Iconic Pens

The theme for our Saturday, October 24, 2011 meeting was “Iconic Fountain Pens”.   

What makes an item, such as a pen, iconic?  When most of us hear the word “iconic” we think of people, places or things that are famous, well-known, widely-known, celebrated, renowned, fabled, legendary, notorious, infamous, illustrious,  or perhaps even “the one”.  At least, those are some of the words that come to mind when I think of something that is “iconic”.  

The theme for this week was for our members to share their thoughts on those fountain pens that were icons from their perspective as well as the reason(s) for their selections.  We asked them to think about whether it was a popular or well-known pen?  Was it something to do with the pen’s design or looks?  Maybe it revolutionized the look, function of pens or even how pens write?  Has it developed a bit of a cult following?  Perhaps it is not famous but infamous?  Is it inexpensive or does it cost a small fortune?  Was it made by one of the “iconic” brands or do you have trouble pronouncing or even remembering its brand?  

If you were to build a collection of pens based on an “iconic” theme, what would you consider to be the “must-have” pens?  These hypothetical exercises are great – there are no limits, e.g., you are not restricted to modern or vintage pens, etc.  You don’t have to own the pen, have ever owned the pen or even want to own the pen!  Heck, you don’t even have to have any money!  Although, I don’t want to suggest that a pen’s cost necessarily influences its status as an icon.  I can think of very expensive pens that I would not be surprised if many thought of them as an icon, or conversely, others thinking of one of any number of inexpensive (dare I say, “cheap”?) pens that could easily fit the bill, e.g., Lamy Safari. 

Enough of my dribble, here are several groups of pens (with photos) that different members of the LPC view as being iconic and why:

 

1. Sheaffer Balance. 1930s. The Balance began the tradition of streamlining the shape of pens with tapered caps and barrel ends, along with the use of plastics in colours not seen before. 

2. Parker Vacumatic.  1930s. Striped plastics, ink stored right in the barrel rather than a sac, and an “interesting” filling system – the Vac is still what I think of when I think of vintage pens. 

3.  Parker “51″.  1940′s. A hooded nib. “Writes Dry with Wet Ink” to quote the advertising of the day.  Introduced in 1939 and in production until 1972, the Parker “51″ sold in the millions and is of the most successful fountain pens of all time. 

4.  Sheaffer Snorkel.  1950′s. The Sheaffer Triumph nib (also known as the wrap around nib or conical nib) was continued on the Snorkel filler.  One of the coolest and most complicated of the filling systems, the Snorkel was made in a multitude of colours and finishes. 

5.  Sheaffer Imperial/Lifetime.  1960′s. I don’t have a Sheaffer Pen For Men (PFM) so I am including my 1963 Lifetime with the famous inlaid nib.  The PFM introduced the now iconic inlaid nib that Sheaffer continues to use on their pens to this day.  The Imperial, Targa, Intrigue and Valor models all have the inlaid nib. 

6.  Parker 75 in Sterling Silver cisele pattern.  1960′s. A classy looking pen.  I am still waiting to see one on the TV series “Mad Men”. 

7.  Lamy Safari.  1980′s. The Safari was first introduced in 1980 and hasn’t changed in 30 years.  A great starter or school pen that is available in an array of colours and nib sizes.

 Another member’s group of “Iconic Pens”:

 

1. Aurora 88.  An elegant Italian design that functions perfectly and has a hidden cache of ink, if needed.
2. Sheaffer Targa.  Simplicity and variety.  One could spend a lifetime collecting these classic fountain pens with the inlaid nib.  Just check out one of the best pen sites on the internet – sheaffertarga.com
3. Pilot/Namiki Vanishing Point.  Many people think this pen has a cult following but I disagree.  How many people do you know that own at least one Vanishing Point?  I would not be surprised if 3 out of 4 pen owners have one – that’s not a cult, that’s a club!
4. Delta Dolce Vita.  Ah, the sweet life!  The first time I saw this pen I thought it was a bit much, I mean, who has the nerve to use a bright orange pen like this, especially a conservative business man like me.  It did not take too much longer before I owned one.  Actually, I have the double desk set as well!
5. Conklin Crescent Filler.  Even non-pen people know this pen, it’s the one that Mark Twain uses – because it won’t roll off of a table.
6. Lamy 2000.  A wonderful example of design and functionality. A simple design, the pen is made of black makrolon and is a piston filler, holding a ton of ink.  The flagship pen of LAMY.
7. OMAS 360.  The non-conformist’s fountain pen because of its unconventional triangulated form.  It’s the type of pen that you either love or hate.  I happen to love it.  Unfortunately, OMAS screwed up its original design when it redesigned its line of pens.  If you want one of these, get the older “vintage” model.
8. Pelikan M800 Souverän.   I loved this fountain pen from the very first time I saw its green striped barrel at Sleuth & Statesman in Toronto.  While I actually bought the black-blue model with silver trim first, I just had to have the original black-green model with gold trim.  In my mind, the green striped barrel makes it the quintessential fountain pen!
9. Parker Duofold.  Not a big surprise that the Duofold is on this list, although most people would probably cite the vintage “Big Red” model.  Most people would put the Big Red as one of a dozen or so pens in a core collection of pens.  I like the blue ones myself, especially this remake of the “True Blue”.
10. Waterman Edson.  A legendary and elegant pen.
11. Conway Stewart #28 “Cracked Ice”.  Colourful plastics have been a signature of Conway Stewart.  The names of many of these colours, such as this one in Cracked Ice, have been adopted by collectors over the years. Other personal favourites include Reverse Cracked Ice and Tiger Eye.  Truth be told, my favourite models are #27 and #60 – I just grabbed the first Cracked Ice that I came across so please forgive my oversight!

 One more member’s quartet of Icons:

 

 

From top to bottom:

1. Parker Vacumatic. Hey, it’s a Vacumatic, what more is there to say?
2. Sheaffer Autograph.  The Autograph has a much wider cap band than the Sheaffer Signature and used to be one of their most expensive models.  It has the clip and the cap band made out of solid 14K gold. In fact, you could send the pen to Sheaffer along with your signature and they would engrave it on the cap band. This cap band has yet to be engraved.
3. Esterbrook.  A classic double jewel J (full sized).
4. Parker 51.  This aerometric filler with gold filled cap is Cocoa in colour, while not as rare as Nassau Green or Plum, is fairly uncommon.

A different view of the same quartet: 

 

And finally, the best part of every pen club meeting – writing with someone else’s iconic pen – in this case, a Parker 65 Flighter! 

 

 

Maybe you agree with these selections, maybe you have your own views.  We would love to hear from you!  Let us know what your iconic pen is and why?

 

On Ink Colours

By LPC Member Stan

On ink colours,  the chiefs of British intelligence and armed services use green ink – part of a mostly forgotten hierarchical system. A few weeks ago, when  the British Chief of Intelligence went to see U.S. Defense Secretary Panetta, he was asked to sign the visitors’ book.  He brushed aside the pen that was offered and whipped out his own fountain pen with the essential green ink. The British Foreign Secretary uses red ink.

I remember hearing various prelates within the Church have a preference for specific ink colours, e.g., Cardinals write with red ink.  I  have no idea if this is true.

The literature on this topic is scant and of questionable  reliability.   I’d love to hear from anyone who has authoritative (or anecdotal) information on this topic.

Editor’s note:

Some additional items that I think that might be relevant to your post, as follows:

1. An interesting blog post with a number of great references – Green Ink: The colour of eccentrics and spooks
2. Another one, although there is some common information – MI6 Head’s Ink British Secret Intelligence Service’s Head uses Green Ink
3. On page 14 of “The Foreign Office and British diplomacy in the twentieth century” by Gaynor Johnson, the author describes how Foreign Secretary Ernest Bevin (c.1945-1951) wrote out his decisions in red ink – the only ink allowed in the Foreign Office.
4. While I could not find any references to specific ink colours used by the church, I did find that several references to purple being the colour of royalty, in this particular case, the suggestion is that the colour is actually Tyrian Purple – History, Shellfish, Royalty, and the Color Purple

Noodler’s Badger & Blade 5 O’Clock Shadow and Zhivago inks

Recently Badger & Blade commissioned Noodler’s Ink to create a signature ink – “5 O’Clock Shadow” (FOS).  FOS is a deeply pigmented black with shadings of grey and green.

At a recent pen club meeting there was a brief discussion about the colour of FOS and how it compares to Noodler’s Zhivago ink. 

Interestingly, there has been some discussion on the online pen boards whether FOS is simply Zhivago in a different bottle.  Our trusty ink testers assure us that this is NOT the case.  Yes, both are a dark green ink and appear very similar; however, there is a subtle difference – FOS is more grey (grey-green-black) than Zhivago (green-black).  The scan (below) of the two inks made with a Q-tip on Rhodia paper provides further evidence of this subtle but real difference.

Comparison of Badger & Blade 5 O'Clock Shadow to Zhivago ink

The $100,000 question is how FOS compares to the now discontinued Mont Blanc Racing Green or the recently released Diamine Racing Green (created for Missing-Pen ) and offered for sale in this FPN classified ad??

P.W. Akkerman Anniversary Ink Scans

As promised, our ink order arrived in time for us to scan them and let the club members try them out.  These samples were made using a Q tip cotton swab and Rhodia 80g paper.  In several cases, I was able to fill pens and write with them so that you can see the effect of different nib sizes.  In general, the actual colour seen when using a fountain pen is darker than the sample created using the Q tip.  See for yourself below:

Page 1 of PW Akkerman Ink scans

PW Akkerman Ink scans page 2

You may also recall that one of our members purchased a bottle of the Bekakts Brown ink.  He mailed in his comments after using the ink for the past week:

“First off, the bottle looks great, as everyone will agree, and it
works very well when it comes time to refilling. The ink itself has a
very lustrous and thick quality appearance when it is first laid on
paper. Of course, this means it takes a bit longer to dry. Knowing
this, I have not had any real issues with the ink bleeding through a
page, even on my ‘cheap’ Grand and Toy notepad at work.

Bekakt is very dark compared to my Sheaffer Skript Brown, which would
be my only reference. At first glance, notes written with this ink
almost appear black, except for the small shading that occurs. One can
still tell the ink is in fact brown, not black, but it allows it to be
used very subtly. Because of this, the ink doesn’t take too much
attention away from the message itself.”

Let us know what you think, whether you have tried them or not.  What is your favourite colour and why?

Great friends are hard to find!

And we are so very fortunate to be friends with the Vancouver Pen Club (VPC).  It has come to our attention that the VPC is now famous (Pen World famous, to be more accurate)!  The VPC is featured (I mean, check out this picture - they’re the headliners!) in the February 2011 issue of Pen World about pen clubs. The article mentions a number of other pen clubs too (alas, we were not, insert crying face :~)).  We did, however, get mentioned by Glenn Marcus in his Pen Views (Thanks Glenn!  I have also written to Glenn to advise him that we now meet at Williams on Wonderland)!

We are happy to toot (or is that re-toot?) the VPC’s horn!  Our pen-caps off to Maja and the rest of the gang.  You’ve got a terrific club, keep it going! 

You may say I’m just a dreamer, but I’m not the only one.  I hope someday you’ll join us for a combined Vancouver-London meeting/party.  Wouldn’t that be something?!?!  If we really get lucky, the Calgary Pen Club (CPC) would also join us.  Just imagine that – someone better call the RCMP right now!  (Ed. note: I did not mean to suggest that we would have to call the RCMP specifically because of the CPC; rather, the need is a result of the explosive combination of all three clubs.)

P.W. Akkerman Anniversary Fountain Pen Inks

In the February 2011 issue of Pen World there is a great story about a pen store in the Netherlands that is celebrating its centennial anniversary (centenary).  P.W. Akkerman in the Hague is one of those old world pen shops that pen lovers wish they could be locked inside, by themselves, for a week or so.  One of the items that I noticed in the article was the line of inks created for the company’s centenary (and named after thirty locations in the Hague), including the picture of the bottle.  I just had to have at least one bottle of this ink – for the bottle moreso than the ink (as anyone in my club can attest, I do not need any more ink!)!  Each bottle is a whopping 150ml and costs 16.5 euros (about Cdn$22).

I “Googled” the website and found that it was in Dutch (not one of my strengths).  The Google translation helped but it was unclear to me whether the pen shop would ship to Canada (I was confident that I could find someone who understood my English) and the cost.  So I sent a polite note off to the shop’s general e-mail and promptly received a response from Paul Rutte (paulrutte AT vulpennen DOT nl).  Paul was exceptionally polite and terrific to deal with – of course, they would be happy to send their ink to Canada.  When I inquired how should I pay – credit card or Paypal – Paul kindly set up a Paypal account for the shop so that I could avoid having to make an expensive phone call to pass on with my credit card number (although it would have been nice to speak to Paul!). 

