, this Conklin doesn't miss a beat, depositing a line from the moment it touches the paper.

Others prefer to be left on their sides or with their nibs facing skyward, and of course I have my list of "no-fly" pens, which respond to airplane pressure changes by coughing up gobs of ink. What quirks have you found with some of your pens?

A visit to Fountain Pen Hospital

I should have taken my camera for a picture, but I was walking and so I wanted to travel light ... I'm in New York for the New York Auto Show. I've been buying pens by mail order from Fountain Pen Hospital for many years, but this is the first time I've been near the showroom. (The odd name is because the company, which is now 65 years old, started out primarily repairing pens.)

Okay, it was a half-hour walk, but I had to see it. What a great store. Nice people, lots of good pens, great service. I was going to buy one pen. I bought two. Hey, if I'm in the neighborhood, I might as well stock up.

You can visit them online at Fountain Pen Hospital.

A clean pen is a happy pen!

As we all know, fountain pens have to be squeaky-clean if they're going to work properly. Whenever one of mine finishes its supply of ink, it goes for a bath, and that's where that odd couple in the photo comes in.

The plastic container is actually a denture bath, and it's great because it includes a little tray inside. I can put the nib in for soaking, and then lift it out with the tray and rinse everything under running water. The blue bulb is a rubber ear syringe, which I fill with cool water and use to flush the nib section until all of the ink is gone. The best part is that the whole rig is available at any drug store, for less than ten bucks!

Welcome, pen fans!

I'd been including pens and paper in another blog, and finally decided that my obsession deserved a sheet of its own. I love pens, especially fountain pens, and I love good-quality paper, and I love people who love pens.

I've copied some of my older posts from my other blog below (which is why the dates don't line up), and in future I hope to share all sorts of information, tips, and collecting information with like-minded people.

Welcome!

Franklin-Christoph: A very impressive fountain pen

I'd only heard about North Carolina-based pen company Franklin-Christoph through Pen World magazine, but I loved the look of its Model 25 Eclipse - a neat little nib, an elegant body and the part that really caught my eye, a cap that slips under the clip for writing.

The company only sells directly to the public, and I hadn't seen the pen in person or written with one. But you never know until you try, I thought. I'm glad I took the plunge. The company's customer service is excellent, and best of all, the pen is lovely. The ink flows immediately and it writes like cream. Go over to the company's site and check it out for yourself.

Pens are best ... BMW says so!

I don't usually get pen-related press releases from automakers, but a recent one from BMW made me sit up and take notice. The company actually surveyed Germans on their pen habits and released the BMW Handwritten Beauty Survey. (The company makes very nice cars, but could use some work on its titles.)

Of those surveyed, 52% overall enjoy writing by hand. Among women, 62% enjoy writing by hand, and 82% are especially happy to receive something handwritten. Among both men and women, only 10.5% believe that an email or text message would make the same impression as a handwritten note.

Among professional groups, public officials rely on handwriting the most, at 62%.

Only 5% of those surveyed reach for a fountain pen when they need to write something, but 57.4% liked the idea of either giving or receiving one as a gift. The numbers were even higher for women alone, who also said they believe handwriting is significantly more attractive when done with a fountain pen.

Liquid ink may even have properties we never imagined. Of those couples still married, more than half said they signed their marriage certificates with a fountain pen. Of those widowed, divorced or separated, 36% couldn't remember what type of writing instrument they used.

That said, when people reach for pens, it's usually a fleeting moment. While only 39.5% prefer to write letters by hand, 89% use a pen for jotting notes as reminders. Despite all the phones, laptops and devices we carry, 71% of people regularly have "something to write with" on them, and 83% of independent professionals rely on pen and paper when they're away from their desks. Electronic may be easy, but ink is inevitable.

My "new" old mechanical pencil

 When I was in Vermont a couple of weeks ago (before the flooding), I visited an antique store in Waterbury and found this Wahl Eversharp gold-filled mechanical pencil, which I bought for $6.00.

They're relatively common, but it's a nice pencil, even if I'm still trying to figure it out. I managed to dislodge a piece of old lead in it and the mechanism still works, but I've not yet figured it out. I managed to get some new lead into it and it will write, but the lead is off-center and obviously there's a better way of filling it than the way I'm doing it.

I suspect some of the problem may be that Wahl had refills specific to its products and since the company's no longer around, the leads aren't either. If anyone has experience with these, let me know. I've seen online guides that show leads being filled into the mechanism through a V-shaped slot, but mine doesn't seem to work the same way.