Fountain Pens – Excerpt from Time Magazine (January 2, 1928)

The grace and attractiveness of desk sets added this autumn to the holiday madness through which fountain pen manufacturers pass at the end of each year. For some reason the retail sellers of the pens & pencils always underestimate their holiday trade. Stocks run low; telegrams and long distance telephone talks beg for shipments. 

Out of last week’s pandemonium boomed a happy note from Fort Madison, Iowa, headquarters of the W. A. Sheaffer Pen Co. Walter A. Sheaffer, now 61 years old, had been a prosperous jeweler there 15 years ago. In all merchants prosperity and alertness are not concomitants. In Mr. Sheaffer they were. He organized his fountain pen company; hired skilled salesmen, skilled advertisement writers. They wrought as he expected. Last spring the 9,734 shares in the company were each worth $100. Last week a buyer was obliged to pay $852 for a share, and Mr. Sheaffer sent word to stockholders that they had best assemble in Fort Madison at once to change their capitalization from the 9,734 shares to 20 times that amount (194,680). The change is to distribute their vast profits in a thinner, more seemly layer.

Read the full text of the article, which briefly traces the history of writing from an ancient man with a piece of chipped flint to the invention of hard rubber “eyedropper” pens by Lewis E. Waterman, at Fountain Pens.

Filed under: Uncategorized, eyedropper, fountain pens, Lewis E. Waterman, Sheaffer, Time Magazine

A Few Interesting Pens from Parafernalia – What Else Did You Expect?

I am not really a ballpen person anymore.  It’s almost always a fountain pen for me, but, there are those times when I have to fill out a form in duplicate, etc. so I am forced to use a ballpen (I try a rollerball, if at all possible).

Most people are familiar with Parafernalia‘s best known pen, the Revolution.  These very clever people have developed some new, equally revolutionary designs – the FALTER 2D  which is not only a pen in an assembly kit but also a ruler and a pen holder. The pen is constructed in four easy steps and the PATENT 1 which is derived from the on the simplification of the mechanisms of insertion and extraction of the refill.

If you are interested in cool and innovative design, check out these and the many other pens (like the Clipper – which is now available in a transparent limited edition (the Clipper Soft Touch) that comes in white, grey, and orange so that you can see its internal mechanism (think demonstrator fountain pen)) on their homepage.

Filed under: Uncategorized, Clipper, Clipper Soft Touch, Falter2D, Parafernalia, Patent1, Revolution

Brain Food

Nice little ditty on the importance of fountain pens and your memory.

Brain Food

Filed under: Uncategorized

Support Our Troops

If there is anyone on this earth who deserves our support (all year round) it is the brave women and men of our Canadian Forces.

Help them out any way that you can. Please.

Pens for Canadian Peacekeepers

Support our Troops

Filed under: Uncategorized

Mondo Demonstrator!

One of the best places to check out fountain pens (and buy them, of course) is Fountain Pen Hospital . My favourite place on their site is the Latest Arrivals section which is exactly what it suggests – what’s new, exciting and the next big thing in the pen world.

One of the coolest new pens to appear in the Latest Arrivals section is a demonstrator by Krone called the Clarity. It comes in three colours – Polar (blue), Tropic (red) and Gobi (yellow).

Wow – I love the bold band of colour along the bottom of the cap with the matching crest on the clip! A typical Krone pen, it captures your attention and holds it (in this case, anyway). With a price under $300, one of these will be making its way to my desk as soon as they become available (sometime in October). Check out FPH or your favourite Krone dealer.

Filed under: Uncategorized

Mondo Demonstrator!

One of the best places to check out fountain pens (and buy them, of course) is Fountain Pen Hospital . My favourite place on their site is the Latest Arrivals section which is exactly what it suggests – what’s new, exciting and the next big thing in the pen world.

One of the coolest new pens to appear in the Latest Arrivals section is a demonstrator by Krone called the Clarity. It comes in three colours – Polar (blue), Tropic (red) and Gobi (yellow).

