My Unpublished Article on Fountain Pen Hospital

[Maurizio]

Maybe you folks will consider this stale, and maybe the moderators will decide that this post is better moved to the Market Watch forum, but I’ve decided to share it here for what it’s worth. 

 

Background:

Before COVID, I worked for some 18 years in downtown Manhattan, within a 10-minute walk to FPH. I spent many pleasurable lunch hours there, pestering the staff and just drinking in the delightful atmosphere, and bought many pens and even more bottles of ink. I was kind of a regular there and was on a first name basis with the staff. In the spring of 2019 news circulated here on the FPN that there was a new fountain pen magazine in the works out of  New Jersey. I had had several professional articles published by that time and was confident I could write a decent article about the store. I emailed a query to the editors of the new magazine and they agreed to publish an article about the FPH written by me. I then emailed one of the owners of the store, Terry Wiederlight, and he agreed to meet with me to be interviewed. I spent a delightful hour or so with him in his office at the store, wrote up an article, and as I promised him, sent it to him for final review and opportunity to make any corrections before I sent it to the magazine. He gave it his OK which pleased me. Sadly, this bit of writing will never be published. The new New Jersey fountain pen magazine never got off the ground. I recently contacted PenWorld magazine and they told me that they liked the article but had relatively recently published an article about FPH so no go.

I just can’t bear to keep my passion for fountain pens and love for the FPH as the last real, physical retail store in all of NYC dying in a drawer, so I decided to share it here with the only group of people who might appreciate it. 

 

 

Fountain Pen Hospital - The Last Man Standing in New York City

 

 

“My two fingers on a typewriter have never connected with my brain. My hand on a pen does. A fountain pen of course. Ball point pens are only good for filling out forms on a plane.” - Graham Greene

 

By Maurizio R © 2019

 

For those who know and enjoy writing or sketching with a fountain pen, nothing compares to the direct hand-to-mind connection that you get when using a well-made, finely tuned fountain pen.

 

Recent reports indicate that world-wide fountain pen sales have increased over the last 10 years. Just as some people are re-discovering the pleasures of listening to music the old analog way by grooves pressed into vinyl discs, more people it seems are turning to fountain pens. In a time when communication is by ubiquitous electronic devices, many people are discovering or re-discovering the physical and psychic pleasures of writing with pen on paper. Some may also be attracted to fountain pens as a way to remain unique in a world full of electronic uniformity. Fountain pens let the individual make choices about the size, shape, style, color, and nib of their chosen instrument, and once acquired, the fountain pen buyer has her choice from a rainbow of beautiful ink colors.

 

When it comes to buying a fountain pen, nothing compares to going into a brick and mortar store to actually see, handle, and write with the pen you’re considering. Prices may be a bit cheaper online, but the difference is more than made up by getting advice and recommendations from full-time salespeople who have been in the business for years and who let the buyer dip-test and write with a pen. Want to experience the difference between the medium and the fine nib a pen company offers before buying it? You can’t do that online.

 

The Fountain Pen Hospital (FPH) in downtown Manhattan is the last man standing. It is the last remaining, one and only, brick and mortar retail shop dedicated to selling fountain pens in the whole great and glorious City of New York.

 

The FPH was founded some 71 years ago in 1946 by the grandfather and father of its owners Terry & Steve Wiederlight. After WWII duty in the Air Force, their father, along with their grandfather, opened the shop in downtown New York City. Although Lazlo Biro had already invented the ballpoint pen, he hadn’t yet worked out the kinks in the ink or in mass producing the darn thing.

 

In 1946 when the shop was founded, virtually anyone who wrote anything used a fountain pen. Fountain pens at the time were ordinary and everywhere, part of the equipment of business and daily social life; in a time before computers, letter writing was still a widespread activity and way for people separated by distance to stay in touch. Fountain pens, with their delicate parts, such as ink sacs and pressure bars, needed to be fixed from time to time. With so many pens in use, there was a market for their repair, hence the word “hospital” in the FPH’s name, which at its height maintained a staff of 5 repair men. Terry Wiederlight told me that his father performed pen repairs for Count Basie among many others.

