Writing instruments

Oh. My. Gosh. That collection is beautiful.

Did you alter the way you write since you've started using fountain pens? My goal is to use them exclusively soon.


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I have been writing with fountain pens, on and off, since high school, though almost exclusively for quite a few years.  I still have that high school pen, a Parker 45.  I purchased it about 1962 and graduated in 1963 so that pen has been around a while.



When writing with a fountain pen, a lighter touch is needed.  Ballpoints require a fair amount of pressure but on a properly working fountain pen, once the nib touches the paper, capillary action will do the rest and draw ink onto the paper.

I don't alter the way I write when using a fountain pen but I have my own weird obsession; it's penmanship.   I have been experimenting with it most of my life.

I love everything about your last comment! I'm getting my pens back out tomorrow!


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I love everything about your last comment! I'm getting my pens back out tomorrow!


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Excellent!  I sincerely hope you'll consider posting some photos of them.  Just as with shaving gear, I love fountain pen and stationery eye candy.

I love everything about your last comment! I'm getting my pens back out tomorrow!


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Excellent!  I sincerely hope you'll consider posting some photos of them.  Just as with shaving gear, I love fountain pen and stationery eye candy.

I certainly will! I'll be frequenting this area quite often!


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I love everything about your last comment! I'm getting my pens back out tomorrow!


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Excellent!  I sincerely hope you'll consider posting some photos of them.  Just as with shaving gear, I love fountain pen and stationery eye candy.

I certainly will! I'll be frequenting this area quite often!


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I mentioned that I like vintage Esterbrook pens.  Even when new, they were considered 3rd tier, certainly not posh by any means.  However, they were extremely popular and, surprisingly, many still remain in existence.  They came with an amazing choice of nibs and what made that choice special is that the entire nib and feed simply unscrewed from the barrel of the pen and a different writing style nib could replace it.  

In the photo below are five of my Esterbrooks.  Starting from the right is a Dollar pen. It dates from the late 1930s to the early 1940s.  Notice the flat top cap and flat bottom barrel.

Next comes the Transitional. It dates from about 1944-1948. I believe it picked up the name Transitional because the cap has a jewel but the barrel still has a flat bottom.

To the right of the black line are three pens in the J-Series.  They date from the late 1940s to the mid 1950s.  Notice that now there are jewels on both the cap and the bottom of the barrel.  There were three types in the J-Series.  The SJ was short and slim, the LJ was long and slim, and the J was the same length as the LJ but thicker around the barrel and cap.

The black and white advertisement reproduction from 1955 shows the nibs that were available for the pens.  Notice the price of 35¢ per nib unit for the 1000 and 2000 series.  The 9000 series cost a whopping 85¢.  Today, new old stock (NOS) nibs on eBay sell from about $7.00 and up.

[Image: 0fba0421-a92d-4175-a001-c0202b7230e7.jpg]

I mentioned that I like vintage Esterbrook pens.  Even when new, they were considered 3rd tier, certainly not posh by any means.  However, they were extremely popular and, surprisingly, many still remain in existence.  They came with an amazing choice of nibs and what made that choice special is that the entire nib and feed simply unscrewed from the barrel of the pen and a different writing style nib could replace it.  

In the photo below are five of my Esterbrooks.  Starting from the right is a Dollar pen. It dates from the late 1930s to the early 1940s.  Notice the flat top cap and flat bottom barrel.

Next comes the Transitional. It dates from about 1944-1948. I believe it picked up the name Transitional because the cap has a jewel but the barrel still has a flat bottom.

To the right of the black line are three pens in the J-Series.  They date from the late 1940s to the mid 1950s.  Notice that now there are jewels on both the cap and the bottom of the barrel.  There were three types in the J-Series.  The SJ was short and slim, the LJ was long and slim, and the J was the same length as the LJ but thicker around the barrel and cap.

The black and white advertisement reproduction from 1955 shows the nibs that were available for the pens.  Notice the price of 35¢ per nib unit for the 1000 and 2000 series.  The 9000 series cost a whopping 85¢.  Today, new old stock (NOS) nibs on eBay sell from about $7.00 and up.

[Image: 0fba0421-a92d-4175-a001-c0202b7230e7.jpg]

Oh, wow. I love those pens. I'm going to do a bit of hunting and probably snag a couple of Esterbrooks from The Bay here in the next week or so. Those are really classy looking! I'm more of function than having 24 karat gold pens encrusted with diamonds (not that there's anything wrong with that- I'm just a broke college student/dad)

Thanks for all the info, Freddy! I'll get a nice collection soon!


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[quote='Freddy' pid='2543' dateline='1434917834']

Oh, wow. I love those pens. I'm going to do a bit of hunting and probably snag a couple of Esterbrooks from The Bay here in the next week or so. Those are really classy looking! I'm more of function than having 24 karat gold pens encrusted with diamonds (not that there's anything wrong with that- I'm just a broke college student/dad)

Thanks for all the info, Freddy! I'll get a nice collection soon!


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When looking, be careful. Unless it is in good cosmetic condition and/or has been restored, expect to have to do a bit of work, like replacing the sac. Also, expect to pay about $25.00 and up, depending on condition.

Freddy,
Great start to a fountain pen thread.  I'll add a little pen related story.

As you know I write letters to folks using my fountain pens.. This includes my 6 and 7 year old grand niece and nephew. I have been adding little illustrations to my letters. This lets me us all the neat color inks we keep ordering.

I wrote to the two kids mentioned above about the first time we took our daughter's dog to camp. I called that letter "The Adventures of Kodi the wonderdog" and included drawings of Kodi riding in the car, eating, barking at the loons and hogging the bed. On the last page I drew a book with the same title as the letter. On the cover I had a drawing of Kodi in a cape flying over a cityscape.

This weekend we visited family including these two children. They told me they loved the letter, My daughter said Kodi was real and her dog. She offered to show them a picture on here phone. Seeing Kodi was something of a let down as my grand nephew said "But he doesn't have a cape!!"

Phil

Great story, Phil. Somehow, a hand written letter is so much more meaningful than an e-mail, tweet, or whatever.  For me, a hand written letter (especially done in fountain pen ) seems living while an e-mail is just a message.  E-mail and other electronic communication definitely has its place, of which this site is an example, but a letter is special.

Great story, Phil. Somehow, a hand written letter is so much more meaningful than an e-mail, tweet, or whatever.  For me, a hand written letter (especially done in fountain pen ) seems living while an e-mail is just a message.  E-mail and other electronic communication definitely has its place, of which this site is an example, but a letter is special.

I agree with you there, Freddy! I just have nobody to write letters to. I wonder if we could find a few folks in this group that would be interested in a pen pal sort of thing?


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