How often do you see people using fountain pens?

[rroossinck]

Aside from a few converts (including my wife and a couple of buddies/ex-colleagues), I don't think I've run into another fountain pen user in the wild, save for this weekend, when they all came out of the woodwork here in Des Moines. The Art Store had their annual pen show where they bring in a handful of reps. I bumped into three or four of 'em. Watched one guy plunk down $700 after taxes on a Visconti Divina Proporzione in black (holy cow, that's a gorgeous pen), another picked up a black carbonesque VP, and a third guy walked out with a new Montegrappa.

[sdcurnow]

Being from Sacramento, you'll enjoy this...I volunteer at the State Railroad Museum and I found one of our Conductors (in his early 20's) with a new Waterman Phileas. I congratulated him on his obvious good taste and referred him to FPN.

 

I also have the little herd of converts around me...daughter, her boyfriend, executive asstistant, but that's about it. I'm giving pens and cartridges to staff for Christmas, so hopefully we can increase our numbers!

[piembi]

Since I live in Europe, fountainpen user are not such a rare species ;-))

We had to use a fountain pens in school so you either like it or don't like it - depending on your experiences.

 

I can think of at least 4 colleagues using a fountain pen at work: Parker Jotter, Lamy Safari, MB 146 and some Cross. Another colleague gave up using her Pelikan 200 at work. And I have seen different Parkers, Pelikans or Montblancs in Meetings with other companies.

 

Sometimes I have to smile when I see some Montblanc screaming "my user is important"!

 

[I am not a number]

I've got to admit to being a bit confused by the number of great pen shops and sellers in the US but the (apparent) lack of other users that you guys see.

[Garageboy]

My tobacconist, a 25 yr old kid (okay, so I'm 19) with a huge collection

and my professor with his pair of Pelikans.

[playpen]

The only people I have seen using fountain pens are those from FPN who I have had the pleasure of actually meeting in person. These meetings are always great fun because everyone shows up with their latest "buys" and everyone else oohs and aahs!

Edited December 12, 2007 by playpen

[HLeopold]

Here in Kansas I have only seen a very few use fountain pens, however I seem to have found one of the few users in my girl friend, we had been together for several years before we both noticed that the other had several fountain pens. Since then I have gotten her a few more, plus a few (ha!) more for myself, of course. Plus she (finally) located several pens that belonged to her dad, took a few years but she knew that they had to be in the old homestead somewhere. Her daughter found two of them (a Waterman blue ripple 51v and a coco colored Thoroughbred (?)) tucked back behind a drawer in her mothers’ sewing machine.

 

[jd50ae]

If I leave the house it is never.

[georges zaslavsky]

The last two times I have seen people using fps were in Poland in 1999 where I met a ceo using a Pelikan 1000 with a fine nib and in 20001 where I met my ceo who was using a 1999 Marbled Blue Modern Duofdold Centennial with a medium nib. Since then I have never met someone using fps or interested into fps, most people at my work use bics.

[ikondave]

One of my profs from grad school loved his fountain pens. I would look to see what he had sticking out of his shirt pocket on a given day and then try to look it up when I got home. He had OUTSTANDING taste.

[supermitch365]

so i was browsing on youtube (killing stress during finals week) and i got to the video for apologize by timbaland. For those who dont know (which i am assuming is much of this board) it is a recent song that has seen a ton of airplay. Anyways, much of the video there is a fountain and dip pen writing out the lyrics. I really didnt think i would ever see a nib in a modern hot music video...

[kudzu]

Great topic, Dave. I never have run across someone using a fountain pen in the wild.

 

I've converted one of my best friends to FPs so I have an ally and fun person to have "pen parties" with where we get together and compare pens and share inks. My extended family all think I'm waaay odd to have picked up this "hobby" in my retirement, but I've enjoyed meeting people from FPN in person (like Dave) and at the PPPC mtgs in the Bay Area. We may be scattered, but we are not alone.