 

By around the mid-1950’s, Biro had solved his problems; ballpoints were in mass production and becoming widespread and steadily grabbing market share. These market changes forced the FPH to reassess its business model and by the mid-1960’s the shop became primarily a seller of office supplies to the large office market in downtown Manhattan. Current owner Terry Wiederlight started working there part-time as a high school student.

 

By the mid to late 1980’s, the “big box” retail concept was born; Terry and his brother saw a Staples store and realized their office supply business was in trouble. They began phasing out of office supplies and transitioning back into selling fountain pens and started by selling high end limited edition pens such as the Pelikan Toledo and Mont Blanc Lorenzo. They attended their first pen show in New Jersey and the pens they offered “sold like crazy”; they realized they were onto something. The 2 brothers slowly built up their fountain pen business by - for the time before the internet - the traditional methods of mailing lists and print mailings. Terry Wiederlight told me they used a Commodore 64 for their first mailing list. They also placed an ad in the big glossy Pen World magazine in 1986 and sent out a printed catalog they called “Vintage Pen Quarterly”.

 

The brothers continued to attend pen shows in the big cities while continuing to build their business by mail and retail sales at the store. They put up their website in the late 1990’s and by then their business was doing well.

 

After September 11, because of their location in downtown Manhattan, they had no access to their store or stock for about 6 weeks, but they had managed to take a computer out of the store, so Terry & Steve set up “shop” in Steve’s home basement in New Jersey where they continued to take orders by phone and fax. Their loyal customers worldwide understood the situation and waited patiently for the orders of their special pens to be shipped.

 

Today the FPH is one of the premier fountain pen shops in the world - pen paradise, the promised land - for fountain pen lovers. The store is stocked full of fountain pens from all the major and some minor brands, ready to be seen and dip-tested. In addition to their world-class selection of fountain pens (as well as ballpoints and mechanical pencils), the store stocks a nonpareil selection of fountain pen inks on their famous “wall of ink”, a floor-to-ceiling wall of the store jammed full of fountain pen inks from around the world. Here you will find their store exclusive Old Manhattan Black fountain pen ink from Noodler’s. They also stock a variety of accessories such as Ink Miser inkwells, pen flush, books, leather carrying cases, and beautiful wooden pen display cases.

 

Terry Wiederlight recalled to me that various celebrities have visited his store through the years including Meryl Streep trying to be incognito in a big  hat, Tom Hanks, Jerry Bruckheimer, Arnold Schwarznegger, Alicia Keyes, and scientist Neil Degrasse Tyson, among others.

 

In step with the times, while the retail store continues to prosper, some 80% of the Fountain Pen Hospital’s business is now done online from their website (www.fountainpenhosptal.com). On the website, customers can find various sections dedicated to deals such as the “Backroom” section where customers can find vintage, discontinued, and lightly used pens at great prices. Recent offerings from the “Backroom” have included some unique Conway Stewart fountain pens, a rare Mont Blanc retractable fountain pen, an Omas (out of business, but still highly prized by aficionados), and some Parker Duofolds.

 

There are also the “Tuesday Mania” deals offered on the website where the FPH gets deals from manufacturers and then offers them at 40 – 50% below retail in weekly rotation.

 

One of the best aspects of shopping at the FPH is their friendly and knowledgeable staff. These folks have deep experience with the pluses and quirks of scores of fountain pens. Give them a price range and they will give you suggestions for good pens within that range. And it is they who will let you dip-test your prospective pen purchase so you can make a satisfying and informed decision.

 

In keeping with their tradition and the “hospital” in their name, the FPH still performs repairs, though these are now done off-site.

 

The FPH is one of the gems of the New York retail landscape and a must stop for any NYC visitor whether interested in fountain pens or in finding beautiful gifts for loved ones, friends or business associates. 

 

[inkstainedruth]

Very cool!  Thanks for posting.  

I don't get to NYC much, but I try (when I do go, since my husband's sister and brother-in-law live in Midtown) to make a "pilgrimage" to FPH.  Never bought a pen there, but I've bought inks, and a couple of books, and one time bought a couple of Esterbrook nib units.

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

 

ETA: Of course I also hope that sometime I'll actually run into Neil Degrasse Tyson when I'm there.... 

[ItwasLuck]

I bought my London Fog quite a few years back from FPH, the staff are absolutely incredible. Thank you for the article, it was a pleasure to read! 

 

I really hope we have more pen meets at FPH, we don't have a lot of them up here compared to Florida. 

[flodoc]

3 hours ago, Maurizio said:

Maybe you folks will consider this stale, and maybe the moderators will decide that this post is better moved to the Market Watch forum, but I’ve decided to share it here for what it’s worth. 

 

Background:

Before COVID, I worked for some 18 years in downtown Manhattan, within a 10-minute walk to FPH. I spent many pleasurable lunch hours there, pestering the staff and just drinking in the delightful atmosphere, and bought many pens and even more bottles of ink. I was kind of a regular there and was on a first name basis with the staff. In the spring of 2019 news circulated here on the FPN that there was a new fountain pen magazine in the works out of  New Jersey. I had had several professional articles published by that time and was confident I could write a decent article about the store. I emailed a query to the editors of the new magazine and they agreed to publish an article about the FPH written by me. I then emailed one of the owners of the store, Terry Wiederlight, and he agreed to meet with me to be interviewed. I spent a delightful hour or so with him in his office at the store, wrote up an article, and as I promised him, sent it to him for final review and opportunity to make any corrections before I sent it to the magazine. He gave it his OK which pleased me. Sadly, this bit of writing will never be published. The new New Jersey fountain pen magazine never got off the ground. I recently contacted PenWorld magazine and they told me that they liked the article but had relatively recently published an article about FPH so no go.

I just can’t bear to keep my passion for fountain pens and love for the FPH as the last real, physical retail store in all of NYC dying in a drawer, so I decided to share it here with the only group of people who might appreciate it. 

 

 

Fountain Pen Hospital - The Last Man Standing in New York City

 

 

“My two fingers on a typewriter have never connected with my brain. My hand on a pen does. A fountain pen of course. Ball point pens are only good for filling out forms on a plane.” - Graham Greene

 

By Maurizio R © 2019

 

For those who know and enjoy writing or sketching with a fountain pen, nothing compares to the direct hand-to-mind connection that you get when using a well-made, finely tuned fountain pen.

 

Recent reports indicate that world-wide fountain pen sales have increased over the last 10 years. Just as some people are re-discovering the pleasures of listening to music the old analog way by grooves pressed into vinyl discs, more people it seems are turning to fountain pens. In a time when communication is by ubiquitous electronic devices, many people are discovering or re-discovering the physical and psychic pleasures of writing with pen on paper. Some may also be attracted to fountain pens as a way to remain unique in a world full of electronic uniformity. Fountain pens let the individual make choices about the size, shape, style, color, and nib of their chosen instrument, and once acquired, the fountain pen buyer has her choice from a rainbow of beautiful ink colors.

 

When it comes to buying a fountain pen, nothing compares to going into a brick and mortar store to actually see, handle, and write with the pen you’re considering. Prices may be a bit cheaper online, but the difference is more than made up by getting advice and recommendations from full-time salespeople who have been in the business for years and who let the buyer dip-test and write with a pen. Want to experience the difference between the medium and the fine nib a pen company offers before buying it? You can’t do that online.

 

The Fountain Pen Hospital (FPH) in downtown Manhattan is the last man standing. It is the last remaining, one and only, brick and mortar retail shop dedicated to selling fountain pens in the whole great and glorious City of New York.

 

The FPH was founded some 71 years ago in 1946 by the grandfather and father of its owners Terry & Steve Wiederlight. After WWII duty in the Air Force, their father, along with their grandfather, opened the shop in downtown New York City. Although Lazlo Biro had already invented the ballpoint pen, he hadn’t yet worked out the kinks in the ink or in mass producing the darn thing.

 

In 1946 when the shop was founded, virtually anyone who wrote anything used a fountain pen. Fountain pens at the time were ordinary and everywhere, part of the equipment of business and daily social life; in a time before computers, letter writing was still a widespread activity and way for people separated by distance to stay in touch. Fountain pens, with their delicate parts, such as ink sacs and pressure bars, needed to be fixed from time to time. With so many pens in use, there was a market for their repair, hence the word “hospital” in the FPH’s name, which at its height maintained a staff of 5 repair men. Terry Wiederlight told me that his father performed pen repairs for Count Basie among many others.

 

By around the mid-1950’s, Biro had solved his problems; ballpoints were in mass production and becoming widespread and steadily grabbing market share. These market changes forced the FPH to reassess its business model and by the mid-1960’s the shop became primarily a seller of office supplies to the large office market in downtown Manhattan. Current owner Terry Wiederlight started working there part-time as a high school student.

 

By the mid to late 1980’s, the “big box” retail concept was born; Terry and his brother saw a Staples store and realized their office supply business was in trouble. They began phasing out of office supplies and transitioning back into selling fountain pens and started by selling high end limited edition pens such as the Pelikan Toledo and Mont Blanc Lorenzo. They attended their first pen show in New Jersey and the pens they offered “sold like crazy”; they realized they were onto something. The 2 brothers slowly built up their fountain pen business by - for the time before the internet - the traditional methods of mailing lists and print mailings. Terry Wiederlight told me they used a Commodore 64 for their first mailing list. They also placed an ad in the big glossy Pen World magazine in 1986 and sent out a printed catalog they called “Vintage Pen Quarterly”.

 

The brothers continued to attend pen shows in the big cities while continuing to build their business by mail and retail sales at the store. They put up their website in the late 1990’s and by then their business was doing well.

 

After September 11, because of their location in downtown Manhattan, they had no access to their store or stock for about 6 weeks, but they had managed to take a computer out of the store, so Terry & Steve set up “shop” in Steve’s home basement in New Jersey where they continued to take orders by phone and fax. Their loyal customers worldwide understood the situation and waited patiently for the orders of their special pens to be shipped.

 

Today the FPH is one of the premier fountain pen shops in the world - pen paradise, the promised land - for fountain pen lovers. The store is stocked full of fountain pens from all the major and some minor brands, ready to be seen and dip-tested. In addition to their world-class selection of fountain pens (as well as ballpoints and mechanical pencils), the store stocks a nonpareil selection of fountain pen inks on their famous “wall of ink”, a floor-to-ceiling wall of the store jammed full of fountain pen inks from around the world. Here you will find their store exclusive Old Manhattan Black fountain pen ink from Noodler’s. They also stock a variety of accessories such as Ink Miser inkwells, pen flush, books, leather carrying cases, and beautiful wooden pen display cases.

 

Terry Wiederlight recalled to me that various celebrities have visited his store through the years including Meryl Streep trying to be incognito in a big  hat, Tom Hanks, Jerry Bruckheimer, Arnold Schwarznegger, Alicia Keyes, and scientist Neil Degrasse Tyson, among others.

 

In step with the times, while the retail store continues to prosper, some 80% of the Fountain Pen Hospital’s business is now done online from their website (www.fountainpenhosptal.com). On the website, customers can find various sections dedicated to deals such as the “Backroom” section where customers can find vintage, discontinued, and lightly used pens at great prices. Recent offerings from the “Backroom” have included some unique Conway Stewart fountain pens, a rare Mont Blanc retractable fountain pen, an Omas (out of business, but still highly prized by aficionados), and some Parker Duofolds.

 

There are also the “Tuesday Mania” deals offered on the website where the FPH gets deals from manufacturers and then offers them at 40 – 50% below retail in weekly rotation.

 

One of the best aspects of shopping at the FPH is their friendly and knowledgeable staff. These folks have deep experience with the pluses and quirks of scores of fountain pens. Give them a price range and they will give you suggestions for good pens within that range. And it is they who will let you dip-test your prospective pen purchase so you can make a satisfying and informed decision.

 

In keeping with their tradition and the “hospital” in their name, the FPH still performs repairs, though these are now done off-site.

 

The FPH is one of the gems of the New York retail landscape and a must stop for any NYC visitor whether interested in fountain pens or in finding beautiful gifts for loved ones, friends or business associates. 

 

Thanks for this article. I have only had a couple of limited opportunities to visit a brick and mortar store. The experiences were wonderful and mind boggling to see so many fountain pens in one place! Being in Kansas, most of my purchases have been online. I'm glad FPH does have an online presence as I have often purchased pens and supplies from them.

[dragondazd]

I regret not visiting fph white I was in the area. I went into a different fp store in NYC and had such a horrible experience I stayed out of fp stores for years.

[txomsy]

Thanks for the article. It is certainly always worth learning from the 'heroes' who keep alive our hobbies in this era of non discriminated massive digitization.

[Maurizio]

Thanks for your kind words Ruth. 

 

Thanks for your kind words ItWasLuck. More meets would be nice. I’m not much of an organizer type but I’d be happy to attend. 

 

Thanks flodoc. Since you’re a customer, you’re helping them keep their doors open. 

 

dragondazd - There used to be several shops in NYC and one, long gone, even have a satellite office in Grand Central Station. I hope you’re bad experience wasn’t at The Art Brown Shop in midtown Manhattan. That was another great shop which sadly went under 11 or 12 years ago. If it was, you must have caught a bad salesperson on a bad day which would have been a-typical for the Art  Brown shop. 

 

Thanks txomsy. I think we’re all fortunate that we still have a few places like FPH with its long history still present in the world. Terry and Steve Wiederlight are the 3rd generation, and, as I understand it, one of their sons is stepping in to continue the tradition. 

[Grayspoole]

Great article! Thanks so much for sharing it with us. I am a native New Yorker, although I left many years ago. I’ve never visited the FPH but on my next trip, I surely will.

[txomsy]

3 hours ago, Maurizio said:

and, as I understand it, one of their sons is stepping in to continue the tradition. 

Those are great news!

[inkstainedruth]

13 hours ago, dragondazd said:

I regret not visiting fph white I was in the area. I went into a different fp store in NYC and had such a horrible experience I stayed out of fp stores for years.

What store did you go in?
Besides FPH I've been to the new Lamy SoHo store once or twice, and to the old Art Brown's (before they moved) and have have good experiences.  I also went one time to some Japanese store in central Manhattan but if they had pens I never found them (the place was huge but seemed to mostly have manga).  The next time I'm in NYC I'm going to see if I have time to go across the river to Brooklyn (?) and check out Yoseka Stationery.  And maybe a place on the West Side that I just spotted in a Google search, Gold Leaf Stationers (because they apparently carry Miquelrius notebooks).  And maybe also some of the other stationery stores in Manhattan as well....

One of the times when I went to Art Brown's I was trying to match the ink which had come out of an old Esterbrook I'd happened onto in an antiques mall northeast of where I live -- it was some blue-black that had a lot of shading).  The guy who was helping me was showing me their swatch book and I was explaining the issue and the guy goes "Oh, Marilyn...." and sent me over to the other corner for Marilyn Brown (!) to help me (and she sold me a bottle of Noodler's Manhattan Blue, which used to be exclusive to that store -- I think that FPH may now carry it).

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

[dftr]

Very nice article. If you have any drafts written by hand post them up too…

[dragondazd]

1 hour ago, inkstainedruth said:

What store did you go in?
Besides FPH I've been to the new Lamy SoHo store once or twice, and to the old Art Brown's (before they moved) and have have good experiences.  I also went one time to some Japanese store in central Manhattan but if they had pens I never found them (the place was huge but seemed to mostly have manga).  The next time I'm in NYC I'm going to see if I have time to go across the river to Brooklyn (?) and check out Yoseka Stationery.  And maybe a place on the West Side that I just spotted in a Google search, Gold Leaf Stationers (because they apparently carry Miquelrius notebooks).  And maybe also some of the other stationery stores in Manhattan as well....

One of the times when I went to Art Brown's I was trying to match the ink which had come out of an old Esterbrook I'd happened onto in an antiques mall northeast of where I live -- it was some blue-black that had a lot of shading).  The guy who was helping me was showing me their swatch book and I was explaining the issue and the guy goes "Oh, Marilyn...." and sent me over to the other corner for Marilyn Brown (!) to help me (and she sold me a bottle of Noodler's Manhattan Blue, which used to be exclusive to that store -- I think that FPH may now carry it).

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

I can't remember. It was all dark marble. Every inch of that place screamed "you don't belong".

[Maurizio]

1 hour ago, dftr said:

Very nice article. If you have any drafts written by hand post them up too…

 

Thank you dftr.

 

I did draft this by hand as I do all of my longer written work (I have to write as part of my pro work life). But I wrote this a few years ago and I’m sure the pads I drafted this piece on have been long ago used up and the individual sheets of handwritten drafts of this piece tossed in the circular file. Moreover I do not have handsome handwriting. I write pretty fast and loose when I’m thinking and writing. It’s functional for me, but I’m sure would be eye-torture for someone else to look at. I type up from my handwritten drafts. 

[Maurizio]

9 hours ago, Grayspoole said:

Great article! Thanks so much for sharing it with us. I am a native New Yorker, although I left many years ago. I’ve never visited the FPH but on my next trip, I surely will.

 

Thanks for your kind words Grayspoole. I’m pleased you enjoyed it. 

[Maurizio]

2 hours ago, inkstainedruth said:

What store did you go in?
Besides FPH I've been to the new Lamy SoHo store once or twice, and to the old Art Brown's (before they moved) and have have good experiences.  I also went one time to some Japanese store in central Manhattan but if they had pens I never found them (the place was huge but seemed to mostly have manga).  The next time I'm in NYC I'm going to see if I have time to go across the river to Brooklyn (?) and check out Yoseka Stationery.  And maybe a place on the West Side that I just spotted in a Google search, Gold Leaf Stationers (because they apparently carry Miquelrius notebooks).  And maybe also some of the other stationery stores in Manhattan as well....

One of the times when I went to Art Brown's I was trying to match the ink which had come out of an old Esterbrook I'd happened onto in an antiques mall northeast of where I live -- it was some blue-black that had a lot of shading).  The guy who was helping me was showing me their swatch book and I was explaining the issue and the guy goes "Oh, Marilyn...." and sent me over to the other corner for Marilyn Brown (!) to help me (and she sold me a bottle of Noodler's Manhattan Blue, which used to be exclusive to that store -- I think that FPH may now carry it).

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

 

Ruth, sadly the Art Brown shop folded more than a decade ago. It was a great store too. I don’t know if it’s still the case today, and I haven’t been in downtown Manhattan since March of 2020, but, the last time I was at the FPH, Marilyn Brown, a delightful lady “of a certain age” was still working part-time at the FPH. I don’t know the status of her husband Art Brown, but I know that the owners of FPH were buddies with the Art Brown owners and they let Mrs. Brown work at their store just to give her something to do because she was a smart, energetic woman with deep knowledge of fountain pens. 

 

Re “some Japanese store in central Manhattan” , I’m sure this was the Kinokuniya store which is located just across the street from Bryant Park and behind the NY Public Library. That is a fun store store also with 3 floors. A bookstore with lots of Japanese books and books about Japan in English on the ground floor, manga books and merchandise on the 2nd floor, and a Japanese stationary, art supplies, fountain pen shop, and Japanese book store on the sub-ground floor. A great place to buy Japanese paper goods and notebooks, but forget about their fountain pens. For some reason, these are ALL ridiculously overpriced. 

[Baalberithim]

Neat article, it's definitely fun to hear someone enthusiastic about the way the store used to be.  I think the "one and only store left" kind of sells a few current stores short.  The Goods for the Study near Prince Street has a pretty solid selection of fountain pens and inks, along with other varieties of writing implements and paper goods.  Yoseka is also really solid, with a greater emphasis on fountain pens than Goods for the Study.

 

As for the fountain pens in Kinokuniya, as best I could tell, they just do a flat conversion of the price in yen to dollars.  So if there's a Vanishing Point that sells for ¥24,000 in Japan, they just price it $240, ¥35,000 becomes $350, and so on.  I would caution people to also take into account that they don't have the boxes for hardly any of the fountain pens they stock.  Certainly best used for grabbing books and non-fountain pens, in my opinion.

[Maurizio]

1 hour ago, Baalberithim said:

 

 

 Certainly best used for grabbing books and non-fountain pens, in my opinion.

I agree completely. Their prices for notebooks and other stationary goods are reasonable.  I have bought a Metropolitan and a Plasir there bc the prices were normal, but anything series is best bought elsewhere. 

[Keyless Works]

Great article. Thank you for sharing it!

 

I've bought from them many times. They have great customer service. I will admit though despite typically going to NYC once or twice a year, I've never been to their store. The location is not that convenient and it seems like all of my errands and various appointments never take me further south than SoHo.

[alexwi]

6 hours ago, inkstainedruth said:

"Oh, Marilyn...."

I haven't been to FPH since before the pandemic and Marilyn Brown was (hopefully is) their in-house inkologist. I was going after a dark black and was about to pay $25 or so for something in a pretty bottle (Japanese, I can't remember) and she pretty much said that it was absurd to pay so much when Aurora's black was only $11 and was perfect.

 

I found her store - Art Brown - more welcoming for some reason. From the 90's, when there were still reasons to gravitate towards NYC, there was Art Brown, Airline Stationers, Pearl Paint, FPH, and another art supplies store that closed not long ago that also had a reasonable selection of fountain pens.

 

Today I got a postcard about their Spring festival, and those are a lot of fun, as the store turns into a pen show. I might go this year, but will miss seeing people's faces 😞

 

Alex

[inkstainedruth]

8 hours ago, Maurizio said:

Ruth, sadly the Art Brown shop folded more than a decade ago. It was a great store too. I don’t know if it’s still the case today, and I haven’t been in downtown Manhattan since March of 2020, but, the last time I was at the FPH, Marilyn Brown, a delightful lady “of a certain age” was still working part-time at the FPH. I don’t know the status of her husband Art Brown, but I know that the owners of FPH were buddies with the Art Brown owners and they let Mrs. Brown work at their store just to give her something to do because she was a smart, energetic woman with deep knowledge of fountain pens. 

 

Re “some Japanese store in central Manhattan” , I’m sure this was the Kinokuniya store which is located just across the street from Bryant Park and behind the NY Public Library. That is a fun store store also with 3 floors. A bookstore with lots of Japanese books and books about Japan in English on the ground floor, manga books and merchandise on the 2nd floor, and a Japanese stationary, art supplies, fountain pen shop, and Japanese book store on the sub-ground floor. A great place to buy Japanese paper goods and notebooks, but forget about their fountain pens. For some reason, these are ALL ridiculously overpriced. 

At one point Art Brown's had reopened a few blocks from their old location (just off Fifth Avenue) but when I looked at the "new" website they seemed to mostly be selling luggage.  

Kinokuniya might be the place -- I think I stopped in either going to or coming back to my sister-in-law's from MMA.  I didn't know about the sub-ground floor (but that certainly explains why I didn't find any pens....

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth