How do you display or store your pens?

[Ceilidh]

Like this?  I rang for the butler, but he didn't answer. Then I remembered I don't have one.

 

Actually, a while back, I considered trying to turn a silver chest into a pen chest, but I decided it wasn't such a good idea - not sure whether the stuff the silvercloth was treated with might damage vintage pens. I was really glad to stumble on the above for practically nothing. I think it's similar to the one on the bottom shelf in your photo, except for the glass in the lid.

 

 

[DilettanteG]

Nice! Glad you got a deal. Those things go for big bucks new. I'm kinda kicking myself because I just bought a new chest from Levenger and less than a month later I no longer need it. Oh well, can't win them all. Pen chests seem the kind of thing you end up using eventually.

 

I'm sorry that I also don't have a butler. Shame, we could all use a Jeeves.

[Ceilidh]

Yes, you probably will use them eventually (unless you go cold turkey on pens, which I'm sure is NOT a good idea). But your display cabinet looks really cool!

[DilettanteG]

9 minutes ago, Ceilidh said:

Yes, you probably will use them eventually (unless you go cold turkey on pens, which I'm sure is NOT a good idea). But your display cabinet looks really cool!

Thanks! After twenty-five or so years of collecting I think I'm probably irredeemably past the cold turkey stage. ☺️

[Baka1969]

Maison de Plume

 

[DilettanteG]

18 minutes ago, Baka1969 said:

Maison de Plume

 

Je les adore! 

[rdamm]

A couple pens (mostly the prettier ones... :)) do have a spot in some proper boxes.

 

 

The pens for drawing have a nice little pouch from the 50s. That one I really love and find one of the best ways to store and carry several pens.

 

 

Most of the rest is just sitting in various pen cases.

 

 

The two that are in constant use sit in my bullet journal and close to hand most of the time.

 

 

Inspired by Azizah, I used to store all the pens in a single bag using those Rickshaw pen sleeves. It's a nice system and makes it easy to also pack some other stuff but the fact it means there's always a bulky bag in play turned me off of it for now. Today, the only pen left in it is that Wahl-Eversharp Decopen abomination of a pen.

 

Edited January 13, 2024 by rdamm

[rdamm]

@DilettanteG

That statue presenting the pen is awesome BTW.

[PAKMAN]

Here is my pen / ink storage:

 

[inkstainedruth]

Inked up pens are in a metal canister that came with a hot chocolate set a few years ago, and those live on the top shelf of a small bookcase between the bed and my desk.

Pens not in rotation are mostly in a bunch of 24 pen zipper cases (trying to organize them by brand as much as possible) with the ones that need repairs are in one of the smaller Girologio 12 pen cases, and the ones I brought to a pen club meeting last night (then didn't mostly show off  after all that).

Eventually (hopefully this spring and summer) I will finally make a stab at getting the antique dental cabinet functional -- I mean, I've only owned the thing since about the time the world went into COVID lockdown.... 

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

[DilettanteG]

1 hour ago, rdamm said:

@DilettanteG

That statue presenting the pen is awesome BTW.

Thanks! It needs a name.

 

You've got books, beautiful pens, and lovely little leather cases to cary them all in.  I think you're officially properly kitted out. 👍

[DilettanteG]

@PAKMANI t's a lovely display with a cool, vintage vibe. I do love a Barrister's Bookcase. Now, I want to go buy some for the library. You people are going to bankrupt me with all this fancy livin'. 😁

[DilettanteG]

48 minutes ago, inkstainedruth said:

Inked up pens are in a metal canister that came with a hot chocolate set a few years ago, and those live on the top shelf of a small bookcase between the bed and my desk.

Pens not in rotation are mostly in a bunch of 24 pen zipper cases (trying to organize them by brand as much as possible) with the ones that need repairs are in one of the smaller Girologio 12 pen cases, and the ones I brought to a pen club meeting last night (then didn't mostly show off  after all that).

Eventually (hopefully this spring and summer) I will finally make a stab at getting the antique dental cabinet functional -- I mean, I've only owned the thing since about the time the world went into COVID lockdown.... 

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

Definitely going to need pictures of that finished dental cabinet! There's something really fascinating about antique medical equipment.

[inkstainedruth]

Well, I like the fact that it has a lot of shallow drawers, and then three deeper ones where I think I'll be able to store at least some of the ink vial trays, putting them side by side, two in each of the drawers.  I'll have to measure to see if I can stack them and get four in a drawer.  

The top section is shallower, and has one shelf behind each door.  Not really big enough for a lot of stuff, but maybe things like some of the boxes that pens came in, and (hopefully) some of the little tchotchkes that are on currently getting dusty on my desk, like the small Pelikan pen stands, and random things like the plastic Rat Fink that I paid way too much for on eBay a few years ago, since it had the brush whiskers, and is bigger than the one I got out of a gum ball machine when I was about 6 or 7.....

Bigger stuff, like the big Pelikan pen holder (the kind with a hole in its beak, to display a pen), will either stay on my desk (once I get *it* straightened out) or on top of the lower section of the dental cabinet (I'm a bit worried that if it goes on top up the upper part, it won't be stable enough.  At the moment, the top of the lower part is cluttered up with stuff that isn't mine (stuff like pads from when my husband was recovering from hernia surgery a few years ago) and then on top of the upper part is MORE stuff that isn't mine, along with a few stacks of notebooks and composition books.