Our club ordered a total of six bottles and we are anxiously awaiting their arrival – Paul was concerned about the recent cold weather that we have been experiencing and so we mutually agreed to delay shipment until about a week and a half after I placed the order.  In the meantime, we did receive a couple of bottles (in error) – #15 Verhout Violet (translates to woody violet) and #23 Bekakt Haags (translates to Posh Hague).  Our official club photographer Rick snapped a picture of the brown bottle at last week’s meeting:

P.W. Akkerman Anniversary Ink - #23 Bekakt Haags

As Rick notes in the email that he sent to the club with the picture – “The Akkerman inks from The Netherlands do indeed come in a large and interesting bottle.  150 mL or 5 fluid ounces, with an very interesting section at the top of the bottle; when the bottle is inverted a ball (ed. note – a glass marble, no less!) in the neck of the bottle traps ink in the top section of the bottle, allowing you to fill your pen.”  Here is a picture of an empty bottle (a bit larger version of the picture in the Pen World article) that clearly shows the glass marble. 

Stay tuned for more pictures and swatches of these inks and the balance of the colours that we purchased (but have not arrived yet) -  #10 Akkerman LJizer-Galnoten, #5 Shocking Blue, #8 Diep-Duinwaterblauw,  #21 China Town Red, and #24 Zuiderpark Blauw-Green.

Birthday Pens

I have gathered a smattering of birth years of LPC members and their related birthday pens, i.e., notable pens, etc… that were introduced at that time.  My reference source for this information is The Chronicle of the Fountain Pen, Stories within a Story, By Joao Pavao Martins, Luiz Leite, and Antonio Gagean.  This book was published in 2007 and is a terrific book for this particular purpose. Each chapter is organized in a chronological manner and includes a time line showing the main historical events around that time together with the models introduced by each manufacturer.  Maja of the Vancouver Pen Club was also kind enough to mention that Richard’s Pens has a similar birthday pen time line here.

I have also taken pictures of these pens from my collection (where I have them) and you will notice that these pictures are not nearly the quality as Rick’s picture of his Parker 75.

Year – Manufacturer/Model

1929 – Pelikan 100, Sheaffer Balance & Waterman Patrician

Pelikan 100

Sheaffer Balance

1931 – Sheaffer launched the Feathertouch nib

1939 – Parker Duofold Geometric (Toothbrush)

Sheaffer Geometric Duofold aka Toothbrush

1940 – Parker Striped Duofold

Striped Duofolds

1941 – Parker 51

Parker 51

1952 – Sheaffer Snorkel

1962 – Parker Very Personal (VP)

1964/1965 – Parker 75 Sterling Silver Cross Hatch or Ciselé pattern

Rick's Parker 75 Cisele

1973/1974 – Montblanc revives Meisterstück 146

Montblanc Meisterstuck 146

1978 – Sheaffer Targa lacquer models (known as Laqué)

Sheaffer Targa Laque Blue Moire Classic

1985 – Waterman Man 200 (a slimmer model of the Man 100)

Waterman Man 200 Rhapsody Orange/Brown Ripple

So, what is your birthday pen?  Tell us, we’d love to know!

Meeting Themes for Winter/Spring 2011

First and third Saturdays of the month (apart from January)

Jan 8 – Pens for Kids – special presentation

Jan 22 – Esterbrook Pens – colors, numbers and value for money

Feb 5 – How to replace a pen sac

Feb 12 – St. Patrick’s Day pens – Irish pens and green ones too!

Mar 5 – Stationery – new, different and old standards

Mar 19 - Vintage pens of the Waterman Pen Company

Apr 2 – Divorceable pens – irredeemably faded shine over time

Apr 16 – Parker’s glorious Vacumatic pens

May 7- Non-Parker English pens – Conway Stewart, etc…

May 21 – Pen storage, portable and fixed – new and old ideas

Jun 4 – Montblanc, Pelikan and the lesser-known German pens

Jun 18 – Demonstrators

2010 Toronto Pen Show

A collection of comments from various members who attended the 2010 Toronto Pen Show (TPS):

By Owen

“The TPS, although small, was my first show. By far, the neatest thing about it was seeing all the pens that previously, you had only heard about. Pictures don’t do justice to the real thing. They certainly don’t show the beauty and detail that goes into making these instruments. One memorable table held several old filigreed eyedroppers. Nothing much to look at in pictures, but infinitely interesting in person.
I went with only a little bit of money, just enough to get something small and a bottle of ink. And I’m glad I did. Most,  I imagine, plan to get something really nice, or expensive, or unique, or even their grail, at a  pen show. It would have been nice to go with a hundred dollars and get an impressive, memorable pen. But I would have spent the whole time trying to pick out that particular pen, second-guessing what I really wanted. I would have only looked at pens that cost a hundred dollars. I may not have even seen those beautiful $500 filigreed pens mentioned above. I would see the price tag, move along.

So, to all those first-time pen-show-goers, I say this: Bring twenty dollars. It’ll be enough to get you something small, as a souvenir of the show. You will be able to spend your time a lot more wisely. By the time the next show rolls around, or you get onto the Internet, you’ll have handled dozens of pens, and have a much clearer idea of what you really want in a pen.”

By Mike

“I met a gentleman from the UK who kindly hand-delivered my copy of the new Conway Stewart book – Fountain Pens for the Million, The History of Conway Stewart 1905-2005 -  from the author, Stephen Hull (long story), I had also arranged to buy this gorgeous Swan 46 Eternal fountain pen when it came up on FPN (for less than what was asked here) but waited to have it brought to the TPS rather than pay for shipping.  The owner of the Swan was also interested in a 2006 LE mandarin Parker Duofold that I own but we could not agree on a price.

Swan 46 Eternal fountain pen

I have an Edison Huron with a custom grind steel nib but I decided that I wanted to have an Edison gold nib in it (also custom grind) so I met Brian there to pick up the new nib and have it swapped into the Huron.  I yakked with a bunch of people who I know, looked at a few pens (but did not buy) and bought a few bottles of ink (Noodler’s EL Lawrence – a green/black colour and Parker Penman Emerald) from Sleuth & Statesman.  I was hoping to buy some of the new Diamine inks like the Amazing Amethyst and Syrah but unfortunately there was a dearth of ink at the show.  Finally, I bought some large Apica recycled notebooks from Nota-Bene.”

By Dan

“Being my first ever trip to a pen show I was not sure what to expect. There was certainly more to see than I expected for what I had been told was the smallest pen show around. I was amazed and commend the vendors who made long treks to Toronto to bring us their wares. It was great to meet a couple of guys from the Michigan Pen Club, they were disappointed not to see Doug and John there (LPC members who could not attend) and asked me to relay greetings to them. Of course seeing most of the members of our neighbor club from Cambridge again was also nice. Sadly I did not purchase anything at this year’s show, which I think surprised my wife even more than it surprised me. All in all it was a fun day and I look forward to doing it again next year.”

By David

“Once my travel-mates had stopped squabbling about the position of the front passenger seat, the trip to Toronto proceeded smoothly enough with a discussion of pen show hopes and wishes. It was good to see a new natural light-filled room for the show along with familiar faces from previous shows. Following a brief tour around the tables, I settled down to examine a Parker Duofold Junior desk pen with a grey and white marble base. The seller had two – the esthetically less desirable model with the better nib, a nice juicy medium with stubbish tendencies. He switched nibs for me and the deal was done; I am very pleased with this pen, which writes like a charm.

Parker Duofold Junior desk pen

I bought a bunch of paper items from Russell at Nota-Bene, including some Apica notebooks (best value for money of any notebook), a Rhodia Clic Bloc mouse pad, some other paper and an Exacompta notepaper holder. There were a couple of other minor purchases before I bought a 32 oz. bottle of red Waterman’s Ideal Ink, bottle almost full and complete with original box. I won’t need red ink for a while.

Vintage bottle of Waterman's Ideal red ink

I spent a little time talking with FPN’s “goodguy” who showed me the four magnificent pens he had in his shirt pocket, including three Montblanc Writers Editions and the biggest pen I have ever seen, the Visconti Jewish Bible fountain pen. And of course it was fun to watch all the goings-on, such as Mike negotiating a potential trade, Rick drooling over a plum Parker 51, and Gord fondling his new Visconti Opera fountain pen in Honey Almond. The trip back was relatively uneventful; fortunately I managed to tune out some rather conservative and highly misguided political chit-chat by tuning into “Wait, Wait, Don’t Tell Me” on NPR, which was appreciated by all.”

Pocket Sized Dotted Leuchtturm notebooks – Quick review

Leuchtturm notebook

By Rick

I picked up one of the Pocket Sized (6″ x 3.5″) dotted Leuchtturm notebooks from Russel of Nota-Bene at the Toronto Pen Show last month for $12.00.

Very much like a Moleskine, it has a plain black cover, a ribbon bookmark and the pocket in the back.  The paper is quite nice, nicer than Moleskine in my opinion, it doesn’t feather with the inks I’ve tried.  What’s different from the Moleskine is that the pages are numbered, there is a “index” at the front to fill out if you wish, and the last few pages are perforated so they can be easily torn out.