Wow – I love the bold band of colour along the bottom of the cap with the matching crest on the clip! A typical Krone pen, it captures your attention and holds it (in this case, anyway). With a price under $300, one of these will be making its way to my desk as soon as they become available (sometime in October). Check out FPH or your favourite Krone dealer.

Filed under: Uncategorized

Update on Whitelines Paper

My recent post here and on the Fountain Pen Network about whitelines has generated significant interest about the paper. I included a test scan in the FPN post.

In the meantime, it appears that a number of other fountain pen people have since acquired some and their comments on it have been very favourable. More importantly, a related discussion thread (see http://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=39326&hl=whitelines+paper ) resulted in the discovery of a new source for the paper in Montreal, papeterie nota bene. The owner, Russell, is a great guy and they even have a toll-free number! The store is the distributor for whitelines and also stocks the complete line of rhodia and a variety of fountain pen inks. What are you waiting for – check it out and call Russell!

Filed under: Uncategorized

Update on Whitelines Paper

My recent post here and on the Fountain Pen Network about whitelines has generated significant interest about the paper. I included a test scan in the FPN post.

In the meantime, it appears that a number of other fountain pen people have since acquired some and their comments on it have been very favourable. More importantly, a related discussion thread (see http://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=39326&hl=whitelines+paper ) resulted in the discovery of a new source for the paper in Montreal, papeterie nota bene. The owner, Russell, is a great guy and they even have a toll-free number! The store is the distributor for whitelines and also stocks the complete line of rhodia and a variety of fountain pen inks. What are you waiting for – check it out and call Russell!

Filed under: Uncategorized

Simple Question – Incredible Idea – Amazing Paper!

It never ceases to amaze me how asking simple questions can lead to incredible results.

To wit, Whitelines paper (http://www.whitelines.se/eng/index.php) developed by Designer Olof Hansson of Stockholm. When he was copying a sketch he became irritated because the lines on the copy made a mess of his sketch. It was then that the idea of having white lines hit him. Unlike dark lines, white lines are not visible on a photocopy. The result is Whitelines paper (a light grey paper with white lines, of course). Once you see it, you get it. Once you write with it, you will fall in love with it! And at some point, you will ask yourself why you didn’t think of such a simple idea.

I discovered this paper on a recent trip to Toronto at Sleuth & Statesman (http://www.sleuthandstatesman.com/) in First Canadian Place and just had to have it. When I got home, I grabbed my broad Delta deskpen (loaded with Conway Stewart Blue) and started writing on this paper. The words and colour practically jumped right off the page – and no offending lines to disturb my words. My only problem now is, I need more of this stuff. I can only hope that S&S still have some when I am to get back to their stores. Distribution appears extremely limited (for now), although you can order from their website (ouch on the shipping and duties).

Filed under: Uncategorized

Simple Question – Incredible Idea – Amazing Paper!

It never ceases to amaze me how asking simple questions can lead to incredible results.

To wit, Whitelines paper (http://www.whitelines.se/eng/index.php) developed by Designer Olof Hansson of Stockholm. When he was copying a sketch he became irritated because the lines on the copy made a mess of his sketch. It was then that the idea of having white lines hit him. Unlike dark lines, white lines are not visible on a photocopy. The result is Whitelines paper (a light grey paper with white lines, of course). Once you see it, you get it. Once you write with it, you will fall in love with it! And at some point, you will ask yourself why you didn’t think of such a simple idea.

I discovered this paper on a recent trip to Toronto at Sleuth & Statesman (http://www.sleuthandstatesman.com/) in First Canadian Place and just had to have it. When I got home, I grabbed my broad Delta deskpen (loaded with Conway Stewart Blue) and started writing on this paper. The words and colour practically jumped right off the page – and no offending lines to disturb my words. My only problem now is, I need more of this stuff. I can only hope that S&S still have some when I am to get back to their stores. Distribution appears extremely limited (for now), although you can order from their website (ouch on the shipping and duties).

Filed under: Uncategorized