I actually found the bag with one drawer pull and a couple of of screws so that at some point I can trail around hardware stores and places like Home Depot and Lowes and maybe the area Rockler (the place I got the 24 pen zipper cases -- which may end up getting stacked up on top of the lower section of the dental cabinet as well (that will get them off the bookcase on the other side of my desk, next to the bedroom door, so maybe I'll have room for, well, books... (I wish I could still get the nice folding boxes covered with fabric and rattan at IKEA -- I could use a couple more of those).

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

[inkstainedruth]

58 minutes ago, DilettanteG said:

@PAKMANI t's a lovely display with a cool, vintage vibe. I do love a Barrister's Bookcase. Now, I want to go buy some for the library. You people are going to bankrupt me with all this fancy livin'. 😁

We ended up with a few of those from out of my late mother-in-law's house, and possibly some from my parents' house as well.  But most of them ended up in my husband's home office.

When I was a kid, I didn't even know they were CALLED "barrister's bookcases" -- they were just the ones that I think were my grandfather's, which my mom ended up with when my grandfather died and my grandmother moved in with my mom....

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

[metalhead]

OK so this might strange to others here, but i really have to blurt it out after years of holding this within, esp. after seeing such marvelous furniture from others in this thread. My collection, rather the breadth of it, is kept mostly secret from my family. I mean they think I have 10-15 pens and a few bottles of ink. I have 150+ pens and 50+ ink bottles. How did I end up here?

 

Years ago, when me and the wife were early teens, I coveted her father's Parker 45 set like mad. Our parents were/are practical ball pen people, no fuss just click and write medical reports and prescriptions. And big part of their work was carbon copies, so ball points were perfect. So for all of these people, pens are tools that one spends like a max 100-200 INR (1-2 USD), and uses them and gets a new one when one goes bad. And they all thought I was crazy about craftsmanship and pens. Most of my friends didn't use fountain pens either. Years later, after we got married, and perhaps not earning so much, when the wife found out that I ended up spending a month's salary on a vintage Parker Vacumatic, she mentioned that I needed a life, or something similar. And since then, couple of decades have gone and we have not discussed fountain pens. We are decently well off now, and she is least bothered about my work and my writing. A little bit about spending but we don't watch each other's finances much. Most likely she knows that I am a bit crazy and she's still around for the entertainment, but like I said, she doesn't know the extent of it. So, my pen collection is a secret from almost everyone, except one of my daughters and a couple of other friends who love craftsmanship.

 

Because of this, when we were furnishing our home, I got a couple of secret compartments made, you know some shelves behind the mirror etc., and that's where I store my pens, in neat pen cases.  And ink bottles stacked (this one is a bit of a problem, but you learn to live with it). Over years, based on savings etc, I have moved from cheap pen rolls to neat pen boxes and cases. But all compact and portable. And all of them look the same, so for others its actually one box and one case, and not many. Almost 60% of my pens are ebonite and celluloid, so this works very well for me because I want to keep them away from light, in a dark, cozy and dry place. I keep them in sets of 5-6 based on brand or some common theme, as some of the pics will show. I get my shopping shipped to my workplace, which allows me to keep difficult conversations at bay.

 

After all these years, keeping it all a secret provides some cheap thrills from time to time. It's not that I will get in trouble if I get caught, and most likely the family knows all this and is perhaps letting me play this game with suppressed chuckles. The good bit is, my pens are safe and stored in an organised fashion, in portable cases. Here's a few pictures. (I have 4 boxes that store a dozen ebonite pens each, around 12 Endless 5-pen cases, a couple of Galen leather 10-pen cases, and then some rolls made of canvas for the others).

 

Some cases.

 

Some of my all black pens

 

 

And then some pilots and pelikans

 

 

Some day, I will end up getting a bigger place for us, and make a home office, and come back to this thread for inspirations of how best to store and display. Till then...

 

[DilettanteG]

@rnjn I can't express how much I love that your deep dark family secret is ... a fountain pen collection. That is actually adorable.

 

I also love your leather pen cases. They look really classically designed and well made.

[DilettanteG]

15 minutes ago, inkstainedruth said:

We ended up with a few of those from out of my late mother-in-law's house, and possibly some from my parents' house as well.  But most of them ended up in my husband's home office.

When I was a kid, I didn't even know they were CALLED "barrister's bookcases" -- they were just the ones that I think were my grandfather's, which my mom ended up with when my grandfather died and my grandmother moved in with my mom....

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

I think in your case they're called, "family heirlooms.'" Yes, I may be a little jealous.

[Baka1969]

I looked for a cabinet with drawers at the Philly Pen Show but didn't find anything suitable. I keep my ink and other pen paraphernalia  in a Craftsman tool box and I have 12, 24 and two 48 pen cases in addition to my Maison de Plume. 

[inkstainedruth]

10 minutes ago, rnjn said:

OK so this might strange to others here, but i really have to blurt it out after years of holding this within, esp. after seeing such marvelous furniture from others in this thread. My collection, rather the breadth of it, is kept mostly secret from my family. I mean they think I have 10-15 pens and a few bottles of ink. I have 150+ pens and 50+ ink bottles. How did I end up here?

When people ask me how many pens I have?  I say "Somewhere between too many and not enough....." 

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth