My Fp Story And Rediscovering My 114 Mozart

[logantrky]

The first fountain pen I ever saw used was by my academic advisor the summer before. I saw him using a Montblanc fountain pen while meeting with me to schedule classes for the coming fall semester. If I recall it was the Mozart 75th anniversary pen.

 

"Cool pen," I remember saying to him. "You want to try it?" He asked.

 

I remember accepting his offer. I also recall not knowing how to hold it or which way the nib was supposed to be turned when writing. He was patient with me and eventually I got the hang of it. I was hooked after that.

 

After saving up some money from my little campus job, I went into a pen shop in the downtown area. It was just a mom and pop store that also sold office furniture and office supplies. He carried Pelikan, Waterman, Parker, Sheaffer, Montblanc, and just about every other major pen manufacturer. His selection wasn't exhaustive, but he had a wonderful selection/sampling of just about everything. I saw a little Montblanc Mozart with M nin set in an acrylic stand in the glass case. I inquired at the price and remember grimacing at the response.

 

The owner of the store smiled and got a calculator out of a droor. He typed up a few numbers and offered it at price I could afford. The owner informed me that Montblanc pulled his dealer license because he wasn't moving enough product. This was when MB was weeding out a lot of the Mom and Pop shops and going more towards boutiques. As a result, this man had some product left that he was selling a little above cost.

 

I accepted his generous offer and walked out a happy man. He threw in some MB carts and also taught me the "syringe" trick for using bottled ink.

 

I used that little 114 throughout my first year of college as I gained a passion for FPs. I joined FPN not too long after that. At one point, the feed got clogged from using PR Ebony Blue and the small collar around the nib cracked and fell off. I sent it away to Pendleton Brown at one point to have the nib smoothed and the feed adjusted with wonderful results.

 

A year or so later, I bought a 144, then a 147, then a 144 Doue, etc, etc. My collection grew and my little Mozart eventually got lost in the mix. I uninked it at one point and it set in the leather case for a couple years.

 

However, a couple of days ago while I was inking up a 146, I saw my little Mozart laying in the case. I had a notion to ink it up with MB Blue-Black and put it into rotation.

 

After I inked it up, I took it to church yesterday to take sermon notes. I forgot how much I loved this pen! The nib is buttery smooth and the MB Blue-Black ink just flowwwwwwwed across the page.

 

So, here's your encouragement to blow the dust off of those MB pens you don't use as often and try them out! You might remember how much you love writing with them!

[orfew]

Thanks for this interesting post.

 

Regarding the Mozart, I have the platinum trim version and it is comfortable to write with when posted. In fact, this pen is one that I just cleaned to put into temporary storage.

 

I was just looking at my pens in much the same way you were. I noticed I had 8 MBs inked and could not possibly use them all. So I flushed a few and started carefully thinking about each pen I had and when I had last inked it. I noticed that I had some great pens that just are not getting used. I am going to make an effort to use more of the pens that are sitting idle. In the meantime i have some more MBs to flush and clean.

[Chrissy]

That's a very nice story. I have heard that there are department stores in the UK that are currently no longer considered suitable places to sell Mb pens because they want to sell them in the stationery department, or they don't want to have to have their floors redone in the required Mb colour. To date I haven't managed to find any Mb pens at 'a little above cost' though.

 

Enjoy your Mozart pen. I'm sure you will always remember it as your first Mb.

Edited August 19, 2013 by Chrissy

[logantrky]

Thanks for this interesting post.

 

Regarding the Mozart, I have the platinum trim version and it is comfortable to write with when posted. In fact, this pen is one that I just cleaned to put into temporary storage.

 

I was just looking at my pens in much the same way you were. I noticed I had 8 MBs inked and could not possibly use them all. So I flushed a few and started carefully thinking about each pen I had and when I had last inked it. I noticed that I had some great pens that just are not getting used. I am going to make an effort to use more of the pens that are sitting idle. In the meantime i have some more MBs to flush and clean.

 

Hi orfew!

 

Thanks for your comment. It is amazing how some pens get set aside for such a long period of time! It was fun for me to change it up a bit. I need to make myself switch around my rotation once in a while!

 

 

 

That's a very nice story. I have heard that there are department stores in the UK that are currently no longer considered suitable places to sell Mb pens because they want to sell them in the stationery department, or they don't want to have to have their floors redone in the required Mb colour. To date I haven't managed to find any Mb pens at 'a little above cost' though.

 

Enjoy your Mozart pen. I'm sure you will always remember it as your first Mb.

 

Hi Chrissy.

 

From hearing the pen shop owner talk, it seems MB really cracked down on the little stores. However, it must have been a wise business move for them. Thanks for your comment!

[pavoni]

Fabulous story logantrky,

 

I use my modern MBs for my weekly work rotation. I have a Mozart and it is a little cracker of a pen. Trouble is, what with a MB 145 (2 cartridges), MB 147 (2 cartridges) and the Fountainbel Conid Bulkfiller, not to mention my trusty MB 149, the little fellow just it isn't getting a look in, as good a pen as it is. That said, I think many of us can relate to falling back in love with a particular pen. Otherwise, your excellently told story will indeed have encouraged us to revisit those pens which, through no fault, have fallen out of favour and out of sight.

 

Many thanks for sharing.

 

Pavoni.

[da vinci]

Great story, thanks for sharing.

 

Brings back memories of my first mb, a 146 over 20 years ago. Havent used it for many years as it started to leak. I think I can probably send it off to mb for a service to fix that. I will get round to it soon...

[orfew]

Nicely said Pavoni. Now I must go ink that 3-42 G with the flexible OB nib.

[pavoni]

Now I must go ink that 3-42 G with the flexible OB nib.

 

 

Pavoni

[logantrky]

Fabulous story logantrky,

 

I use my modern MBs for my weekly work rotation. I have a Mozart and it is a little cracker of a pen. Trouble is, what with a MB 145 (2 cartridges), MB 147 (2 cartridges) and the Fountainbel Conid Bulkfiller, not to mention my trusty MB 149, the little fellow just it isn't getting a look in, as good a pen as it is. That said, I think many of us can relate to falling back in love with a particular pen. Otherwise, your excellently told story will indeed have encouraged us to revisit those pens which, through no fault, have fallen out of favour and out of sight.

 

Many thanks for sharing.

 

Pavoni.

 

Thanks Pavoni! This means a lot coming from a seasoned collector such as yourself. I'm glad I could be a bit of encouragement.

 

Great story, thanks for sharing.

 

Brings back memories of my first mb, a 146 over 20 years ago. Havent used it for many years as it started to leak. I think I can probably send it off to mb for a service to fix that. I will get round to it soon...

 

Thank you da vinci! I love my 146s and use them on a weekly basis. Get that little gem fixed!

[Dillo]

Hi,

 

That's a nice story. Did you ever get your Mozart to MB to fix the feed collar though?

 

Dillon

[logantrky]

Hi,

 

That's a nice story. Did you ever get your Mozart to MB to fix the feed collar though?

 

Dillon

Hi Dillon:

 

Thanks. No, I decided not to send it in. If it ever falls off I probably will but its barely noticeable to me.

[Solomander]

Great story. I'm rediscovering a few pens that have fallen out of the rotation too. It's fun. It's like when my wife says "shop your closet" Sometimes you forget nice stuff that's right under your nose. OTOH, I have also gone through my collection and seen pens that I haven't used in a long time. Usually they are from early in my pen career, when I was trying different pens to find out what I really liked. Sometimes they don't sing to me any more. That's when it's time for them to find new homes.

 

Joel

[Blade Runner]

Thanks for sharing. That pen would be great for a planner or travelling. Btw, Another thing to do if a pen isn't get a lot of use is to have a nibmeister fashion a different nib.

[Dillo]

Great story. I'm rediscovering a few pens that have fallen out of the rotation too. It's fun. It's like when my wife says "shop your closet" Sometimes you forget nice stuff that's right under your nose. OTOH, I have also gone through my collection and seen pens that I haven't used in a long time. Usually they are from early in my pen career, when I was trying different pens to find out what I really liked. Sometimes they don't sing to me any more. That's when it's time for them to find new homes.

 

Joel

 

Shop your closet...I don't really have enough pens to be able to do that anymore. I used to have 150+ pens, then I sold a lot of them, and I now have less than a fifth that many.

 

Dillon