Fountain Pens for Me

Some time in my youth I discovered fountain pens. I don't remember how it started but I think there must have been a cheap pen or two kicking around home when I was a child during the '50s. I only know that scattered through the boxes of memories left over from that time there are a few artifacts which clearly show that I was sometimes using pens that drank from a bottle.

"Collecting" fountain pens is a activity which has attracted a fairly large number of participants. There are probably a dozen major pen shows a year, largely in the USA where collectors gather to buy, sell and trade pens. There are quite a number of companies still making fountain pens these days. Many of these current production pens are very beautiful, high end, collectors and limited editions, but there are also lots of pens out there which are designed to be carried and used every day. Personally, I don't consider myself a collector, partly because I don't feel that comfortable with the acquisition of so many things I'll never use, but I do love to pick up a pen now and then if I can find it for a reasonable deal. The "collectors" keep their pens in the box and never put ink in them because they are more valuable if they are "uninked". I want to use my fountain pens.

I treated myself to my first decent pen at the end of a job project when I was in my late 20's or early 30's. This pen was a Sheaffer Targa flighter, (plain metal pen) which I bought at Paul's Pen Place (now the Vancouver Pen Shop) in Vancouver. I was never quite happy with the nib on that pen, and through discussions with Paul, he realised that what I needed was an italic nib. He arranged to have one made for me, starting my long love affair with italic nibs. I used that pen for years, and only stopped carrying it when the clutch ring on the nib section of the pen became so worn that the cap would not stay on any more. Reliable sources tell me this cannot be repaired, and that the only solution is to replace the whole nib section. However, I have not yet been able to afford the custom replacement for the beloved italic nib so for now, the pen just sits in my pen box waiting. I occasionally use it at home. Some time ago I found a mate for it, a gold plated version of the same pen, with fluted markings... beautiful pen.

I later discovered the Sheaffer calligraphy sets with NoNonsense plastic pens. There were wonderfully light, yet well balanced in my hand, and cheap enough that I did not particularly worry about losing them. They come in a rainbow of colours. I now own 6 or 8 of these pens and usually have each one loaded with an ink colour to match the pen. Its a little indulgent, but hey, I don't drink, I don't smoke and I don't take drugs. I deserve one indulgence. I don't actually have the ink in hand for the yellow one yet, but its fitted with a very broad nib, and its reserved for the Noodler's Firefly highlighting ink when I get around to ordering some.

At one point in the 1990's, Sheaffer decided to issue a series of pens to mark the Christmas Season. They made a special version of one of their existing models for two years in a row, 1996, and 1997, then abandoned the project. I think the resulting pens were very beautiful and have picked up an example of each. They were released in beautiful packaging with pictures from old Sheaffer ads from the beginning of the century. The front pen in the photo is a Sheaffer Triumph Imperial in a rich red with hand engraving of Holly leaves and berries on the gold plated cap. It is commonly known as the Sheaffer holly pen. The second pen in the picture is a Sheaffer Prelude, with a gold plated body with snowflake engraved on it and a lovely mottled red cap. This pen is commonly known as the Sheaffer snow pen.

I am lucky to have come into ownership of some lovely, very old pens. One of my favourite pens is this wine colour marbled pen which belonged to my mother. It was a gift to her from her oldest brother, Eric, when she graduated from school around 1940. After her death, I sent it to Michael McNeil of Northwest pens in Oregon to have it restored. Its marked Butler Bros (Brothers) which was the name of a stationary store in St. Johns, Newfoundland where my mother was born and raised, but my restorer was of the opinion that it was probably made by Waterman for that company. Its a demi, a tiny little pen, a perfect ladies pen. Another one of my favourite old pens is this Waterman, a black, chased, hard rubber pen. This pen is likely as old as the 1920's, perhaps 30's, and is made out of a block of hard rubber (from a rubber tree). It has been decorated by carving patterns into the rubber, known as chasing. If you rub this pen fairly firmly you can smell the burned rubber smell you get when you spin your tires on the road. This pen was given to me by another collector who was frustrated with it because it leaked. I had never seen a hard rubber pen before so I was thrilled. My restorer provided it with a new sac and polishished it up. Now its a totally functional beautiful piece of history.

Recently I had an occasion to celebrate and around the same time noticed that one of the Internet retailers was selling the Sheaffer Balance IIs at a very nice price. I couldn't resist, and now have the chance to use on a daily basis this beautiful Cobalt Glow Balance II. It may be the most comfortable pen I have ever held in my hand. Its curved nib section fits like a glove. I keep it on my desk at home and use it whenever I can.

Over the years I have come across a few little items that are related to fountain pens which I picked up to complement my pens. This little grouping shows my wonderful little jet glass elephant rocker blotter produced by the Houze glass company in the US, probably from the 1930s, as well as a beautiful glass ink well which I received as a birthday present a few years ago, and my Esterbrook dip pen desk set with the ink well incorporated into the bass. These are lovely old things from a gentler time.

The fountain pen community on the Internet has been an eye-opening experience. I've learned so much there, most notably, that I am not the only one out there with this particular eccentricity. I've learned that there are manufacturers out there still making beautiful fountain pens, in every price range from the budget pens that I've explored to amazing pens that are more like jewellery and cost thousands of dollars.

I've also learned that there are a small group of people out there keeping alive the skill of repairing fountain pens, and customising them. This means it would be still possible for me to get a new nib section for my Targa as some point when I have more cash flow. There are also people still concentrating on how to make the fountain pen experience an even richer and better one. Nathan Tardiff is one of those people. Known as Scaupaug or the Noodler on the net, Nathan learned repair techniques from the masters of that craft.