Watching Coco gave me a greater appreciation for my Mexican heritage. Since then, I’ve been trying to fill in cultural gaps leftover from childhood; like the appreciation and understanding of Mexican art.
One of those glorious art styles is centered on Día de Muertos. The riotous use of colors alone is enough to capture my attention, but combined with macabre imagery and joyous celebration, it’s definitely in my top 5 favorite art styles/themes.
This past Saturday, I went to Bertram’s Inkwell to pick up the pen I won from Pensplaining with Corinne. While there, Adam mentioned that they had a bunch of secondhand pens. So, pen fiend that I am, I asked to see them.
Note: If you don’t want to read the story, feel free to jump down to the pen porn or the list of sites I mention in the narrative below.
Out came three big zip cases of vintage pens. I went through the cases, but I don’t typically love the look of vintage pens. They aren’t as pretty as modern pens, in my opinion. But, in the third case, there were a bunch of vintage Pelikans. Among those was a red and black pen. I love red and black, so I pulled it out.
Unfortunately, the nib was looking a bit rough. Out of curiosity, I took at look at each of the other Pelikans. Most of them were stubs or broad, which I know I don’t like writing with. But, this one was intriguing.
The nib was obviously bouncy, so I asked to dip in, and Bert was nice enough to allow me to dip it in ink. I don’t have the writing test from the shop, but here’s basically what I did.
Scribble sample with Diamine Soft Mint
With that writing sample, I couldn’t leave the pen behind. There’s more to the story at the store, but to keep this from getting too long, I’ll just say I bought the Pelikan.
Research Time
I started with a basic Google search for “small vintage Pelikan fountain pen”. It took clicking through several sites, but I eventually stumbled across Pelikan Guide.
I clicked on the first “black caps” option, not realizing that there was more than one. But it worked out for me, because I hit the research jackpot. The first image was my pen. And I what I found amazed me!
I’d purchased a Pelikan 100 in Black/Jade Green from 1929-1930. I had picked up what was now the oldest pen in my collection. But, one site wasn’t enough to end my research. So I searched for “Pelikan 100 black jade green” and got a lot of results.
I found this site which called my pen, and its all-black variant, 1st year pens. And this site indicated that the green version came first.
I can’t actually find my info on whether the green version really did come first, but it’s clear I have the first model Pelikan ever made. And that’s pretty freakin’ cool.
SIDE NOTE: In going back to find links while writing this post, I discovered Pelikan Collectibles which has this fantastic timeline, and is a great resource for all things Pelikan.
I continued my research, mainly to try to determine if I had the jade or marbled green version, and found that this pen is apparently rather rare. I’d like to think this is my cosmic recompense for stupidly giving up a super-rare mini Conklin Nozac from the 30s (I think) last year.
I also determined that the ink window on my pen is normal. In every image I found where you could see the ink window, it was equally dark. Which seems odd to me, as what’s the point of an ink window you can’t really see the ink through?
But, I’m hardly going to complain at this amazing find. It’s super cool to have this piece of history. So, pen identified, I’ll leave you here, with some pen porn and writing samples.
Pen Porn
Click on any image to view it even larger.
Look at that beautiful nib!I love the heart breather hole. It’s a shame Pelikan switched to a circle.For you Finial LoversStarting to flex…… a bit more…… and full flex. And I learned the nib has a couple stress points. Good to know so I can be careful when flexing.And a writing sample with Diamine Soft Mint.
Sites Mentioned
I get it, sometimes you don’t want to read the full story, so here are the sites I mentioned in the narrative above:
Mid last year, I reached out to Yoshi Nakama of 18111 Pens about commissioning a custom pen. As the DC Pen Show was only a few weeks away, we agreed to discuss it at the show. At the time, I hoped to get a pen themed to my Exalted Bloodlines series.
I eagerly sought him out at the show. However, when I showed him the ideas I had in mind, he warned me it may not be doable.
Left to right: My design idea for the rollstopper, the blood drop I wanted scattered around the pen, and the moon and star I wanted on the top of the cap.
The proposed roll stopper design, the blood drop I wanted scattered across the pen, and the moon and star I wanted on the top of the cap all have “sharp corners.” Apparently, 3D printing and laser engraving can’t produce sharp corners at that size.
However, I hoped we could reach a compromise with a modified design that I liked and could be executed. I agreed to modify the design before sending Mr. Nakama the files. He warned me that his waiting list was about 3 months long. Granted, considering the year+ waiting lists many pen makers have right now, 3 months is hardly an issue.
While volunteering at the 2019 Baltimore Pen Show, I was gifted a lovely red, lever-fill, vintage Esterbrook pen. Admittedly, I know next-to-nothing about vintage Esterbrooks. I also have a penchant for finding out as much about my vintage pens as possible.
That said, it should be no surprise that I set out to identify and date (as accurately as possible) my new Esterbrook as soon as I was able.
Because I had fun doing so, and I found the information interesting, I figured I’d share it with you in the hopes that my research would prove useful to others.
As I mentioned in my last post, this was my first time as pen show volunteer staff. It’s an experience I look forward to repeating many times in the future.
When Corinne, the show organizer, put out a call to the DC Pen Crew for volunteers, I eagerly signed up. My reasoning, beyond wanting to help out, was that if I was volunteering, I wouldn’t be spending money.
That theory worked out well. When I received the schedule, I was happy to see myself listed for Saturday afternoon and Sunday morning. That shift schedule worked so well that I’m hoping for the same next year.
I mentioned in my 2018 DC Pen Show post that I purchased a green nib from Hinze Pen Company to match my Green Ivies pen from 18111. At the time, I thought I was purchasing an anodized nib. Turns out, it’s lacquered steel, which explains my experience. At the show, I was warned by a few people that colored nibs tend to experience flaking. Sadly, that warning held true for my nib.
I waited a while to write this update, because I was hoping that I could give you a positive result. At first it seemed as though the flaking was minor, and, if it had stayed like that, I could have lived with it.
With the first and second cleaning (both within the first month), a bit of green flaked off either side of the nib slit on the outer edge of the tines. It was noticeable, but it wasn’t really obvious, so I hoped that that would be the end of the flaking, and I’d have a good nib.
However, with the most recent cleaning, I decided to change the color in my pen. I found, as I cleaned it, that the ink was being particularly stubborn. After 10+ minutes of flushing water through it, I decided to pop it in my ultrasonic cleaner.
I’ve always been a fan of hand writing. I can type almost as fast as I can think, so there’s nothing to slow me down. Sometimes, that can be a good thing. But when I want to devote some thought to what I’m writing, I switch to hand writing so I have to slow down.
This is especially useful when I’m writing books and/or blog posts. Writing “stream of consciousness” isn’t typically great when you want what you’re writing to make sense. It’s much better, for me, to slow down some and make sure that what I’m writing is cohesive and coherent.
The biggest downside to hand-writing, though, is hand fatigue. Over the years, I’ve developed several different grips for holding my writing implement to increase the amount I can write in one go.
But the pressure and effort required to write with pencils and ballpoint pens increases hand fatigue. Fountain pens help alleviate that with the lack of pressure needed to write. Something about not needing to press down to write makes it easier to hold the pen in a looser grip, which also helps with hand fatigue.
Fountain pens, perhaps because of their design, or our association of nibs with older things, also tend to make people want to write nicer. They certainly did for me and many of my pen friends. But, despite my great love of fountain pens today, it’s a relatively recent hobby for me.
“You spent HOW much on a pen?” Every pen person has heard it at least once. It can get a bit annoying to hear, mainly because you can hear the judgement in the tone nine times out of ten. If you aren’t a pen person, you’ve probably though it while reading my blog.
I used to just laugh it off and continue the conversation, but the tiny kernel of hurt remained. It seemed an unfair judgement. After all, I stay within my monthly budget. All my bills get paid. What difference does it make if I buy a semi-expensive pen? Semi-expensive in relation to the full spectrum of available pens, that is.
Granted, if you’re someone who’s spent their entire life using BIC ballpoints, it’s likely the idea of spending even $10 on a pen is too much. But we’re all different. We all have something we splurge on (when we can). The trick is to know what the person you’re talking to splurges on.
For example, I was talking to a friend the other day who was having the typical non-pen person reaction (basically, wow, that’s expensive). Knowing she’s on the girly side, I told her:
“Pens for me are like shoes and bags for other ladies”
It was really interesting to experience her near instant change in attitude with her new understanding.
“ohh got it 😉 they are like the jimmy choos”
I’ve had similar experiences with other friends, too. Once I can give them something to relate to, they understand me better and the judgement ceases.
How do you explain your pen habit/hobby to friends and family? Or if you aren’t a pen person, what’s your main habit/hobby, and how do you explain it to your friends and family? Leave me a comment to let me know. I’m really curious.
Last year I wrote about my Stipula Etruria Rainbow Prisma 88 and followed it up with an update. It’s one of my favorite pens, so when the Stipula Etruria Prisma 88 Magma was announced, I snapped one up.
Now that my Magma is back in action, I’m writing a comparative review of the two. I couldn’t find anything about the Rainbow when it first came out, and there doesn’t seem to be anything about the Magma, so hopefully, this will help anyone considering purchasing either of them.
Backstories
If you know the history behind these two pens in my collection, feel free to skip down to the main review.
With one exception, my experiences with fountain pens have been fantastic. Today I’m going to tell you about that exception. Before I do, however, I want you to keep something in mind. I vacillated for weeks between sharing this story and keeping it to myself. I don’t want it to read as a smear on Motegrappa. What I want you to take away from this story is the amazing customer service offered by Cary Yeager of Kenro Industries.
I bought my Montegrappa Fortuna Heartwood Pear (FHP) on November 11 at Bertram’s Inkwell‘s yearly trunk show. I’d been eyeing the pen for a while. It’s beautiful. Cary had one at his table with the nib size I wanted, so I bought it. And so began the FHP saga.
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