Black Pen Society

[Misfit]

I emailed Paul Erano. I wanted 2020 membership pins. Unfortunately, because of COVID-19, no 2020 pins because of the cancellation of pen shows. Pins are usually handed out there. He did offer pins from 2018 and 2019, so I can get my 2 brother’s membership too. It’s a surprise.

[sansenri]

some pens are nice in black

I won't go counting now, but I know I have a number...

[Penguincollector]

  I think I just joined this society in a roundabout manner: 

 

 

2015 BPS Parker “51” by Ariel Kullock.

[Carguy]

7 hours ago, Penguincollector said:

  I think I just joined this society in a roundabout manner: 

 

 

2015 BPS Parker “51” by Ariel Kullock.

That is a beautiful pen! I really enjoy Ariel’s work.

[Penguincollector]

19 minutes ago, Carguy said:

That is a beautiful pen! I really enjoy Ariel’s work.

  Thank you, I do as well. This is the first opportunity I had to see it in person. I would love a Ciselé cap made by him someday. 

[inkstainedruth]

I got to meet Ariel Kulloch at a pen show a number of years ago.  I was trying to find some part (maybe a cap to swap for the mismatched cap of a pen I got on eBay) and ended up having this odd 3 way conversation with him with someone else (not sure if it was his wife or his sister) playing interpreter for the two of us.

Come to think, if it's the pen I'm remembering, it was black -- but just an ordinary 51 Vac for which I'd paid the minimum bid on eBay (it had the cap for a 51 Special on it and I had bid the minimum, just mostly to get the ball rolling) -- most of my focus was on the Plum Demi 51 I ended up winning -- and then got the notice I'd won the 51 Vac the next day....   Really had thought I'd get outbid on both and hadn't been paying that much attention on the second auction (I described winning the Plummer as "best poker face EVER!" because -- while I raised the maximum a couple of times as the price slowly crept up over the week -- I never hit my INTERMEDIATE maximum ).  Got both pens in the same mail as it happened as well....

Of course that was the same week that IIRC Farmersmum got the full size Plum 51 -- which I had completely ignored because that was listed as being black by the seller.  And HE paid just over half what I paid for the Demi....   Met him the year I went to the Chicago Show (the year it got moved to the fall) -- he overheard me telling the story to someone and came over and introduced himself and we had a good laugh over it....

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

[Misfit]

I passed on the Monteverde Mountains of the World Black Mountains pen when it was in the lineup. I recently got one on eBay, and like it very much. Better late than never! And it is a fitting pen for the Black Pen Society, even though it welcomes those with a rainbow of colors in their pens. 
 

[Carguy]

2 hours ago, inkstainedruth said:

I got to meet Ariel Kulloch at a pen show a number of years ago.  I was trying to find some part (maybe a cap to swap for the mismatched cap of a pen I got on eBay) and ended up having this odd 3 way conversation with him with someone else (not sure if it was his wife or his sister) playing interpreter for the two of us.

Come to think, if it's the pen I'm remembering, it was black -- but just an ordinary 51 Vac for which I'd paid the minimum bid on eBay (it had the cap for a 51 Special on it and I had bid the minimum, just mostly to get the ball rolling) -- most of my focus was on the Plum Demi 51 I ended up winning -- and then got the notice I'd won the 51 Vac the next day....   Really had thought I'd get outbid on both and hadn't been paying that much attention on the second auction (I described winning the Plummer as "best poker face EVER!" because -- while I raised the maximum a couple of times as the price slowly crept up over the week -- I never hit my INTERMEDIATE maximum ).  Got both pens in the same mail as it happened as well....

Of course that was the same week that IIRC Farmersmum got the full size Plum 51 -- which I had completely ignored because that was listed as being black by the seller.  And HE paid just over half what I paid for the Demi....   Met him the year I went to the Chicago Show (the year it got moved to the fall) -- he overheard me telling the story to someone and came over and introduced himself and we had a good laugh over it....

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

I got 2 Plums in the last two years by really studying ones that appeared black on auction listings, but people have picked up on that trick. I’ve tried recently on a few burgundy ones that looked darker and I hoped “maybe”….yeah now I’ve got a ton of burgundy 51’s!

 

The one plum I have left (I accidentally traded one at a show) has a B nib and it is just simply amazing!

[inkstainedruth]

2 minutes ago, Carguy said:

I got 2 Plums in the last two years by really studying ones that appeared black on auction listings, but people have picked up on that trick. I’ve tried recently on a few burgundy ones that looked darker and I hoped “maybe”….yeah now I’ve got a ton of burgundy 51’s!

