How often do you see people using fountain pens?

[Shangas]

To be honest, I have NEVER seen anyone use or carry a fountain pen, other than myself. EVER. I just can't think of a single time.

 

Okay I lie. There is ONE time. And this is the ONLY time I've seen it. My eye-doctor. He owns and writes with this beautiful silver fountain pen with a...I think it's a steel...nib. It's very nice. I've never had a chance to look at it up-close, though. That's the only time I've ever seen someone other than myself, use a fountain pen.

[Whome]

Can't remember when I last saw someone else using a FP... Certainly haven't seen any wandering about at work.. Keep looking though!!

 

Random folk will say they tried Calligraphy but didn't like it.

Edited December 8, 2007 by Whome

[juhtolv]

I know one guy here from Jyväskylä, who bought Pelikan Steno, because he read about it from my WWW-diary. I have never seen him writing with it. I don't know, if he carry it with him. But he has toldd me that he likes that pen.

 

During last presidential elections I heard that one candidate, Sauli Niinistö, is a fountain pen user. I went to lecture room, when he was about to finish his speech. After it was over I asked his autograph. He wrote it with his own fountain pen. Its brand was Cross. I think that is the only moment when I have seen someone else using his/her own fountain pen. BTW he told me he has given those pens as a present to some people.

 

Sometimes I let my friend, buddies and acquaintances to try writing with my fountain pens. When I collect autographs of celebrities and underground stars, I loan my fountain pen for that purpose.

[BklynWriter]

I get the scrunched up face too, or they just say that "oh I don't know how to use those kinds of pens".

 

deb

 

Haven't seen a single person yet. Whenever people find out I'm using a fountain pen, their faces tend to scrunch up like I just told them something gross. There's quite a bit of resistance to the FP, from what I've seen, and the fact that they cost more than $6 doesn't seem to help.

 

Not too long ago, I gave my mother a pack of Pilot Varsities to take with her to work (my parents run a high school tutoring center). She came back that same day, and told me a few of the kids swiped them from her desk. There's hope for the future yet!!

 

[Jimmy James]

When I was but an intern working for a prosecutor's office, one of the attorneys had a nice vintage Sheaffer fountain pen of some sort he kept at his desk. I think that's the only time I have seen somebody else associated with a fountain pen since I have been aware of them. That was coincidentally the same summer I first dipped my toe into the FP well by purchasing several Parkers: a Vector, a Frontier, and a 51.

[Sirius33]

I work in the Pentagon and will see another FP user approx. once/week at a meeting. I am fairly sure that I am the only FP user in my Directorate.

 

I also spend a good deal of time w/ Europeans and Australians. FP users are more common in that lot.

[krz]

I think out here in the Swamp I'm more likely to see a flying alligator!

[Vicente]

I've only seen one FP user so far. He's a friend of mine who is into Montblancs, and some of them happen to be FPs.

 

It's unlikely that I will find another FP user around here. My classmates probably think its weird that I take notes and do my math with a fountain pen, and for mentioning that "this paper isn't any good" when the professors print their tests on cheap paper. Professors have asked me "How can paper possibly be bad?" so I explain it to them. I always carry a non-FP Montblanc for those cases. Chances are they all think I'm a little crazy.

Edited December 8, 2007 by Vicente

[jmkeuning]

I'm going with never.

[alvarez57]

Some do in my field. I have already "converted" 2 people, one being my nurse who loves VP's and doesn't mind at all the clip. A colleague of mine was the one who taught me how to bid at FleaBay.

[jbb]

Even here in Penn Valley (a real place in California) I have to say none.

[jonro]

I have never seen anyone else outside of a pen show using a fountain pen. I've had a couple of clients notice them in passing. I keep hoping to meet another FP user "in the wild."

[Kalessin]

I'm sure there's a judge or two somewhere in the Judicial Branch who uses a fountain pen, but generally I see them using rollerballs or ballpoints. I'm also sure some attorneys carry them, but I never see them where they'd be writing.

 

I'm the only person in my department of ~200 who uses one, but I do have a few friends who use them.

 

This begs a question, if FP users are so rare -- who is buying all these many thousands of fountain pens sold every year? Who's helping the big companies sell out their limited-editions of 3000, 5000, 40000 fountain pens? Weird, huh?

[Belan]

My current workplace has 3 other fountain pen users. It was a bit disconcerting, really ... I was wakling by and happened to notice bottles of ink on one coworkers desk, who pointed me to 2 other FP users.

 

This coworker shocked me when she pulled out a binder with about 20 pens in it. I started oohing and aahing as I looked at her *traveling* collection, consisting of Omas Paragon, Visconti Opera, Parker Vacumatics and Duofolds, Aurora Fuoco, several vintage and modern Watermans, and so on. When I started identifying pens, their make and model, and various details about several of the pens, she looked at me with a dumfounded expression and asked "How do you know all this?!" To which I replied "Well, I really like them, so I investigate and research and read about them. Don't you?"

 

"No," she said. "I just buy ones that look pretty and feel good." Not that there's anything wrong with that ... just wasn't the answer I was expecting!

[Belan]

who is buying all these many thousands of fountain pens sold every year? Who's helping the big companies sell out their limited-editions of 3000, 5000, 40000 fountain pens? Weird, huh?

 

Let's take a massive run, like ... 50k

 

With a total population on Earth of 6 Billion, that's 1 pen per 120,000 people. In a city like Cincinnati, there'd be 3 people who had one of those pens.

 

Throw in a few dealers who buy 5 of 'em a piece, let's say, because they think it'll be a good investment down the line, and the ratio of pens per person gets lower dramatically.

 

Of course, this argument is silly based on global wealth distribution ... many more poor people in the world than those with enough disposable income to purchase a high cost item that has no real benefit for basic survival. Needs to be skewed based on wealth distribution, but it's almost 1am and I'm not about to go thru the math at this time of night

[blak000]

Hey, if you DO happen to run into someone with a FP, what do you think the chance is that the person is a member of FPN??

[rollerboy]

I don't recall seeing anyone. I can't think of a sighting at my office. Then again, _I_ don't use fountain pens at work - partly because of crappy office paper, partly because I don't _want_ the distraction of a nice pen at work, and partly just to protect the hobby/novelty aspect of fountain pen use. So if I'm not the only one, lack of sightings doesn't indicate what people are "doing in the privacy of their own homes" so to speak.

 

[Jeff E]

I know of about five people at work who routinely use fountain pens. I work for a large chemical company and the people who use fountain pens tend to be very senior researchers, managers, and directors.

[JayLo]

My work allows me to interact with analysts, accountants and programmers. Lately I've seen many yellow wood pencils. One person mounted a hand crank sharpener on her office cabinet. Not one FP in the bunch.

[wvbeetlebug]

Nope. Just me. But I did get "The Boss" to start using them.