My small collection

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I've just found this section of the forum. Thought I'd share some snaps of my small pen collection. I like Cross and Parker pens. I use a platinum Townsend fountain pen for work and keep these to stare at.
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Nice selection there, I like your stands, where did you get them?
 
Nice selection there, I like your stands, where did you get them?
The 6 slot vertical and horizontal holders are from eBay and can be found if you search for 'acrylic pen stand'. They're about £1.30 each (from China). This is the individual stand: https://rover.ebay.com/rover/0/0/0?mpre=https://www.ebay.co.uk/ulk/itm/401073661825

The only problem I had with the individual stands is that they all sit at slightly different angles so didn't work well as a straight display, if that makes sense.

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My handwriting is diabolical as well. I find using a doubts pen slows my writing down and improves it. Apparently bad handwriting is a sign of intelligence. No idea of that's true but it sounds good to me!!

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Just seen this typo. That should read fountain pen, not doubts pen!

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My handwriting has gone to pot! And I blame computers! I can't remember the last time I sat down to write a letter. Really must make the effort!

I write all the time, because I enjoy it. My hand is not as good as it was, and, being in my seventh decade, I have lost some nimbleness in my fingers.

I am fortunate in being of a generation and schooling which was taught cursive handwriting, after years of Marion Richardson as a small boy. I should add that I spent years, from about 1970, as someone in IT, punching keyboards and typing on IBM Golfball typewriters. All that made me handwrite more.

Anyone, especially if younger, can improve his or her handwriting, if such is desired. It requires a will to do so, and assiduous practice.

It is an uphill struggle these days, when I go to social venues, to find almost everyone else, from about 3 to 90 years old, poking away at digital gadgets. My grandsons are equipped with good fountain pens, but it is a battle against peer pressure to persuade them that handwriting is a desirable accomplishment and an art.

Please do persist.
 
I write all the time, because I enjoy it. My hand is not as good as it was, and, being in my seventh decade, I have lost some nimbleness in my fingers.

I am fortunate in being of a generation and schooling which was taught cursive handwriting, after years of Marion Richardson as a small boy. I should add that I spent years, from about 1970, as someone in IT, punching keyboards and typing on IBM Golfball typewriters. All that made me handwrite more.

Anyone, especially if younger, can improve his or her handwriting, if such is desired. It requires a will to do so, and assiduous practice.

It is an uphill struggle these days, when I go to social venues, to find almost everyone else, from about 3 to 90 years old, poking away at digital gadgets. My grandsons are equipped with good fountain pens, but it is a battle against peer pressure to persuade them that handwriting is a desirable accomplishment and an art.

Please do persist.

Inspiring thoughts. Thank you.
 
I'm a collector and user of vintage and modern fountain pens; my current collection comprises over 100 fountain pens dating from the late 1800s to today. I love writing with a fountain pen and find it difficult to write well with a biro or pencil. I was taught to write with a nib and ink in primary school where we had dip pens and inkwells set in the upper corner of the desk. In secondary school we graduated to fountain pens and could only use fountain pens for our school work. I used a fountain pen throughout university and used a fountain pen at work until computers came along. My first fountain pen was a blue Esterbrook, which I bought in September 1960 when I was shunted off to boarding school. My second pen was a maroon PARKER 21, which I still use today, about 57 years after I bought it. I wrote all my school exams, O Level, A & S Levels, and university exams and term papers with it. I've had it serviced just once in the time I've had it. I'm very careful with the ink I use in all my fountain pens: it has to be either Watermans or Diamine. I've found these inks to be the most compatible with a fountain pen: they are not corrosive, don't clog and flow nicely whilst offering a good range of colours.
 
I'm not collector of fountain pens but definitely a big fan. I acquired a few over the years and broke, lost, or given away several too. My remaining small stash is shown in this photo...
Left to right:
  • A Waterman Carene (I think) I bought in around 1990 at W. H. Smiths in Liverpool...great writer
  • A Lamy Safari I picked up a few years ago after hearing so many good things...I wasn't very impressed tbh.
  • A Parker Duofold that was a fountain pen I'd always craved. Got this in the late 80's
  • A Mont Blanc Meisterstruck Mozart. I got this because i share a birthday with Wolfgang...how we laugh!
  • A Pilot Cavalier. Relatively cheap and cheerful...writes nicely.
  • Perhaps my oldest fountain pen...a steel Papermate Flighter from the 1980s but still works a treat
  • My most recent purchases are the 3 TWSBI demonstrators, I currently use most with different inks
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I'm an avid notetaker and I buy pens to use (even the rather more expensive ones) as they make writing a much more enjoyable experience. Maybe that's a common denominator for wet shaving enthusiasts and fountain pen fans...we like the tactile ritual, the class and the indulgence of the 'old school' :)


Aaaaagh! I almost forgot this one...My Pilot 'Vanishing Point' Retractable...A design classic if ever there was one!

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I have about 10 pens (Faber Castell & Lamy mainly) - a few years ago I re-discovered fountain pens and being concerned about my hand-writing I use them as much as possible, including keeping a daily note book, not really a diary, just to capture some of the things and ideas one comes across on a daily basis. At school in Germany we had to use ink pens until we were 16 - I can still reproduce my joined-up hand writing from those days, looks childish but neat.
 
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