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(Kimberly (she/her) took the express train down the fountain pen/stationery rabbit hole and doesn't want to be rescued. She can be found on Instagram @allthehobbies because there really are many, many hobbies!.)
I’m just got back from the 2023 St. Louis Pen Show (their second one since the pandemic) and have finally recovered enough to gather my thoughts. I spent a lot of time describing last year’s show so that would be a good place to start since I will be doing some comparisons in this recap.
The show was held at the same location as last year, the Sheraton Westport Chalet St. Louis hotel. I love walking down the hallway with all the large displays greeting you as you make your way to the registration desk!
Welcome to the St. Louis Pen Show!
Like last year, Michael and the Dromgoole’s spread were the first things you’d see at the show - lots of pens, stationery and an ink wall too!
The perfect rubber chicken for the one and only Ana Reinart, who was working the Dromgoole’s ink wall.
Opposite the Dromgoole’s tables were Steve and Diane Curnow of Curnow Bookbinding and Leather with their lovely array of notebooks, inserts and leather covers!
I like that there was a map on display so folks could look up where the different vendors were located.
This was a view of the main ballroom on Friday when it was fairly busy.
I don’t have attendance numbers from last year or this year but it felt significantly slower this year. Most of the vendors I spoke with felt the same way. Slow days are much harder on vendors than busy days because the hours just drag on and it just drains a lot of the energy. There were maybe a few more folks on Saturday but it wasn’t enough for some vendors, who decided to pack it up and not return on Sunday.
I also don’t have vendor or table numbers, though this year’s website listed 93 vendors (compared to around 100 last year). I know that there were some new vendors this year but I had also heard that a number of folks did not return after they had a disappointing show last year.
The pandemic has seen a lot of new folks entering this hobby, which is great for making new pen friends, but also essential for a hobby’s growth and continued existence. It feels like I’ve encountered a lot more newer folks at this show than any other show in the past two years. More than once (and at different tables), I heard “I don’t have any fountain pens” or “how do I get ink in the pen?” It’s not a bad thing to have a lot of newbies, but it often means that vendors spend a lot more time and energy explaining their products (or just pens in general). Budgets are often lower since they are still discovering this rabbit hole. So you end up with a lot of vendors competing for fewer dollars (on average) from fewer attendees.
The vendors that did the best were the ones who catered more to this newer crowd. Paper, inks and pens $50-100 were the items that seemed to sell the most. Though I did hear that at least one customer bought a Namiki Emperor from Jimmy Dolive (Jimmy strikes again!), that was definitely not the norm.
Last year the show had two nib workers, which was about right. This year, there were 5. Richard Binder, the Kennedys of Indy-Pen-Dance and Gena Salorino of Custom Nib Studio came this year, in addition to returning nib folks Kirk Speer and Josh Lax. I think 2 nib workers is more than enough for this show, not only because of its lower attendance, but the relative newness of its audience also means that they often aren’t aware of what a nib worker does, let alone want to spend the money on getting a pen tuned or ground.
Gena Salorino working their magic.
What the show continues to have is variety - plenty of modern and vintage vendors in all price brackets.
Love seeing Greg Hardy’s smiling face alongside (literally) the “Crawdaddy” pen he made just for this pen show!
Danny Fudge of The Write Pen is a well-known and well-respected fixer/restorer of pens!
If you need supplies for restoring/fixing or just cleaning/maintaining your pens, Indy-Pen-Dance can help!
Akhila and Nirmal Sheth of Smruti Pens came to the STL show for the first time!
I love that they have vendors who sell other things besides “pens & inks” and some vendors that don’t sell anything at all (like the calligraphy guild or the STL meetup group)!
This father-daughter duo of Lincoln’s Leathers makes notebooks and other items out of Michigan!
Keith McCleary and his family brought all their 3D-printed goods, as well as stickers and other fun stuff to the show!
Look at these cool creations from War Pony Forge!
Slapme? No,Slap U! The St Louis Area Pen Users (SLAPU) has regular meetups named St Louis Area Pen Meet & Eat (SLAPME)! I’m pretty sure no actual slapping happens, but don’t quote me on that, lol! Just follow the St. Louis Pen Show IG to find out about the next meetup.
There were two of these ink testing stations in the middle of the ballroom - perfect for ink play while taking a rest break.
Members of the St. Louis Guild of Calligraphers were present to write your name in calligraphy for free and to talk about all things calligraphy!
If we’re going to talk calligraphy, then you have to mention the master penman, Michael Sull, who was busy making and embellishing his gorgeous calligraphy prints!
Sitting next to Mr. Sull was a tray full of old letterpress “stamps”. For free. These were used to print handwriting exemplars for cursive books. You neve know what treasures you’ll find at a pen show!
There were a good number of classes/seminars this year, but not quite as many as last year, which was fine given the lighter crowds at the show this weekend. Still, the variety of classes was great - “Your Name - Your Signature”, Back to Basics Bullet Journaling, Celtic Knots, as well as American Cursive Handwriting, Vintage Pen Buying for Beginners, and more – there really was a wide range of classes/seminars to choose from.
I barely made it in time for the Journaling Social on Friday afternoon and there were still plenty of people gathering, chatting and working on their journals!
Look at these gorgeous Namikis at the Pilot USA table!
On the other end of the spectrum, look at this “bargain” of a pen! I love it when vendors have a sense of humor!
I love this Nahvalur Voyage: Pride 2023 Pen, with a portion of proceeds being donated to It Gets Better Project!
This is the blackest black ink ever made by Platinum - Chou-Kuro. Apparently, it is 43% darker than Platinum Carbon black!
Luxury Brands of America’s exclusive Retro 51 is not only a good looking pen, but proceeds also benefit the Rainforest Trust!
As always, I had a good time after hours at the show. The bar staff was painfully slow on Thursday afternoon/evening, and didn’t pick up until Brian the bartender showed up with his amazing energy and great service on Friday. I heard that the show organizers asked the hotel to keep the bar open late, which they did on Friday and Saturday nights (yay!). Security did come by around 10pm on Sunday to (very nicely) ask us to vacate the lobby because it was past their quiet hours.
Discovered that the Schnickelfritz Bavarian style Weissbier is really tasty - I may have had a few this weekend!!
A few of the die-hards at 1:45am Sunday morning!
Last year I said “it is a well-run show that might need to scale back on the vendors/tables. There is such a thing as “too big” when it comes to pen shows, especially if you don’t have the attendee numbers (and resulting sales dollars) to support it” and sadly, that is even more true this year. This is already a very well-run show, so there isn’t much to improve on from that perspective. There are great shows that are much smaller than STL (Colorado comes to mind, but I’ve also heard great things about Orlando and Arkansas), so I hope that they consider pulling back the number of vendors they ask to come to this show. This way, the vendors can have a successful show, which in turn, brings more attendees to the show.
Clockwise from the left: matte blue Platinum Curidas (Luxury Brands), Colorverse Indigo Blue (Smruti Pens), 2023 St. Louis Pen Show ink Missourah Crawdad by KWZ, Rainforest Retro 51 and Endless notebook clip (LBA), washi tape and New Pen Day stamp from InkyConverters, and STL notebook inserts (Curnow Bookbinding), all atop the Col-o-ring Folio (Well-Appointed Desk). Not pictured: a pen tuned by Gena Salorino and two of the letterpress stamps (which need to be thoroughly cleaned before I handle them again).
I was fairly restrained at this show since DC and SF are right around the corner. I spent most of the time at the show spending time with pen friends, old and new, which is the best part of any pen show. Until DC, stay safe and stay inky!
Hi Pen Fans!
We’ll be attending the Chicago Pen Show this weekend!
We will be bringing a Limited Edition Pen that is exclusive to the Chicago Show! This is a Brockton made from Jonathon Brooks Dragon Night.
We have been having fun lately with our Level-style ink windows, and we’ve always thought that this is a really sharp look on a Brockton.
