How old are fountain pen enthusiasts?

[Underskoterskan]

I'm 28

 

Regards

Undersköterskan

[simcha]

I'm 39. I've been using fountain pens on and off since my undergrad days at university. That was when I was 17-21. I prefer fountain pens and have been labelled as "weird" for using them in grad school in my early 30's. I carried around a Preface and a bottle of black Waterman ink and I was so happy with writing then. I'm back on it since I've started to write more in my journal.

 

I think most people are stunned when they see me writing with a fountain pen and they assume that it costs so much to maintain them. Actually, I've found that in the long run they're cheaper than buying the cheap ball point pens and replacing them when they finally run out. And, it's better for the environment because there is less waste. That's getting more and more important these days.

[voop]

I am nearly 60,

 

What are we to do with you ..."are you nuts!!" you know the rules.

 

Rule1. When you are 2-3yo, you are "I dont know 20-ten I think"

Rule2. Ages 4-8 you accurately state you age as proof of your grasp of numbers (awwwwrrr ...so grown up)

Rule3. Ages 9-25 "I am nearly" and take your age to the next year, eg, a 9yo is nearly 10

Rule4. Ages 25+ YOU NEVER SAY YOU ARE NEARLY 60 WHEN YOU WERE BORN IN 1950.

 

YOU ARE 59!!

 

Alright, I suppose that I have to cough up.

Well I write like a 10yo but I am 47 (but look much younger)(Does having a young wife count?)

 

but when you get to be 80+ you start every conversation with how old you are

 

I thought that when 80+ you'd start every conversation with "You won't believe who just died shoveling snow...."

 

Oh, and 34ish here.

[brokenglass]

I'm 27.

 

 

[FrogmanM]

I'm 20 and currently a college student. I basically use fountain pens due to the enormous amounts of notes I take during class. Some may say "use a computer" for note taking, but most of my professors have banned them from the classrooms. (mostly because students are using them for myspace/facebook)

A few peers in my class have asked "why use a FP, are you THAT into your writing?" Not at all, in fact my scribble is downright horrible! However I do not have time to stop and give my hand a rest during class. That and FPs make something as dull as note taking actually fun and enjoyable!

 

-Mayo

[sebas0902]

38 yo.

I like FPs since the Uni times, long, long time ago, and basically, it was my younger brother fault.

I do not like neither ballpens nor rollers. FPs are both, personal and a tocuh of class in a too fast going world.

Unscrewing the cap of your FP is a pleasure not understood by many. Well, as the longines ad. says: elegance is a attitude, such as FP writing.

 

And usually FP comes hand by hand with an affinity for collecting watches. Doesn´t it?

 

 

 

[dogpoet]

I'm 36 myself, which means that I'm just old enough to have been forced to use fountain pens in school, though that was more down to attending a Christian Brothers public school for the first chunk of my education than anything else.

(Can't comment on the Generation X thing, as I thought that was a comic.)

[Dylan Lynch]

Just bought my first at 22 years old.

[RickM]

Started when I was 20, now I'm 49. In a few months celebrating 50 -- you can guess what I'm getting for myself to celebrate.... at 51 I'm finally getting that Parker 51 I've just never got around to getting. I wonder what makes sense for 50? Is there a 50-year pen as well as the 100-year pen? Ah, more research to do, but I have a few months still. Open to suggestions under $200.

 

Rick

[TLR]

I'm 58 and begin to use fountain pens at age of 8, 50 years writing with FP.

[skeezicks]

Turns out this wasn't a touchy topic. Lots of us are being forthcoming, at any rate. I'm 55, and my recent passion for pens dates back around 8 years or so. As a youngster, though (8-12, say), I was particularly enamored of fountain pens, so this is something of a renaissance for me.

 

I agree with a former post; this would be a fabulous subject for a poll. Who's game to start that up?

[meblamy]

I'm 46. Never used a fountain pen until about a year ago.

 

[bitterwonder]

I am 55 and started using a fountain pen in 1963.

Have used one (or more) ever since.

[Shangas]

I will be 22 in July.

 

I was born in 1987.

 

I have used fountain pens regularly since I was seven years old.

 

I still carry a pocket blotter around and often get strange looks, not for using a fountain pen, but for blotting after I finish writing.

 

I keep a supply of card-sized advertising blotters in my wallet and carry them everywhere with me. Occasionally I take them out for them to fulfil their destiny...the reactions are always priceless!

Edited May 2, 2009 by Shangas

[Artie]

I am nearly 60,

 

What are we to do with you ..."are you nuts!!" you know the rules.

 

Rule1. When you are 2-3yo, you are "I dont know 20-ten I think"

Rule2. Ages 4-8 you accurately state you age as proof of your grasp of numbers (awwwwrrr ...so grown up)

Rule3. Ages 9-25 "I am nearly" and take your age to the next year, eg, a 9yo is nearly 10

Rule4. Ages 25+ YOU NEVER SAY YOU ARE NEARLY 60 WHEN YOU WERE BORN IN 1950.

 

YOU ARE 59!!

 

Alright, I suppose that I have to cough up.

Well I write like a 10yo but I am 47 (but look much younger)(Does having a young wife count?)

 

but when you get to be 80+ you start every conversation with how old you are

 

 

I thought that when 80+ you'd start every conversation with "You won't believe who just died shoveling snow...."

 

Oh, and 34ish here.

 

I can hear my grand dad now: Wheese....... well I'm 87 years old...... wheeze, gasp....... and I remember when we had to shovel snow six feet deep in a driveway three miles uphill in a blizzard.

 

[MrInkwell]

Wow, I didn't realise there were so many young users! I'm 18, and have been using FPs since my grandmother gave me one for my 14th birthday. Seriously interesting in pens since 16.

[DovR]

we're like the dodos or the dinosaurs. I often dispair when i see the average age of aficianados at our pen club meetings.

However ink made the heart grow fonder and great excitement when a "new" 12.5 year old f/p fan showed up with his mother in tow.

 

i gave him some freebies, pen mags, a pelikano from my table, though he admired the MB sterling solitairre f/s ;-) Told the mom i would give her at cost, but even that was past budget.

 

So there is hope.

 

 

[deauville]

66 years old and into fountain pens since age 11 at grammar school in London. Eventually was able to buy a Parker 51 when I started work. I have only been collecting for about six months but have been intrigued by the design and construction of FPs for many years.

 

I only wish the quality of my handwriting matched my enthusiasm for the hardware.

 

 

 

[Defacto]

I'm 32 years of age but use a fountainpen since I was six.

Just like most of my fellow Dutch citizens I was thaught to write with a fountainpen in primary school. I just continued using one throughout my entire life.

I started collecting somewhere around 4 years ago I think...

 

And after finding this forum I entered the road with no return......

 

Thanks everyone

 

Nicolet

[Rosa Mundi]

I was also taught to write with a fountain pen, and now, after decades, I have made a comeback to FP world with a lot of help from FPN!

 

Oh yes, and I am thirty-something...