What Was The First Fountain Pen You Owned And What Happened To It?

[Kuryaka]

My first fountain pen was a Manuscript calligraphy pen. Cartridge filler, with a very simple converter. I eventually ground down the nib to a finer point, and it works rather well when I want my handwriting to look nice without using a thicker italic nib.

[Ashram]

My first fountain pen was a Rotring 600 I bought when I was in high school. It is rather beaten up looking but still writes as well as the day I bought it. Rotring's steel nibs are indestructible.

[Bookman]

My first was a black lacquer Waterman Exclusive/F, a Christmas gift in 1990. It is filled with Visconti Blue and clipped to my shirt pocket.

[WaskiSquirrel]

My first pen was a Parker Vector in a Burgundy color. I bought it back in 4th grade after drooling over the pens in a pen catalogue for almost a year. It was the only one I could even remotely pay for. It lasted me up through my first job after college. Then, during one of my moves since then, it disappeared.

[basterma]

Sheaffer School pen purchased in the mid 80's. The nib got smashed by jealous classmate. Bought a Pelikan P10 a week later which I still have and use today.

[Paddler]

Sheaffer cartridge pen, original version. I still have it. It still writes well.

 

[Tombrone]

My first pen was a Pelikan Souveran, got it as a gift from my dad.

[georges zaslavsky]

a french made cheap reynolds that I gave to some child after 7 years of intensive use

[RMN]

I learned writing with dip-pens early 60s. BP came around at that time and after a few years we were allowed these. When in grammar school (end 60s) I got granddads Waterman, a 515, and started using that trough grammar school. In Uni a fountainpen was too cumbersome and I started on BPs again. I still have the Waterman, had it restored but seldom use it now, I'm afraid to ruin it (I did ruin another of my granddads pens, a German one, not sure which)

 

About 18 years ago my wife gave me a Waterman Charleston, that got me on to FPs again. It is the only pen I have always inked, besides my computer for quick notes.

 

D.ick

[Holdav]

A Parker Vector when I was about 8. I would always screw the section up too much and crack the body. It was binned many years ago now.

[Alex_]

My first FP was a Sheaffer Targa I got from my dad in the early 90's, it has a few battle scars, needs a new barrel but still have it and still use it.

[ISW_Kaputnik]

Parker IM, just a few years ago. It cost $22, which seemed like a lot to pay for a pen as I then understood things.

 

When it wrote at all, it was very smooth, and that got me hooked. Trouble was that after being put down for even a short time it would seize up, and it would be a major production to get it started again. With a bit more experience now, I have some understanding was going on with that, and I managed to get it writing better. Then I put it away for good. It's in one of my pen cases.

[UK Mike]

The first fountain pen I owned was a Platignum (not Platinum) School cartridge pen with a semi-hooded nib, in about 1959. This was followed by a few more of the same as the mortality rate was very high. None survived.

 

The first pen I saved up for was a Platignum Varsity - a superior school pen with plunge filler. I recall it had an evil scratchy nib and eventually the clip broke and it was lost in the depths of a cupboard somewhere.

 

The next pen was a UK Parker Duofold Senior, bought in around 1962 and that is in my desk drawer.

[dvw]

Mine was a Parker 45 when I was in High school decades ago. I still have and it's sitting in my pen box.

[FPFan]

1967 or so, clear & 1 green Sheaffer School pens around a buck or two at the 5 & 10 Store. A year of two later found a Parker 51 in an Antique Store. The parker was the end of always having ink on everything. I still have it and only use it now and again as the cap has a crack in it I don't want to make worse. Still love me some 51's.

[Pens Woods]

A Sheaffer Prelude red marbled with a beautiful smooth fine (0.5mm) nib purchased in 2003. Still in use when I want a crisp clean nib for book margin writing and underlining. Today it's inked with Diamine Denim.

[RJJ]

My mother gave me a MB knock off 20+ yrs ago and I still cherish it for the sentimental reasons.

[Runnin_Ute]

I remember buying a very cheap Sheaffer (was on a hang card) at a local 7-11 store for just a few dollars. I was somewhere between about 7 or 8 and about 12. It was a cartridge filler. Mom saw me getting ink everywhere when I was changing it and took it away and tossed it. I wrote primarily with ballpoints until I was about 40 or so when I bought my Lamy Al Star from Levenger. I later bought a Waterman Phileas (F) I still have both. I don't recall what the original nib on the Lamy was as I don't have it anymore.The threads on the section broke off in the barrel and when I bought the replacement from Lamy USA I bought it with a F nib. I still have it,but I have a 1.1 mm italic installed right now.

[oregano]

A Waterman Phileas in marbled blue that I settled on after looking through all the pens at Paradise pen one day, about fifteen years ago. I used it throughout high school for journal-writing. A couple of months ago I found it in my mother's desk drawer; it was like finding a long lost friend. It still works rather well, but part of the nib has started to rust...back then I didn't know pens were supposed to be flushed out. That's probably what got me started back on fp's, after a long hiatus punctuated only by some Lamy Safaris about 8 yrs ago; that and getting bored with rollerballs.

[Tom Aquinas]

A red clear plastic barreled Shaeffer cartridge fountain pen in 1959 in grade 5. I had it until 1977 when at that stage it was just floating around in a desk drawer, and I gave it away to an elderly man who got a lot of pleasure out of it .

 

I used it at high school and would buy a packet of cartridges and use the vacuam ability of a cartridge to refill it with Stephens Ink (the cheapest) a few times and then use a new cartridge when the "vacuamatic" split.