School Pens And Pens For School - Who Used (Uses) One?

[penswordnoassemblyrequired]

 

Hermann Zapf died 4 June. Palitino, Optima, and Dingbats! His printing in ink looked like it had been type-set.

 

Zapfino is a great font. I use it often. #1 actually looks quite a bit like my own handwriting.

[corgicoupe]

IIRC, whenever a FP was required I used an Esterbrook in grammar school. When I graduated from 6th grade in 1951, Clara R and I were given a Parker 51 pen and pencil set for having the highest grades. (Clara was smarter than I.) I still have the pen and pencil [teal, I believe], but unfortunately the case was discarded or lost during a move. I started using it again, off and on, about 20 years ago.

[ANM]

When I was a teacher, I used a Pelikan 120 until they stopped making it and mine wore out.

[casualmerlinconstant]

I am a Current student at university.

1. I use a variety of pens from pelikans to sailors to lamys

 

2. I use them for all written work - notes, assignments, exams

 

3. Strangers -ooo nice pen/ is that one of those fountain pens?

Friends: ya idiot/crazy paying that much for a pen.

[cambookpro]

1) I mainly use my Parker 51, Sonnet and TWSBI 580 but I rotate my pens fairly often. My Parker 45 is my marking pen and is filled with a red ink, whilst the rest I rotate between any dark colours I have (or lighter blues). My favourite note taking inks are Diamine Majestic Blue, J Herbin Stormy Grey (though that's a bit of a pain if I'm not using my own paper) and Diamine Raw Sienna (though I think I may prefer Chocolate Brown, haven't used it yet though). The only pen I don't really use is my Lamy Safari as I don't really love the grip section, I don't have a converter for it and it's a 1.1mm stub.

 

2) For pretty much everything. I'll use pencil for diagrams, but we have to handwrite all our notes so if I'm at school, I'll be using a fountain pen. Occasionally I'll type things, but that's usually only for coursework. I never make general notes on laptops.

 

3) Nothing from teachers - a lot of people, especially the younger years, seem to have a Parker Vector or Jotter, so fountain pens aren't rare. A couple of students occasionally want to try them, but usually the phrases I hear most are 'you spent that on a pen?' and 'that one [TWSBI] looks like an e-cigarette'. Strange. I have managed to coax a few people into using FPs - people have bought pens from Parker Vectors and IMs to Lamy Vistas and Studios after seeing mine, and they do enjoy them. Haven't got many on to using bottled ink though.

[cambookpro]

 

Zapfino is a great font. I use it often. #1 actually looks quite a bit like my own handwriting.

 

As much as I admire Hermann Zapf, I do have a special dislike for Zapfino, mainly because the character height varies so much it created hours of headaches for me when I was creating an iOS app for viewing fonts. Ack.

Edited June 12, 2015 by cambookpro

[Sailor Kenshin]

I'm curious about who has used a fountain pen for school, whether it be elementary school or university or anywhere in between.

 

I'm curious about those who used pens in the past:

1. Were they required? In what grades?

2. What pen or pens did you use? (specifically student pens? fancier?)

3. What pen or pens did your friends use?

4. Was ink provided by the school, or did you just fill up at home?

 

I'm sure there are a fair number of current students on the forum. And I'd be curious to know for those using pens more recently

1. What pens do you use?

2. Do you use them for notes, composing work, or what?

3. Reactions from your fellow students and teachers/professors to your using fountain pens

 

I'm sure things are very different now than when fountain pens were either the only form of pen available vs. when they were required over ball points or pencils, vs. today where there are so many more options for writing.

 

Thanks

Andrew

 

Fountain pens were never required in my schools, so until the 6th grade, I'm sure I used a variety of pencils and ballpoints. Then I bought a Skrip school pen on a whim. It had a chrome cap and a translucent yellow barrel, and it used cartridges.

 

Since then it's all a happy blur.

[dojocho]

I don't remember if fp's were required in elementary school but I remember having an ugly blue Pelikano. In highschool I used a Parker 25, in peadagogical academy and my first 10 years as a highschool teacher, I used the same P25. I don't know whether my peers wrote with pens, I surely can't remember any.

 

I always bought my own pens and ink, partly because I don't like ballpoints and because I'm not fond of blue ink.

 

In the workshop (I teach woodcraft), I use my Duofolds, my -30 year old but still going strong- P25 and my TWSBI Mini to sketch, to mark, to grade...actually for everything.

 

In our school I'm known as 'the man who refuses to write with a ballpoint'. My childeren have fp's and my pupils are required to write with fp's since it is beneficial for their drawing technique: the required pressure on a ballpoint results in a fat pencil line.

They use Sheaffers NoNonsense (I found a shop that still had a stock of them for €4,00 each), Bics, Pelikano Juniors, Pelikan Pelikano's, Vectors, an occasional NoName Chinese cheapo (€ 1,00 in the Action, or AC Tion as we and the Dutch call it).

Most of these pens are quite good, only the Bic was a mess to change catridges.

Since most of my pulils forget to bring cartidges, I have bought a spare bag on my desk (actually it's a woodworking bench), if they run out of ink without spares, they can grab one out of my stock. If they have a minor problem with their pen I fix it.

 

regards,

 

Hugo

Edited June 12, 2015 by dojocho

[takkun]

Interesting you bring this up, since I was thinking about what constitutes a 'school pen,' which makes me imagine what might have been kept in a middle schooler's desk . I've heard the earlier MB 2xx series described as such and I thought 'really? Gold trim for that?'

 

Never required for me though; I'm in my late 20s and didn't use them until high school. I had a Safari and later an Accent then; used Safaris and Heroes through undergrad, when I was a journalism student and had all manner of pens I wouldn't mind losing so much. A professor even turned me on to Noodler's Polar inks after I had a sac freeze on a december assignment.

 

Now I'm a graduate student in architecture school, which has been interesting to observe the pen habits of others. Almost everyone uses a Safari, albeit some write nib upside down and refill converters with eyedroppers. Being the resident pen guy, I get to hear all the complaints. The rest use Staedtler or Sakura fine liners, which seems an odd choice for writing. Because of the graphical nature of the field, not a lot of people type notes here. I probably go through a single Rhodia notebook per class per quarter—a lot of writing.

 

As for myself: I keep at my studio desk a couple of Heros for scribbling; my hands are generally covered in glue and graphite dust and the pens don't seem to mind that much. For lecture notes, I switch between a TWSBI, a Lamy 2000, and a Sheaffer Imperial, all with different colors--I don't color code my notes, but I try to have each day's notes written in something contrasting, and have at least an XF and something wider on me.

 

Like someone said earlier, graduate school is a bit different in that you're more responsible, you're moving around less, and you might want to look a bit more professional. No real worry about dropping or losing your pens, so there isn't a disincentive to use something nice. I mostly tend toward the 2000 and TWSBI because they're not hard to replace (unlike my vintage pens, but still wouldn't be fun to) and carry a good amount of ink.

Edited June 12, 2015 by takkun

[fromthecrowd]

I entered elementary school in Moscow USSR in 1965

1. Were they required? In what grades?

Strictly required starting from about the second months of 1st grade of elementary school.

2. What pen or pens did you use? (specifically student pens? fancier?)

Special school pens. There were two of three types of those made by Sacco & Vanzetti factory. Made of hard light grey plastic with purple swirls. Mine was a bulbfiller.

3. What pen or pens did your friends use?

My classmates used the mentioned two or three types of pens.

4. Was ink provided by the school, or did you just fill up at home?

We had to fill the pen at home. Only violet ink was permitted. Pens also had to be purchaced individually.

We were the first year to use fountain pens. Before 1965 dip pens were used to learn writing in Russia.

Some years later we were allowed to use ballpoints.

As for me, I was happy to use Lady Sheaffer gold ripple medium fountain pen with black Russian ink through senior grades and at the university.

Edited June 12, 2015 by fromthecrowd

[AAAndrew]

Who would not love a Sacco and Vanzetti fountain pen??!??

 

Thanks, again for all of this. I'm enjoying reading it all. Hopefully others are too.

[catbert]

Who would not love a Sacco and Vanzetti fountain pen??!??

 

Thanks, again for all of this. I'm enjoying reading it all. Hopefully others are too.

 

It has been a fascinating thread. Do please share your school pen experiences too!

[BookCat]

I graduated a long time ago (1980, please don't do the maths), and used a fountain pen from the time I started my A levels. Before then, I had casually used my sisters' pens - usually Parkers - as a child, then predominantly ballpoints at school.

 

Fountain pens weren't required, I just wanted one.

I used a Platignum Varsity Pressmatic which I still have today, though I've needed to replace the section with one from another from ebay. The original section would no longer hold the feed in place. I'm using the original nib because that's the best thing about the pen. I'm also using the original barrel and cap.

 

My friends used ballpoints and didn't consider it at all strange that I used a fountain pen. In lectures and classes I used a ballpoint for fast note-taking, but wrote up my notes and essays in fountain pen.

 

Ink wasn't provided. At that time, my ink of preference was Parker's Quink in a turquoise.

 

When in my second year at uni, I switched to writing essays on a manual typewriter and the fountain pen dropped out of use till after I graduated, when it was used for poetry first drafts.

 

I still consider them beautiful items, like jewels, to be used whenever I'm doing lengthy writing not on the computer or my alphasmart neo (that's another forum!). They are used mostly for my journal.

[Notgatherox]

Current student.

 

1. I use my Pelikans M200 and TWSBI Diamond 580 as daily users. But if I want my notes in different colours, that's what the rest of my pens (in my pen cases) are for.

 

2. Usually for notes (my notes are colourful - that's the thing about using a fountain pen, many colours to choose from). Homework was done either with black (Pelikan 4001 Black, then Noodler's Black) or blue (Noodler's Liberty Elysium)

 

3. My friends were like, damn cool can I try them out! (Sadly I hardly managed to convert any of them around )

My teachers didn't say much, apart from my English teacher, who accidentally spilled water on my script and told me not to use FPs anymore since the ink could be gone. Luckily for me, that script was done in LE, so it remained legible. From then on I insisted on using permanent (or at least, semi-permanent) inks

 

 

 

~Epic

[fromthecrowd]

Recently I won a lot identical to my school pen at an auction.