 

Edited to say: Supermitch - can you post a link to that Youtube piece?

Edited December 13, 2007 by kudzu

[Conan the Grammarian]

 

"Laughing Larry" on last night's CSI: NY used what looked like a light blue Lamy Safari to sign a contract with invisible ink.

 

I rarely see people in meat space using fountain pens. In my office, people use Uni-Balls and Clik-Stiks predominantly since they're provided in the supply cabinet. Typically, whatever the boss likes is what gets ordered for the supply cabinet.

 

There is one guy in the office who uses a Yoropen and Rhodia tablets. We get a good variety on paper use. Besides the Rhodia fan, we have another guy who uses a Moleskine notebook with his Uni-Ball pen. There's a Rollabind user (w/ cheap ball point pens) down the hall.

 

[Velma]

Bwahahaha!

 

The Fountain Pen Hospital had its Winter Pen Expo at the end of November. I brought in about twenty-five regular fountain pens (including about six I was willing to give away) and eight disposables which I never use, and sent out an email to my coworkers, telling them that there were loaded pens for people to experiment with, and some to take home. I gave one person his first fountain pen, and he came with Tracey and me to the Expo, and bought two pens; I re-introduced another coworker to fountain pens (she's used them in the Ukraine), and she ordered a Prelude from PenHero that arrived this week; my boss took a Varsity; another coworker took a Centropen (one of the ones I bought from the Marketplace here); and today two coworkers from the documentation division came over, and each one took a pen. Whee! Soon the office will be ordering Varsities the way they order felt-tips!

Edited December 13, 2007 by Velma

[roguesw]

I havent seen anyone using a fountain pen while i was living in NZ and living in Japan now, i have seen 4 people using a fountain pen. The first was at McDonalds, there was an old man in a business suit having his morning coffee and doing a crossword puzzle on the newspaper. I didnt notice until he kept drawing figure 8's repeatedly, and then i saw it was a fountain pen he was using. I guess he was doing a bit of smoothing.

The 2nd time, it was on the train, i saw a girl doing some art design drawings with a fountain pen.

The 3rd time was at school, a teacher was using a Pelikan M400. I was surprised because i had never seen her use a fp before and one day, she had a pelikan pencase with the m400, that was a cool sighting.

The 4th time was with one of my students, a few of them were using the Pilot school fps.

 

[fountainpenjunkie]

Bwahahaha!Whee! Soon the office will be ordering Varsities the way they order felt-tips!

 

Wow Velma! Sounds like you are contagious! Way to go!

[jjudge]

 

I'm working with a guy who whipped out his hexagonal Rotring (600?).

We're at a meeting sometime later, and another friend whips out his Namike Vanishing Point.

... and me with my Monblanc Meisterstuck (sorry, I wasn't carrying any of the FPs I really like)

 

--joe

[QM2]

In Europe, about 50% of my colleagues use fountain pens. It's great!

 

In the US, I know three people who use them.

Edited December 18, 2007 by QM2

[dsatco]

I only met one guy who used a fountain pen, but I lost track of him after I was released from the psych ward.

 

[Gehaha]

Hello,

 

very interesting experiences! In Germany everybody has fountainpens from his time in school. It's also a very common present by parents and grandparents when you grow up (similar to watches). It's a sign that you become an adult when you get a worthy fountainpen. The kids start with Lamy, in my age with Pelikano or Geha C/C. The stories of "my first (fountain)-pen" sound like veterans stories. Mostly about horrible INK experiences...

Most of the people I know are admiring the writing with fountainpens but are using "easy" ballpoints. In my age (born 1961) you are anxious to be "snobbistic", you like ballpoint understatement. Using fountainpens gives you a too conservative image.

Nostalgic feelings are helping a lot. We "midlife" people remember the old fountainpen - feeling and want to get it back :wub:

 

Greetings from fountainpenparadise