 

The one plum I have left (I accidentally traded one at a show) has a B nib and it is just simply amazing!

My Plum Demi has an M nib -- and it's such a lovely writer.  It's the pen they'll have to pry out of my cold dead fingers... unless I somehow, someday, manage to score a full size one for under the price of an arm and a leg and another arm.... 

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

[Carguy]

1 minute ago, inkstainedruth said:

My Plum Demi has an M nib -- and it's such a lovely writer.  It's the pen they'll have to pry out of my cold dead fingers... unless I somehow, someday, manage to score a full size one for under the price of an arm and a leg and another arm.... 

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

Believe it or not, they do seem to be getting cheaper. I saw one listed not long ago with a buy it price of $250 and they couldn’t get it….kept re-listing it

[inkstainedruth]

At the moment, even that price would be a little too rich for my blood -- we're shortly about to be spending a five figure amount of money on re-doing the driveway... and not even the ENTIRE driveway (back all the way to the barn on the back of the property) at that....  My husband wanted to put in a turn-around behind the house (apparently he thought that *I* wanted that ), but that would have added an additional $11K US to the pricetag.... 

The good part is that they're going to get rid of the three steps at the bottom of one side of the driveway (we routinely have to warn people to swing to the other side so they don't wreck their undercarriage on those steps) and that I think they're also suppose to smooth down the bump at the bottom where it reaches the street.  Plus, on the southern side of the driveway, they're going to remove the rebar stakes holding some concrete blocks in place (yet another "OMG -- why did the former owners think this was a REMOTELY good idea?") -- although we might end up losing the privet hedge on that side of the driveway in the process....

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

[Carguy]

One of the many reasons or examples of why I don’t currently own a house….to much work and $$.

[inkstainedruth]

Well, my husband had bad experiences in most of the apartments he was in before I met him -- even when he and his former housemate were in a townhouse).  

At some point, we're going to have to probably move to someplace smaller (preferably all on one level, except maybe for having a basement).  But I'm not looking forward to that because of all the stuff we have accumulated over the years; it will be 25 years next spring that we bought this house -- and that's the longest I've ever lived in any one place (even longer than the house where I grew up, which my parents bought in 1968, and where I moved back home after college until my husband and I got married).

I'd love to be able to find a house like that one (a long ranch with an attached two car garage and full basement under the main part of the house) -- but most of the one story places I've seen in the greater Pittsburgh area are way smaller....  And I don't want to be too far out in the boonies and when we bought our current house, our real estate agent could NOT understand why we didn't want to live "in a plan in Cranberry" like she and her husband did....  Plus, I've gotten somewhat spoiled by living close to something vaguely resembling mass transit (although, sadly even PRT has gone somewhat downhill over the years... and my allergist "consolidated" offices so it's now roughly a 16 mile drive each direction instead of a 3 block walk to the bus stop, a 2 block walk once I get downtown to one of the T stations, a few stops to another T station all the way downtown, and then a couple of block walk from there to their old office near Point State Park....

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

[Mags]

I would love to see the thread renew itself and see folks show off their Black Pens here.  Anyone add a few black pens to the collection since 2020?

[Penguincollector]

  Well, same day I bought the Kullock I won this lovely 51 desk set:

 

 

  On Monday, the Black and gold Geha in this photo arrived:

 

 

My favorite black pen I received as a Xmas gift last year:

 

[lamarax]

Can I please be admitted as a corresponding member of the society? 😊

[Misfit]

1 hour ago, lamarax said:

Can I please be admitted as a corresponding member of the society? 😊

Hi @lamarax to officially join The Black Pen Society, you either join at a pen show, or have a “member” give you the oath. That’s how I joined, at pen club when a person who had joined at a pen show asked us a couple questions, and said we were in. 
 

I put members in quotes because there isn’t a club with newsletter etc. 

 

So, do you swear to use black pens?

 

Do you swear to encourage others to use black pens?

 

um, I don’t remember the actual questions. But those above are close. 
 

If you answer yes, you are in.  If you want to buy the official pins, you’ll need to email the Grand Poobah Paul Erano. His email is plerano@aol.com. 
 

Here is a link to read about The Black Pen Society

[Scribs]

Yes!  and Yes! Am I in? Please? 

[Misfit]

6 minutes ago, Scribs said:

Yes!  and Yes! Am I in? Please? 

As far as I can officially say so, yes. I don’t know if you have to renew year after year. I just emailed Paul, and asked about pins. He sent photos, and I bought the ones I liked the best. 

[Scribs]

I'm doing the black pen dance!! 😃