The name is AR-9

[alexhondsmerk]

I've been using pens from the age of about 8; at many points in school we were required to use a fountain pen! I'm not approaching the end of medical school and still almost exclusively use fountain pens, at least for notes and work.

[Bex66]

I've loved this thread. It's interesting to hear from current students and recent grads.

 

I went to school in the 70s and 80s. We were all required to start the academic year with a FP, but many students surreptitiously switched to ballpoints as the year progressed. Some of our school books weren't very FP friendly.

 

I had a few cheap Stypens and a Platignum Petite (which I loved), but my favourite was my Parker 45, with a gold nib. My grandad gave me it (it had been his retirement gift and he knew how much I loved my FPs). When I was at university, I lost my P45 and was devastated. It put me off using decent pens for many years.

 

I also had a Sheaffer Lady, which was butter smooth. I still have it, but I left it in a drawer, inked for years and there's been some corrosion on the cap band. Also the converter doesn't work any more and have been unable to find one that fits. (In fact, it was my search for a new converter that first introduced my to FPN!)

 

Now I'm a teacher, some of my students are fascinated by my FPs. I only let them try the cheaper ones!

Not a single one of them uses an FP, though....yet. I'm working on it. I'm almost tempted to buy a load of cheap Chinese pens to get them started. I'm sure it would improve some of their hand writing.

[FinalEleven]

I'm currently in university as well.

 

I actually started using fountain pens pretty recently like one or two years ago. Back then I used a Pilot V-Pen(Varsity) which I kept until I was able to buy better fountain pens such as the Pilot Metropolitan and the Pilot Custom 74. The pen I'm currently using in Uni is my Pilot Custom 74 Demonstrator in Violet. I just love how the pen writes. I also use Sailor Jentle Ink Shigure in that pen which I bought from a local Fountain Pen store.

 

Nowadays I still use my Pilot Custom 74, but I also use a TWSBI Diamond 580 AL in Violet as well. Those two are my main everyday carry pens even outside of university. I usually use my pens for notes as well as journal entries that I take throughout the day. I also use them whenever i need to take a quick note or making a list. I really use my fountain pens for everything writing related. Whenever I use my fountain pens, I usually get glances towards me for using one and people ask about my pens all the time. I let a couple of friends try it out and I convinced at least one to use fountain pens over other pens. I even use my fountain pens at work and all of my coworkers ask about the pen. I ended up getting my boss an eyedropper converted platinum preppy as a gift.

[duffydavid]

Great thread! I only got into fountain pens recently and I have been thinking about others experiences, so perfect timing.

1. What pens do you use?

I generally use a TWSBI 580 Diamond EF with Diamine Sapphire,Honestly I think it is the perfect school pen as it seems robust but you can buy another one if needed and the ink capacity is enough to last me a week unless I have essays. And a Jinhao X450 with Noodlers Apache for important ideas/key words

2. Do you use them for notes, composing work, or what?

I use them almost exclusively for notes but for my more serious exams I have only been using my Retro 51 as I do not trust exam paper and the stakes are too high. I occasionally do mathematics with the TWSBI but a Kuru Toga is more logical

3. Reactions from your fellow students and teachers/professors to your using fountain pens

Unfortunately a lot of snatching which is partly why I have the Jinhao to placate those who are curious. One teacher said that she thought my writing was more legible and that was about it. When my closer friends actually ask about them they normally end up holding a bic ball point and proudly saying "This only cost me $2.5 and it writes perfectly".

I also have some Metropolitans in the mail with a 2k and pilot custom 74 but those are both so valuable I am not comfortable with using them at school.

[line]

I'm curious about who has used a fountain pen for school, whether it be elementary school or university or anywhere in between.

 

I'm curious about those who used pens in the past:

1. Were they required? In what grades?

In primary School, I think when we were about 10 years old, we had to use fountain pen. (It is not like that anymore in Norway, this was in the late 70ies).

2. What pen or pens did you use? (specifically student pens? fancier?)

My first pen was a yellow plastic Pelikan with what seems to be a steel cap. (I still have the pen). My next fountain pen was a Parker 25. After that I started using Parker rollerballs. I used rollerballs for many years, during secondary school and university. until I bought a Parker Arrow in the mid 90ies. The arrow was my working companion for many years until it cracked some years ago and I had to find a new one. That's when I discovered the flex nib, and I was "sold". Now I have a lot more pens than I use...

3. What pen or pens did your friends use?

I can't remember my friends' pens.

Now I work at a secondary school, and I know only of two persons at our school using fountain pens. I am one of them. My experience is that most people don't know what a fountain pen is; they don't know how to hold one if they try one. I can find no fountain pen ink or pens in our shops. I have to order it from abroad.

4. Was ink provided by the school, or did you just fill up at home?

We had to buy it ourselves

 

 

Edited June 13, 2015 by line