The ink window is a subtle translucent mint shade. When the pen is capped, it appears to be equipped with a standard ink window. This is a converter filler, but only the clear portions of the converter are visible. This gives a bit of an illusion that the reservoir is the barrel (ala eyedropper, draw filler, or piston filler), when the converter is filled. It’s a pretty neat effect.
The edition will be limited to only 15 pens. These will be priced at $275 with a Steel nib or $375 with an 18k nib. (if a similar pen were ordered custom from us, it would be $325 or $425, respectively.)
We will limit our Friday sales to 10 pens only and our Saturday sales to the remaining 5 pens. First come, first served each day. We realize that a lot of people can’t get off of work to attend a pen show on a Friday and we want everyone who wants this pen to have a shot at it.
If you cannot attend the pen show and like this material, we do have plenty of it left for custom pens. While we cannot make a pen identical to this Brockton and also abide by the “rules” of a Limited Edition, we can still take custom orders for other pen models made from the same Dragon Night material. Be sure to email me if you’d like to speak about a non-limited edition pen made from this material.
Outside of this Limited Edition pen, of course, we’ll be bringing lots and lots of our normal inventory to the show. We will have well over 400 pens on display. Among these, we will also have somewhere around 100+ pens made from craft materials by Jonathon Brooks, Tim McKenzie, and Jennifer Earley.
Click here to see all pens that we’ll be bringing to the pen show.
We hope to see you in Chicago!
The post Chicago Pen Show with Brockton Exclusive LE! appeared first on Edison Pen Co.
(Kimberly (she/her) took the express train down the fountain pen/stationery rabbit hole and doesn't want to be rescued. She can be found on Instagram @allthehobbies because there really are many, many hobbies!.)
After a whirlwind pen show weekend at the Baltimore Pen Show a few weeks ago, I was ready for a slightly calmer experience. I don’t know if it’s the southern hospitality, the early night hours at the bar or the size of the show and crowd, but the Atlanta Pen Show feels less frantic than others, which is a good thing.
As I mentioned in my recap from last year, the Atlanta show is spread out amongst three ballrooms: small, medium, and large. I spent a good portion of my weekend in the medium ballroom behind the Franklin-Christoph table.
View of the small ballroom where several pen makers were located including Jonathon Brooks, Ironfeather Creative and Hinze Pens.
Mark Bacas was busy all weekend working on nibs - so glad I made it on the list!
Shea Brooks (that’s Mrs. Carolina Pen Co to you, lol) and cutie patootie Lupin, who is one of the bestest behaved doggos ever.
View of the medium ballroom from behind the Franklin-Christoph table. Dromgoole’s Federalist Frank, Jimmy Dolive and others were in this room.
Speaking of Jimmy Dolive (the show organizer) and his daughter Suzanne always have some tempting products at their table!
Jimmy’s niece had these killer disco mushrooms which were a huge hit! They sold out pretty quickly!
Franklin-Christoph made an exclusive Model 02 and pen show ink that was only available from Jimmy Dolive!
Scott B Jones draws something with his fountain pens every day and has published several volumes of his work.
Always a pleasure seeing Michael & Olivia Dromgoole, but it was lil Miss Laurel that stole my heart with her darling smile! She definitely helps sell pens! (Posted with permission fromthe Dromgoole's)
Got a couple of sweet nib grinds from Mike Masuyama (left) and Matthew Chen (right).
The large ballroom housed the remaining vendors, both large and small. This room had the widest aisles and made browsing the tables very comfortable.
Looking left as you entered the large ballroom.
Straight ahead at Joe Cortner, organizer of the Orlando Pen Show.
And to the right, including Pendemonium and Pilot USA.
Frank and Sam Fiorella of Pendemonium with some cool (and affordable) vintage finds at their table!
Ryan Krusac always has sweet looking pens - there was an L15 that caught my eye made from some kind of burlwood from Arizona.
Look at all these colorful pens from Karas Kustoms.
Jimmy plans some fun events for the Atlanta show including the cookout on Friday night for vendors and weekend pass holders and a Saturday pizza night. Unfortunately, there was a scheduling/communication breakdown for the pizza night so folks who planned to have pizza for dinner were left scrambling for alternate dinner plans, oops. The intent was to have the pizza event flowing right into the Pen Shows After Dark event but the kitchen didn’t get that memo and served up pizza early, which, in turn, got gobbled up early. That’s ok, try again next year, Jimmy!
Great weather for the Friday night cookout where folks got a chance to mix and mingle while enjoying their dinner.
The pen fun continues after dinner (this is adjacent to the bar area opposite the restaurant). Even the Bossman was spotted enjoying a beverage (or two)!
Cary Yeager of Kenro Industries and Fountain Pen Day, explains the history of FPD as well as Pen Shows After Dark before raffling off prizes.
The crowd (including me) is hoping to get their raffle tickets picked.
There were lots of Rickshaw Bagworks fans at the show - this is only what 8 of us had with us!
As you may recall from my recap, as well as Brad’s past comments on the blog and podcast, Atlanta is notorious for a “not late” after-hours scene, with the hotel staff kicking folks out of the bar and adjacent areas. They literally turned off ALL the lights on us last year and we had to use phone flashlights so we could pack up. This year, they were actually very respectful, gave us a heads up and then gently told us again when it was time to go. No yelling, no lights getting turned off. In fact, on Friday night, one of the staff gave us a 5 minute heads up and Marty Henderson said “Can you make it 7 minutes so it’s an even 11:30?” and the guy said yes! So thank goodness they got the memo that they didn’t need to yell and be mean. And I’ll be honest, getting “gently kicked out” of the bar area at an earlier hour actually made it easier to not stay up insanely late like I usually do, lol.
Things weren’t all fun and games at the show though. Unfortunately, several vendors were hit by theft this weekend. Vendors may not all love each other, but they will watch each other’s back when it comes to theft. There was word that an attendee that has previously had “sticky fingers” was at the show so vendors spread the word to keep an eye out and some even followed them around to make sure nothing was taken. It is sad that theft is a part of this hobby but also heartwarming that people are watching out for each other and making sure no one gets hit. As one person said, “we don’t have to like everyone, but none of us deserve to get stolen from.” People volunteered to watch each other’s table when they needed to use the restroom or take a break. This is what the community is about. If you see either of these items posted for sale, please let the respective vendors know. And if you know of other thefts, please spread the word.
Things were much quieter on Sunday and many vendors began packing up around 3pm (instead of 5pm when the show ended) since there were so few attendees. After helping the F-C crew pack up, I was able to spend some time chatting with Stacy Robinson of Penz by Design. What a gem of a gentleman with a beautiful philosophy on pens being more than just pens, but something that makes you feel a connection. He also has a wonderful laugh (I may have made him cry when I was trying to get a Wifi signal and said “Wifi God, can you hear me?”). I was also able to commiserate with Akhila Sheth of Smruti Pens about Instagram’s ever-changing algorithms.
At most of the other shows, I often am bouncing around from table to table with just a few seconds here and there to take photos or ask questions. And during after hours, it’s like there are so many people and pens and things that it’s hard to spend a lot of time with everyone. Atlanta is a little different because it is a smaller (but not small) show, so I was able to spend quality time with more people. Sunday evening was chill and relaxed as we got to hear “pen origin stories” from folks like Matthew Chen, Ana Reinert, and others. Being able to have this time with friends, old and new, was really good for the soul.
”There is something seriously wrong with you.” said Stacy Robinson as he flipped through my scribble and doodle notebook. Truer words have never been spoken. 😃
Had the pleasure of meeting Akhila Sheth who is the driving force behind Smruti Pens with her “assistant” (and husband) Nirmal and their two kids. She’s one heck of an awesome momma too!
Last but not least, the haul. As usual, I don’t include stuff that I get from Brad for future reviews (I can’t WAIT to review them!). As you can see, it was a fairly modest haul.
Left to right: Signed post card by Scott B. Jones (including the coordinates and temperature of the show), Franklin-Christoph 14k gold BB SIG, Retro 51 Sprinkle Ops and Montblanc Golden Yellow Ink from Dromgoole’s, Sheaffer Skripsert pens from Judd’s Pens and Pipes and Wearingeul Swatch Book and Dr Jekyll/Mr. Hyde notebook from Vanness Pens. Not pictured are the pens that I got ground by Mark Bacas, Mike Masuyama and Matthew Chen.
Thank you to kind friends who dropped off goodies so I wouldn’t be hungry! That bag on the right was stuffed when I got it; it definitely came in handy!
Then I ended up watching Jimmy’s table Sunday afternoon when he left his table unattended on Sunday, and saw this beauty…
Darn it, I got Jimmy’d after all! Montblanc 146 Glacier. Time to sell some pens!
Thank you, Jimmy Dolive, for a great show. Thank you again to Franklin-Christoph for allowing me to represent you at this show. Thank you to all the pen friends, old and new, that I was lucky enough to spend some time with. Boy is my wallet ever empty, but my heart is so full. Until next time (Chicago in 4 weeks!), stay safe and stay inky!
Introducing Newbies to Pens, step one: Don’t start with pens!
This is a bit of a different post this year, following up on trips to three different pen shows (Baltimore, Arkansas, and - this past weekend - Atlanta), all of which had a large contingent of new users. If you saw me at the show this past weekend, you probably noticed that I had my own “new user” in tow, as my nine-year old daughter accompanied me to her first pen show (well, really the first pen show that she can remember). It was a big hit, especially judging from our haul below! I thought it might be fun to do a post in which I discuss my own thoughts on introducing new users to this passion of ours. And if you’re a new user yourself, hopefully you can find something here that might interest you!
Start with Paper. There are many more people interested in notebooks and planners than there are people really into pens. I’ve found that one of the best ways to show someone why I’m so passionate about stationery is to ask them to write with a good notebook or writing pad, and compare it to the paper they’ve been using that they either stole from their office’s supply cabinet or picked up for a couple of dollars at a big-box outlet. My favorite brands for this sort of experiment are Maruman Mnemosyne and Clairefontaine, since these brands are less intimidating both price and design-wise, making newbies less nervous about using them (and buying more).
Start with a Non-Fountain Pen. Retro 51 is a great “gateway brand” for nice pens, featuring both fun designs and a quality refill. (My daughter’s first pen was one of Brad’s Shiba Retro 51 rollerballs.) Ballpoints are also great. At this year’s San Francisco Pen Show, I ordered personalized Traveler’s Company Ballpoint Pens in limited edition colors for all of my family members, and they were a huge hit. Again, the goal here is to start someone with a pen that’s not intimidating and where there’s little-to-no learning curve from something that they’re already familiar with.
Give Someone a Pen from Your Collection. If they’re insistent on trying a fountain pen, give them a pen from your collection that you’re not using anymore. One of my colleagues at work bugged me for weeks to let her try a fountain pen, and I finally decided to just give her a Lamy Safari that I had at home and hadn’t inked up in a while. She loves it. For someone who hasn’t used a fountain pen at all, and is on the fence about them, gifting that person a pen may work out better in the long run because you remove the frustration that might result from someone feeling like they “wasted money” while they figure things out.
Take Someone to a Smaller Pen Show or a Beginner-Friendly Store. This is especially important if you’re trying to introduce a child to fountain pens. Smaller shows tend to be easier to navigate, and aren’t so large that they’re overwhelming to new users like D.C. or San Francisco. Vendors and attendees both seem less stressed, and can take the time to explain things to children (and new users in general). If you have a local “beginner-friendly” store - meaning that the store has both a friendly, helpful proprietor as well as products available for people to hold and try - that’s a great place to start. For this reason, the Arkansas Pen Show is an excellent show for first-timers, as you have both the show itself and Vanness Pens available to visit locally.
Don’t Treat Your Pens as “Ultra-Precious” Around Others. I always keep a Platinum Preppy, Platinum Plaisir, or TWSBI Swipe fountain pen inked up and available for people to try if they ask. I also make sure that people see me using my stationery, whether it’s my beat-up Traveler’s Notebook, or my ink-stained Nanami-paper Café Note and Lochby Quattro. Anybody who visits me at my house is free to sort through the piles of stuff I have in my office, with anything truly fragile or valuable put safely away to just avoid the issue entirely. If people see pens, paper, and related accessories as tools to be used in the real world, as opposed to fussy fetish objects to be collected and babied, they’re more likely to develop an interest themselves.
That said, you may want to just disregard everything I said above. My daughter visited the Atlanta Pen Show and after spending an entire day there wanted nothing other than vintage dip pens, and eyedropper fountain pen, and inks with extreme shimmer and sheen.
To read more on my pen recommendations for beginners, check out the T.G.S. “Best Pens” list, which is in the process of being updated for 2023 and should be slightly refreshed sometime this month. Also, if you’re interested in learning more about paper (and specifically, fountain pen-friendly paper), check out this post, which has a vibrant comments section with tons of recommendations in addition to the brand that I discuss. Now excuse me while I’m off to ink up someone’s new eyedropper….
The Gentleman Stationer is supported entirely by purchases through the T.G.S. Curated Shop and Pledges via the T.G.S. Patreon Program. This post does not contain affiliate links or paid third-party advertising.
Another great Atlanta Pen Show is in the books! Big thanks to the show promoter and staff, all of the vendors, and especially all of the attendees who make this show one of my favorites of the year.
I’m off for most of this week, but there will be blog content and podcasts as normal, but no Twitch streams. Talk soon!
Well, technically it started yesterday, but I’m doing a one-day trip to the Atlanta Pen Show this year given how much travel I’ve done recently. My daughter wanted to go to a pen show, so we’re on the road once again and plan to visit the show on Saturday (and maybe Sunday) as attendees! I’ll be posting photos of the show from my Instagram account, so if you’d like to track our adventures you can follow along there. If you’re planning on attending the show, check out the full list of exhibitors beforehand, and you won’t want to miss the following vendors who are Atlanta-area locals (or at least relatively so):
Total Office Products / The Pen Show. Jimmy Dolive has been the Atlanta Pen Show organizer for years, and always does a great job. Be sure to visit his table for limited and special edition modern pens.
Ryan Krusac Pens. Ryan’s carved scrimshaw pens are always one of my first stops at any show, and he typically brings a large inventory to Atlanta.
Carolina Pen Company (Jonathon Brooks). Jonathon is based right across the state line in South Carolina, making Atlanta his “home show.”
Mythic Pens. I’m looking forward to spending some time at Brad’s table, which I missed during my short Atlanta Pen Show trip last year.
Stacy Robinson Pens. The “Navigator” model (pictured above) was one of my favorite discoveries from 2022, and I ended up taking home three of those pens from Atlanta. I can’t wait to see what Stacy has today.
If you’re attending the show, enjoy! I always enjoy visiting the Atlanta Pen Show as it’s definitely on the smaller side and is quite easy to navigates, especially for first-time pen show attendees. You can read my recap of the 2022 show here.
The Gentleman Stationer is supported entirely by purchases from the T.G.S. Curated Shop and pledges via the T.G.S. Patreon Program.
Cary and Shawn draw the door prizes at the Saturday night event.
Each pen show has its own vibe, driven mainly by the attitude of the organizers and the care they take in putting the show together. For example, the San Francisco Pen Show is a very large event that still manages to feel friendly and personable, solely due to the effort of the group running the show. That said, you can only make a massive hotel ballroom so user-friendly to navigate, and with hundreds of people cycling through every day, you might not have a real opportunity to interact with vendors, as they’ll mostly be swamped. The smaller shows, on the other hand, are something else entirely.
The Arkansas Pen Show, held in Little Rock, is run by the Arkansas Pen Club, currently led by penmaker Shawn Newton of Newton Pens. This was my second visit to Little Rock, with the first back in 2019. The show itself fills a single ballroom, with a 1/3 devoted to modern stationery; 1/3 to vintage dealers; and 1/3 to custom penmakers. If you’re looking to visit your first pen show, or you don’t like overly crowded events that can be overwhelming, smaller shows like this one offer a great opportunity to browse leisurely and have casual conversations with vendors and other collectors.
Vanness brought their collaboration with The Good Blue Pen Company - a “Titanium Blue” Cerakote finish that I couldn’t resist taking home with me.
While traffic on Friday and Saturday was brisk, and vendors were making sales, it was nothing like D.C. or San Francisco, where you won’t be able to peel yourself out from behind the table until Sunday. Each day had quiet lulls, where you could chat with your table neighbors or customers, and browse the show yourself. This year, independent makers included Shawn Newton, Hinze Pens, Troy Breeding (Country Made Pens), Jason Neil Penworks, Darail Pens, Only Made Once, and Magnolia Pens. Modern pen and stationery retailers (in addition to yours truly) included Vanness Pens, Art Outfitters, Jimmy Dolive, Kenro Industries (Cary Yeager), and Papier Plume. Matthew Chen was there to grind nibs! Nik Pang and Michael Sull were both on-site, and Danny Fudge (“The Write Pen”) was doing pen repair. There were also a handful of vintage dealers - mostly members of the Arkansas pen club - all of whom were extremely friendly, highly knowledgeable, and had their pens clearly (and accessibly) priced. I haven’t spent time shopping vintage in a while, and I found some gems that I plan to ink up and show off soon.
After hours events included the traditional Pen Shows After Dark on Saturday night, which was, as always, a lot of fun with at least a dozen door prizes. The only downside was the location. While the hotel was fine (clean, inexpensive, good food for lunch, etc.), the lack of staffing put a damper on hangouts in the bar, which was closed by 9:30 or so on Friday and drastically understaffed on Saturday. That said, most people went home relatively early, as the smaller, club-driven shows tend to draw a more local crowd even if there were a surprising number of people who traveled in for the event.
My Arkansas Pen Show finds, clockwise from to left: Parker 51 in Navy; Parker 51 with hammered gold fill, The Good Blue Vanness Pens Special Edition; a Tucker from Jason Neil Penworks, and a piston filler from Shawn Newton.
After not buying a single pen at the Baltimore Pen Show, I went pretty crazy in Little Rock. I scored one of the Vanness/The Good Blue exclusives in the “Titanium Blue” Cerakote finish, a “Tucker” model by Jason Neil Penworks, a Shawn Newton piston filler in a Conway Stewart acrylic whose name escapes me, and two Parker 51s from The Write Pen, including one with a customized “hammered gold” finish that might have been done by Ariel Kulloch (all I know is that it has an exceptionally good .9mm stub nib on it). I had Matthew Chen grind the other 51 to a semi-Naginata.
A close-up of the stub nib on my Parker 51 pen.
I also took home some additional pens for review, which I won’t announce quite yet, but let’s just say you’ll all be seeing some content related to Onoto, Tibaldi, and Newton Pens in the coming weeks and months.
I tend to be fairly selective about what I bring to shows. I don’t want to end up selling the same goods as multiple vendors, as it leads to unhealthy competition among vendors and a repetitive experience for show attendees. Here I was the only one selling Nahvalur and Opus 88 pens on site at the show.
I love having a table at pen shows, and I have an infinite amount of appreciation and respect for those who are able to do the entire circuit in a single year. Given my current work situation, I can’t do that as it’s simply too exhausting to coordinate the travel, not to mention the work itself. But I do intend to continue to do a handful of shows as a vendor, team up with Vanness for other shows where I won’t attend independently, and visit as an attendee. I especially enjoyed bringing product lines such as Lochby and Hightide, which don’t get nearly as much exposure as they should at shows. By far, our number one seller from the weekend was the Lochby Venture Pouch, which I suspected would be a hit at this particular show.
Many thanks to the team at the Arkansas Pen Club for hosting a great event, and I’ll definitely plan to be back in the future!
The Gentleman Stationer is supported entirely by purchases from the T.G.S. Curated Shop and pledges via the T.G.S. Patreon Program. This post does not contain third-party affiliate links or paid advertising.
If you’re at the Arkansas Pen Show, come see me in Little Rock! My table here will look somewhat different than my table in Baltimore, as I was able to drive and bring heavier items that were too hard to bring on an airplane. Keep an eye on my Instagram, as I plan to do a table tour and a show walkthrough later today.
Tomorrow I’m on the schedule for an official seminar! Pens, Inks, and Paper for everyday writing. I plan to talk a lot about notebook systems!
There should be no delay in shipping online orders due to the close proximity of this show to our home, so if you see something you like online, we will get it out to you in the typical 1-2 business days. All Midori notebooks recently restocked, including the 70th Anniversary Midori MD Light sets!
The Gentleman Stationer is an authorized retailer of all brands sold.
Hightide Sandglasses! I brought a selection of our best-selling hourglasses, so that you all can see them in person. These desk accessories come in 30, 15, 5, and 3-minute intervals.
T.G.S. x Penwell Limited Edition. We’re getting low on our special edition Penwells once again. This will likely be the last run of this particular product before it’s retired and we move on to other new creations (including one that I plan to work on this weekend).
Write Notepads Spiral Notebooks. We will have Dot Grid, Weekly Planner, and Landscape-style Notebooks available for purchase, in most of the colors.
Write Notepads Paper Journals. These softcover A5-ish notebooks feature excellent fountain pen friendly paper and will fit A5 covers like the Lochby Field Journal.
Midori 70th Anniversary MD Light A5 Sets. We recently received a fresh shipment of the Midori 70th Anniversay MD Light Notebooks, which are sold in sets of seven, each with a different color grid ruling.
Midori Soft Color A5 Notebooks. Something I picked up in my travels to New York City for the National Stationery Show last month, these dot grid color paper notebooks are fountain pen friendly and add a splash of color to your writing.
Lochby Field Journals. We sold out of Field Journals in Baltimore, and I plan to have these and other great Lochby products such as the Quattro Pen Case, Tool Roll, and Pocket Journal at the table.
Nahvalur Fountain Pens. We have Nahvalur fountain pens, including the Original Plus Vacuum-filler demonstrators, as well as the ebonite Nautilus fountain pens.
Anderillium Ink. We will have at least a couple bottles of most colors of Anderillium Inks available at the show, along with sample sets and color swatches so that you can inspect in person.
Washi Tape and Pins. Yes, I brought it ALL with me this weekend, so you all can peruse the full selection.
(Kimberly (she/her) took the express train down the fountain pen/stationery rabbit hole and doesn't want to be rescued. She can be found on Instagram @allthehobbies because there really are many, many hobbies!.)
If the San Francisco Pen Show wasn’t already my favorite show, I would have to pick the Baltimore Pen Show because it’s right up there as one of the best shows I’ve attended. As I’ve said in the past, I always have a great time at this show and this year was no exception. This recap won’t be too different from last year’s review so I will try (and probably fail) at keeping this one short…-ish.
This year’s Baltimore Pen Show kicked off with an “after hours” scene that actually started before hours on Thursday afternoon and well into Thursday evening/Friday morning (yes, I clearly haven’t learned my lesson and stayed up later than I should on Thursday night, despite flying in on a redeye).
Anabelle, John Albert, Klarissa, Alyson, Sue and her friend were among the many that were hanging out Thursday night.
View from behind the Franklin-Christoph table on Friday morning.
Always honored to work at the Franklin-Christoph table, especially with these lovely ladies (Mandy, me, Lisa, Audrey).
I was so happy to see Lisa Vanness of Vanness Pens (with helper Dan Hoizner) at the show!
You can count on the Gillett’s from Luxury Brands of America having fun at a pen show!
Just a few of the tables that Dromgoole's had at the show - Jesi, Larry and Michael were busy all weekend! Not pictured were the Retro 51 tables or the ink wall!
I love the latest addition to the Esterbrook desk accessory family - the Tree Frog desk clip - alongside the new Rainforest Estie!
I love seeing local vendors at their home shows - especially since many of them don’t have tables at other shows!
Last year I was so busy taking pictures of the beautiful pens from Kanilea Pen Co that I forgot to take pictures of the people! This time I remembered to take a picture of Hugh and Karol with troublemak…ahem, helper, Jason!
Of course, I HAD to take a picture of their latest release Punakea!
Baltimore locals Evan and Julian Rosenberg of Penquisition with their fun pen accessories, pen cases from Rickshaw and …is that Jigglypuff?!?!?
The Baltimore Pen Club has a table at the show too!
And some “might as well be local” vendors too!
Pennsylvania in the house!!! Newly coifed Ian Schon of Schon DSGN and lots of pretty (and awesomely engineered) pens!!
Kathryn Pokalo (PA) of Pleasant Valley Textiles makes some lovely (and soft!) products out of fabrics, felt and wool!
Helen of Helen’s Creations NJ (with her son, Dom) has some wonderful pen cases/kimonos, as well as glass dip pens, inks and more!
This is a great show for both newer and veteran pen fanatics alike. I also love the mix of vendors - it’s not all big distributors or huge shops and it’s not just individuals selling their pens either. You’ve got modern, you’ve got vintage, you’ve got new, you’ve got pre-owned, and budget-friendly to budget-busting pens and everything in between. And there’s also the “other” stuff that I love seeing at shows, more than just the pens.
Joe Crace, aka The Gentleman Stationer, brought a fun selection of Lochby inserts and covers as well as Traveler’s Company products and washi tapes (which I may have broken my self-imposed wash tape ban for)
The Write Stuff had a fun selection of stationery sets, pens, shirts and even sassy cat pen holders!
Jonathon Brooks of Carolina Pen Company doesn’t need any fancy displays for people to go crazy for his gorgeous creations!
Glad I got a chance to try some more pens at Les of StyloSuite’s table - might be placing an order soon!
Speaking of budget-busting (kidding!), you can count on Rick Liebson to have some amazing limited edition pens for sale, including Nakayas!
Andrea and Brian Gray of the Edison Pen Company and their eye candy-filled display!
Managed to get a shot of Jim Hinze (left) and his business partner Francisco Lopez of Hinze Pens before the crowds came in.
What a pleasure it was to finally meet Tom Forsythe (left) and his husband Panos Trilianos of Sugar Turtle Studio!! I “met” Tom on IG 3 years ago and love all the awesome stationery themed items in the shop!
Like these mugs! Why yes, I am extra fine, if I do say so myself, lol!
I love the name of these 3D-printed Autopoint pencils from Jonathan Veley!
So good to see Martin Ferguson of Martin’s Pens back at a pen show and doing repairs again!
Look at these gorgeous laser-etched pieces from Harrington House Designs and journals like this one!
Ticket prices remained the same as last year ($10/day, $15 for 2 days or $20 for the weekend), though special VIP Passes cost $75 this year (and limited to 75 people), which got holders the weekend pass, early bird access on all three days and a bunch of other goodies like a custom name badge & lanyard, mug, etc.
While there weren’t quite as many nib workers as last year, there were still quite a few there - at least 5!
Friday at the show felt a bit on the slower side. It wasn’t dead on Friday but it didn’t feel like hoards of people, which made it a little easier for me to walk around and take some pictures. Saturday felt quite a bite more busy, with a fairly constant stream of people, especially in the morning and early afternoon. A few of the vendors said that it’s interesting to see which shows are busy on Fridays versus Saturdays - Baltimore is definitely a Saturday busy show.
Disclaimer - The below paragraph is literally copied from last year’s recap because I just can’t say it any better, lol.
“You can tell Bert Oser, the show organizer, really cares about this show from making sure folks get the discounted room rate (as mentioned above) to organizing a Pen Shows After Dark Event with Cary Yeager, to gathering volunteers from the DC Metro Pen Crew to make the show run smoothly and offer help to anyone who needs it. It really makes it feel more friendly and approachable. In addition, there was a Share the Wealth table, where folks can donate their pens, papers, inks and things in hopes that they find new homes; it was so good to see this generosity from the pen community.”
One thing I will add about this year is that I really liked getting emails about the show in the weeks and months leading up to the show. It started as early as October 2022 with an FAQ email about the show, then subsequent emails about booking a room, VIP tickets, different classes, etc. It really helped to (1) get the word out, especially the rapidly filling up hotel room block, (2) highlighted classes and instructors and (3) really got me excited and hyped up for the show.
The website also included a banner telling folks to look out for bright orange shirted volunteers at the show. While it would be pretty obvious to attendees who the volunteers were, it’s a nice addition to the website to let folks know in advance.
Friendly faces in neon orange shirts greeted you at the registration desk. Folks from the DC Pen Crew were ready to help make sure you’re having a great time.
I love that there is a “Share the Wealth” table at this show where folks could leave behind no-longer-used products for others to take.
One of the reasons this is one of my favorite shows is because of the opportunities for hanging out, penabling and socializing. There are lots of tables and chairs in the bar area, as well as couches in the lobby and more couches and tables in the “side area” around the corner/behind the bar.
This year’s Pen Shows After Dark event was on Friday night and brought out a lot of folks (including me) who were eager to win pens and things that were donated by several of the vendors. Following that was some stand-up comedy by Michelle Malizaki (aside from being a stand-up comic, Michelle also works for Maruman)! And after that? More socializing, pen fun and enjoying the company of other pen people.
Folks getting ready to attend the Pen Shows After Dark event and hoping their numbers are called.
Cary Yeager (left) of Kenro Industries and also Fountain Pen Day with Bert Oser, BWIPS show organizer, are picking and announcing raffle prize winners.
Michelle Malizaki doing some stand-up comedy right after!
Random thoughts:
Many of the vendors I spoke with said that they had a really good show sales-wise, which is always good to hear. And everyone I talked to said they had fun, even if they didn’t sleep as much as they wanted to, or didn’t buy as much (or too much).
Pen Show Haul - Chocolate covered peanut brittle from Jinji Chocolate, a Franklin-Christoph Pocket 20, a second hand Pilot Vanishing Point, Bungubox Energeia, washi tape from The Gentleman’s Stationer, Colorverse Lucky Galaxy ink from Lauren of Lucky Star Pens, and stickers from Sugar Turtle Studio.
The best part about pen shows is spending time with pen friends. Just a few of some of my favorite people that I’m so lucky to call friends.
Including this guy 🙂
A huge thank you, Bert Oser, for putting on a wonderful show! I can’t wait to come back next year! Until the next pen show (which would be Atlanta for me in two weeks), stay safe and stay inky!
Baltimore has a wide selection of approachable vintage dealers, like my table-neighbor Harold!
Most pen shows fall into three categories: (1) crazy-big shows like the D.C. Pen Show, which often occupy multiple hotel ballrooms filled with vendors from around the world; (2) mid-size shows that host most major vendors but can fit into a single large event space or two smaller ballrooms at a hotel; and (3) smaller regional shows that are held in a single hotel ballroom or even a community space like a library or student center. The Baltimore Pen Show falls firmly into this middle category, and has remained one of the best mid-size shows on the circuit over the past five years.
Though this is a shot from the 2020 Baltimore Pen Show, this panorama gives a good idea of how the show is laid out. It hasn’t changed much.
In my opinion, several different factors combine to make the Baltimore Pen Show a success:
Location. Baltimore is centrally located on the East Coast, with its own major international airport and a show hotel that’s reachable via hotel shuttle or a short taxi/rideshare ride. The hotel itself isn’t luxurious, but it has ample event space for this show, a good bar layout for after-hours events, and pretty good food, as far as “airport Marriott” hotels go.
Vendor Mix. Baltimore has a near-perfect mix of modern pen retailers, vintage vendors, and independent makers. In fact, I would say it draws the best combination of exhibitors for a show this size, which, as discussed below is great because the show typically isn’t as crowded as other major pen shows.
Attendance Levels. While Baltimore tends to be a well-attended show (depending heavily on the unpredictable weather in early March), traffic is never as heavy as D.C. or San Francisco, the setup features spaced tables and wide aisles, and the show draws many of the same vendors as larger events. For example, if you have claustrophobic tendencies (like me) and don’t particularly enjoy elbowing your way to the front of a crowd for a chance to look at the Franklin-Christoph demonstrators in D.C., consider visiting the Baltimore Pen Show.
This year I did something different: Rather than photographing the show, I tried to take a few videos to give readers - particularly those who have never had the opportunity to visit a show - a sense of what it’s like to walk the floor. These were all posted to Instagram Reels, and since they received an overwhelmingly positive reaction, I’ll plan to take more of these this weekend in Arkansas.
Franklin-Christoph in Baltimore: Still crowded, but a bit less of a fight!
This year’s Baltimore Pen Show was the second show I’ve attended as a vendor (as opposed to going as an attendee or working behind the table for someone else). With your own table, it’s definitely more difficult to break away to explore the show, since you have to worry about missing customers who might stop by looking for you, and theft is always a concern. (So far, I haven’t heard any horror stories, but it’s generally much harder to steal stuff when the show isn’t extremely crowded.) What doesn’t change is the opportunity to meet up and hang out with friends and attendees after-hours, including several Patreon supporters who stopped by the table and the bar to visit and swap pen show stories. While Vanness Pens and T.G.S. were supposed to have a meetup space available to use throughout the weekend for demonstrations and seminars, our tables ended up getting moved at the last minute and we lost our demonstration space. Show logistics can be tricky!
I sort of very much regret not bringing home this vintage Mr. Peanut mechanical pencil.
Vintage wares weren’t limited to fountain pens - a dealer near me had a wide array of vintage bullet pencils (in addition to several Mr. Peanuts).
After a brief trip home to get caught up on orders, pet my dogs, and repack the car, I’m off to Little Rock for the 2023 Arkansas Pen Show! I’ll be bringing a slightly different assortment of goods to this smaller show that tends to be highly local. Current plans include some of the Hightide Sandglasses, Folding Metal Book Stands, the T.G.S.-exclusive Penwell and other desk accessories; more Write Notepads paper, and of course favorites such as the Lochby Cases and Washi Tape. If you plan to attend the show and would like to make a specific request, either message me or place an order online using the coupon code “615PICKUP” at checkout to drop the shipping charge. Also, don’t forget that our Baltimore Pen Show online special runs through the end of the day today: claim 10% off your order using the code “PENSHOW10”!
The Gentleman Stationer is supported entirely by purchases from the T.G.S. Curated Shop and pledges via the T.G.S. Patreon Program. This post does not contain paid third-party advertising or affiliate links.
While I’ll have a full recap of the Baltimore Pen Show tomorrow, I thought I’d do a brief “shop recap” post because it’s interesting (at least to me) to see what people are trending towards buying at each show. It’s always different and you get some insight into what the community is focused on! Baltimore attendees showed a lot of interest in notebook systems, whether it was picking up Traveler’s Notebooks and Lochby Covers and Cases or asking questions about the specifics of the Midori MD system. Washi Tape was also extremely popular, so I’ll plan to bring more varieties to the Arkansas Pen Show in Little Rock. Below are the five top selling products that I brought with me. To give you an indication, I brought two giant suitcases that are going home 3/4 empty!
Midori MD items such as the Kurashiki Canvas Pen/Pencil Cases are always a hit. These are an imported item from Japan made from traditional sailcloth.
As a thank you to everyone who supported us at the show, and those of you who continue to support us online, we’re running a 10% off Pen Show Special through tomorrow, so don’t miss to take advantage of this offer with the coupon code PENSHOW10 at checkout. Orders placed during my travels will begin to ship out tomorrow, and anything placed today is back on our usual fulfillment schedule.
Lochby Venture Pouch. Because the Venture Pouch is a bit of an offbeat product, it tends to sell better in person than online. But once people see the versatility - the top half unzips like a traditional carry-all or pen pouch; the bottom unzips and unfolds into a traditional pen case with elastic loops - it sells very quickly. I will be bringing more to additional shows this year, and we have plenty of online stock. Check out the full review here.
Lochby Quattro Pen Case. The classic four-pen zippered case is now available in Charcoal and Navy, in addition to the standard Brown. What’s the best thing about this specific case? The slots are offset so the pens don’t touch. Check out the full review here.
Penco Drafting Pencil and Drafting Ballpoint Pen. People couldn’t get over these, which are miniature versions of your classic “technical” pens and pencils with hexagonal barrels. Even if they didn’t buy one they still picked them up! The pencil takes a .5mm mechanical pencil lead, and the pen features a hybrid gel/ballpoint needle-tip D1 refill, all of which are available in our inks and refills store.
Traveler’s Company Brass Bullet Pens/Pencils. The classic bullet pens and pencils drew a lot of attention, especially since there were many vintage vendors selling the original items from the early 20th Century and to my knowledge Traveler’s Company is the only modern maker selling versions in this style.
Washi Tape! As I mentioned, Washi remains extremely popular, and I’ll try to bring more varieties in the future as I just didn’t know how well it would do this year. The three that sold the best were probably “Trash Panda,” “Bravocado”, and “Snail Mail Bonanza”.
The Gentleman Stationer is an authorized retailer of all items sold in the T.G.S. Curated Shop.
It’s casual Monday today, as I recalibrate from my first pen show of the year. Baltimore was a great one, and I’ll have plenty more to say in the coming week. My quick recap and photo dump has been sent to PA Members, Kimberly will have her show recap on the blog this Friday, and I’ll be talking more on all the socials this week. Have a great one!
The Franklin-Christoph table open for business! Friday in Baltimore is much less crazy than the Friday rush at D.C.
It’s always a bit different writing pen show recaps from a behind-the-table perspective, as opposed to walking the show and visiting with friends and vendors. It’s still fun to attend the show, in that you get to visit with show attendees and customers, but you’re more or less stuck in one place and have to rely on people coming to you, as opposed to being able to go seek out all that a given show has to offer. Either today or tomorrow, I’m going to look for a lull in show traffic to walk the floor and take more pictures so that I can give you a better reflection of what all was on display.
It was fun to be able to set up the shop in-person, which gives me plenty of ideas for the future.
Regardless, Baltimore is always a fun show! It’s traditionally been my first pen show of the year, and I always try to attend because it’s a LOOONG gap between San Francisco at the end of August and Baltimore at the beginning of March. There’s a lot of pent-up demand, and Baltimore presents an opportunity to browse in a calmer, less crowded environment than a larger show like D.C. or San Francisco.
This gorgeous Conway Stewart Duro in Razorshell acrylic is still available at the Vanness Pens table. If it doesn’t sell by Sunday, I can’t promise that it’s going back to Arkansas.
Friday in Baltimore tends to be an odd day. The show opens to the public at 11:00am, which is an awkward start time so things typically don’t pick up until mid-afternoon. If you’re attending this show from out-of-town, always try to attend on Friday (especially Friday morning) because the “Saturday Rush” is a real thing. Popular tables such as Franklin-Christoph, Kanilea Pen Company, and Edison Pens, among others, will still have most of their show-special stock, and popular regular-stock items will be available from the other vendors, including vintage traders.
Surprisingly, paper has been the smash hit of the show - not just for me but for many other vendors. Because it’s expensive to ship, especially if bought in quantity, you can sometimes save a significant amount of money by picking it up in person at shows.
Our Own Table! As you can see from the photo above, we’ve had a lot of fun organizing our layout and displaying the eclectic selection of goods we brought with us. Though we’re limited by what we could fit into suitcases, we do have the full line of Lochby cases, a full Traveler’s Notebook setup that will allow you to build a notebook, and a selection of pens from Nahvalur, TWSBI, and Penco. If you can’t visit us in person at the show, be sure to take advantage of our Pen Show weekend discount, using the coupon code “PENSHOW10” at checkout to get 10% off your online order (excluding certain brands like TWSBI which cannot be discounted).
Vanness Pens. Our friends at Vanness are right next door to us, and they brought a selection of Vinta Inks, special release Midori Paper, and Conway Stewart and Onoto Pens. Like us, they are running a pen show weekend special sale on ink, so visit their site to take advantage if you can’t come to the show in person.
Dromgooles. Dromgoole’s from Houston, Texas brought a huge selection of ink, with Jessie from the Well-Appointed Desk doing ink consulting if you’re looking for that perfect shade.
Schon DSGN. Ian brought all the new finishes this year, in addition to a selection of Monoc nibs, I hear! I haven’t had a chance to peruse his table but I hope to make it over there today.
Franklin-Christoph. I expect to see a big crowd around the Franklin-Christoph table when they release their tray of prototypes on Saturday morning.
Edison Pens. Now that things are relatively back to normal on the pen show circuit, it’s great to see Edison attending shows again. I’m looking for one of their oversized Collier fountain pens with the No. 8 nib….
Kanilea Pen Company. Finally, be sure to visit Hugh and Karol at their home show! Kanilea always brings their full lineup of available standard releases, plus
Bespoke Makers. Baltimore always has a wide range of bespoke makers in attendance, and unfortunately I can’t give you the full roster but you can view it here on the Baltimore Pen Show website.
I hope you can make it! Look for a full recap early next week, with more pictures from the show.
The Gentleman Stationer is supported entirely by purchases from the T.G.S. Curated Shop, and pledges via the T.G.S. Patreon Program. This post does not contain affiliate links or paid third-party advertising.
Hi Pen Fans!
We can’t wait to get back to the Baltimore Pen Show this weekend! It is a strange thought that the last time we attended Baltimore, this new thing called Covid was just making the news. Sheesh! It’s been way too long since we’ve seen our Baltimore friends and we are very happy to be coming back!
The feature of the show will be a Limited Edition pen that will be exclusive to the Baltimore show. This will be our first collaboration with a material maker that is relatively new on our radar, Jennifer Earley with Stormwinds.
We had heard of Jennifer’s work in the recent past, but it wasn’t until a customer of ours requested a custom pen from Jennifer’s materials that we had our first hands-on experience. Since then, we’ve been purchasing more and more materials from Jennifer, as they are truly stunning!
So this Limited Edition Exclusive will be a Beaumont made from Jennifer’s Palomino Waltz at Sunset.
You will notice that this is the first time that we’ve implemented a new idea for hardware that we’ve been experimenting with…
(Side note – we are very happy with how this ceramic coated hardware turned out. Stay tuned for the possibility of seeing this idea implemented more!)
The edition will be limited to 15 pens. At past pen shows, our LE exclusives have sold pretty fast. Not everyone can attend each day of the show, and many cannot get off work to attend Friday. For this reason, we will limit our Friday sales of this LE to 10 pens only, and our Saturday sales to 5 pens. It will be first come, first served each day.
These will be priced at $275 with a Steel nib or $375 with an 18k nib.
Outside of this Limited Edition pen, of course, we’ll be bringing lots and lots of our normal inventory. Click Here to see our entire inventory of over 400 pens that will be coming to Baltimore with us.
In addition to the Limited Edition from Jennifer’s material, we will also have other pens inventoried from her materials, as well as pens from other craft material makers like Jonathon Brooks and Tim McKenzie. Click Here to see all pens made from handcrafted materials that will be coming to the show made by Jennifer, Jonathon, and Tim.
If you can’t make the pen show, our Current Inventory Galleries have been updated with lots of new pens. Any pens that don’t sell at the show will be available when we return. Feel free to email me with an inquiry if something appeals.
We hope to see you in Baltimore!
(slideshow showing all of our inventory is below, or click here)
The post Baltimore Pen Show with Jennifer Earley Exclusive! appeared first on Edison Pen Co.
Time to pack!
It’s time for our first pen show of 2023! This coming weekend, we’re headed to the Baltimore Washington International Pen Show, and I wanted to take a brief moment to talk about how we’ll be set up and what we’ll be doing over the three days of the show.
There should be plenty of the new Lochby Quattro pen cases available!
We currently plan to have a table alongside our friends at Vanness Pens! Because I’ll be flying to this show (and navigating bag weight limits, etc.), I’ll be somewhat limited in what I can carry with me, but I plan to have on site the full range of Lochby and Traveler’s Company products, so that those of you who visit the table will be able to assemble your own notebook and/or pick up accessories.
Those who want to try Midori MD and Midori MD Cotton paper in person will be in luck, as I’ll have testers at the table.
We will also have a limited selection of paper and accessories from Midori, Write Notepads, and Hightide, as well as pens from Penco, TWSBI, and Nahvalur! If what you're looking for isn’t available for purchase on-site, I will try to bring a sample of most items, and you’ll be able to place an order using a special coupon code available at the table which will give you a special discount as a thank-you for coming to see us in person.
Nahvalur “Original Plus” fountain pens!
If you’d like to pick up an order in person, go ahead and check out in the store using the coupon code “615PICKUP”. Certain things are in relatively low supply at the moment, like T.G.S. Penwells, so if you’ve had your eye on one of these it may be best to buy in advance. I will e-mail everyone who uses this code to confirm they will be picking up in person. That said, please exercise discretion. I will not be able to carry heavy items like 6 notebooks to the show, and if you place an order like this I will have to ship. If you have questions about what’s possible, please ask!
One of my favorite aspects of the pen show experience is hanging out with readers and friends after-hours, and also taking courses on pen collecting, pen repair, journaling, and more. I’ll be offering at least one session hosting a seminar on stationery for everyday writing, much as I did all the way back in 2020, and if there’s enough demand we’ll have a second session.
The Gentleman Stationer is supported entirely by purchases from the T.G.S. Curated Shop and pledges via the T.G.S. Patreon Program. This post does not include paid advertisements or third-party affiliate links.
Hi Pen Fans!
In preparation for the Baltimore Pen Show, we have been working on stock of our Current Inventory Pens.
We’ve made a lot of new pens, and mostly from craft materials by Jonathon Brooks, Tim McKenzie, and Jenn Earley (stay tuned for news regarding Jenn, as she is a new material maker for us).
We have also added lots of Collier Grandes, which have been awfully popular since we introduced it!
If you are interested in any of these pens that are ready to ship, you can email me to narrow details.
Then we are definitely looking forward to the Baltimore Pen Show, which is the weekend of March 10th! The last time that we attended Baltimore was just before Covid, so we truly miss seeing our Baltimore show friends!
We hope to see you soon in Baltimore!
The post Current Inventory Updated and Hope to See you in Baltimore! appeared first on Edison Pen Co.
Hey Baltimore, it’s been a while!
Mark your calendars! Just a quick note to let you all know that we will be at both the Baltimore Washington International Pen Show and the Arkansas Pen Show next month! Stay tuned for details on exactly what we’ll be bringing with us, but you can look forward to plenty of notebooks and cases from Lochby and Traveler’s Company, including the ability to put together your own notebook cover + refills at the table. I’ll also be teaching a workshop at both shows, more details to come.
I will have some limited ability to bring shop orders for pickup. If you would like to place an order for pickup at the pen show, and it’s a smaller item (i.e., not a 30-min Sandglass), go ahead and check out and use the coupon code 615PICKUP at check out to drop the shipping charge. Send an e-mail to joe (at) gentlemanstationer.com, noting the order number and the show you will be attending. As always, if you have any questions, just reach out.
(Kimberly (she/her) took the express train down the fountain pen/stationery rabbit hole and doesn't want to be rescued. She can be found on Instagram @allthehobbies because there really are many, many hobbies!.)
The LA Pen Show took a back seat this year because they were unable to secure a hotel for the show. The folks behind the California Pen Show were more than ready to step in its place for 2023. If you read the recap from 2022 LA Pen Show, you would know that while I had a good time and still bought lots of things, it was utterly painful to watch and even worse to relive the experience while writing the recap. This year, I worked behind the Franklin-Christoph table (they haven’t been back to LA since 2018), so I didn’t have a lot of time to take as many pictures as I’d like. Everyone, including me, wanted to know if the California Pen Show would fare better. Let’s see how it did.
Considering this was the first ever California Pen Show, I wasn’t sure how big a show it would be. I would say that this is maybe a mid-size show, maybe a touch smaller than past LA shows, but a good size for a first showing. From what I understand, there were over 200 tables for around 80 vendors and 150 VIP passes were sold beforehand. The show was housed in a single large ballroom on the lower levels. Aisles were fairly wide with lots of room to browse and wander. Sizewise, it felt a lot like Baltimore, especially with the single large ballroom. This show is known for a good variety of both modern and vintage pens, and there were plenty of vendors with ink and paper too.
It was really good to see a lot of international vendors at the show including Sarj Minhas (UK), St John’s Pens (UK), Miro Tischler (Croatia), Urso Pens (Italy), and more.
Score: 7/10
Sterling silver BICs? Don’t see that every day, but you can at St. John’s Pens.
Always good to see Jonathon Brooks, but look at all those colorful pens and rods!
Adolphus Smith of Darail Penz is such a lovely gentleman and his pens are lovely too!
Looking for vintage Japanesse pens? Then you gotta see Dayne Nix.
Ana, Jesi and Christine were busy all weekend at the Dromgooles’ 10+ table spread!
This was Retro 51’s first time at an LA show! Stacy Hills is chatting with Joe Corona from Retro 51 about a yellow pen that looks like a great match to his shirt!
A couple of cool Karas Kustoms pens with specially designed cases for the show!
Ryan Krusac was happy to be back in LA and also donated some pens for the raffle!
Great to see John Phelan of Lemur Ink at a pen show!
Dale Beebe of Pentooling.com has all your parts and repair needs!
Casey and Eru of Pilot USA had their array of pens and also the new Iroshizuku cartridges too!
Zach of Skogsy Pens had a beautiful setup for his pens!
Hard to resist stuff from Traveler’s Company!
Ah, Los Angeles, it was a beautiful weekend with mostly sunny skies albeit a bit breezy on Sunday and Monday. A lovely respite from the cold winters of the east coast and abroad! The show is ridiculously easy to get to if you fly in as it is a couple miles from the LAX airport. Lots to do, see and eat in the LA area, including beaches, shopping, museums and of course, Disneyland!
Score - 8/10
Ryan Finnegan and Jeremy Saumure of LA-based Flax Pen to Paper brought so many cool products to the show (including notepads from Yamamoto paper and Troublemaker inks.)
Locals Stacy Hills of Paper Wants a Pen (right) with wife, Jill and daughter, Faith (not pictured) had a lovely selection of pens, jewelry, pen cases, stickers and more.
LAX is not too far for the Yafa folks to get to! Good thing too cuz they had quite a few tables at the show!
The California Pen Show was held at the LAX Marriott, which is very close to the airport. The rate was $149 per night which is actually a good price for a decent airport near the hotel. Despite its proximity to the airport, I didn’t really hear a lot of airplane traffic, unless you were outside. The free hotel shuttle ran pretty regularly, approximately every 15-20 minutes. Parking is usually $50/night but was discounted to $25 for show attendees. Unfortunately, the parking did not allow for multiple exit/re-entry, so it was steep for folks not staying at the hotel.
The hotel itself is quite nice and modern - the lobby is very spacious, with several restaurants on the main floor. There were plenty of places to sit and wait for a shuttle, or have a beverage while watching the many screens by the bar. There was also a Starbucks that closed at 5pm (so glad it didn’t close early) as well as a decently sized hotel shop where you can buy souvenirs as well as drinks, snacks, magazines, toiletries, etc. The rooms themselves were typical, the gym was nice and they had a large pool as well. Folks with certain levels of Marriott Elite status had a swanky lounge atop the 18th floor where they could get breakfast, snacks, and drinks.
I personally experienced and heard positive things about the hotel staff in general; they were friendly, polite and helpful. The food at the bar was tasty (I had shrimp tacos which were good and quite a few folks enjoyed the bacon cheeseburger) and folks told me the restaurant food was good as well.
Score - 8/10
I may have spent an hour or four in this area all weekend, haha.
Tickets were $15/day or you can get a VIP All-Access pass for $69 which includes access to all the days, including access to the show one hour before General access. All-Access pass members received goodies including a Retro 51 RB, pocket notebook, and show pin; they were also automatically enrolled in the VIP raffle of a Nakaya!!! There were also raffles held throughout all three days, which is always fun for attendees.
Show hours for the weekend were Thursday 1pm-5pm for Dealers and All-Access Pass only, and Friday - Sunday 10am - 5pm (with Dealers and All-Access folks having access at 9am). You could also purchase a 2-day pass for $25, which would grant you access to two days of your choosing. I liked that passes could be purchased online ahead of time, or at the door.
Oh, and since what I just wrote sounds perfectly normal, let me make it abundantly clear – there were THREE PUBLIC DAYS!!!! The previous LA Pen Shows only had ONE public day on Sunday, and forced people who couldn’t go on Sunday, to pay $55/65 for a weekend pass. It was so nice and NORMAL that people could pay a reasonable price to go on a Friday or Saturday.
I am giving it a 8/10 because I really want to highlight how important it is for a show to have multiple public days, and the ticket prices were reasonable.
Score - 8/10
Smiling faces were at the front desk to help you get your tickets!
Classes
To my knowledge, there were no classes or seminars, which is a bit of a bummer since there were a LOT of other smaller ballrooms next to the show ballroom. I was told that this was one thing the organizers regretted not putting enough energy behind, but plan to rectify in the future. I know the scale is 0-10, but I really have a hard time giving any score lower than 5, so this is my compromise.
Score - 4/10
There were a good number of nib workers at this show. It seemed like they were busy all weekend, so that’s always a good thing. I think this was about the right number of nib workers but they may need 1-2 more if the show continues to grow. Folks are listed in alphabetical order by first name.
Score - 10/10
Taku and CY setting up Friday morning before the crowds (PC: Taku)
Gena working their magic and testing the nib for smoothness.
Kirk is bringing some serious style to the show!
Matthew is hard at work while…
Mike is hanging ten, lol (true story, Mike loves to surf!)
People had a great time at the show. Both vendors and attendees alike were happy to be there from the start. It was not overly crowded on any of the days. The busiest and most lucrative day seemed to be Friday, followed by Saturday, and then quite a drop on Sunday (either due to the Super Bowl in the afternoon or typical Sunday slowness). Some vendors did “alright” and others did “great”, but all of them told me they were having a good time and were glad they came.
Vendors were relieved not to have to move every day and attendees enjoyed being able to show up any day they wanted and have a nice, comfortable shopping experience. Sure, there were some bumps, as with any show, but right out of the gate, people felt the organizers did a really good job with the show, and that set the stage for everyone to have a good time.
Score - 8/10
Saturday morning was hopping! Still lots of room for people to walk around and shop comfortably.
Two of my favorite people, Ian Schon and Paul Erano. Modern and vintage. Both talking about pens, both with big smiles.
Speaking of Ian, here he is being recorded by John Foye of St. John’s Pens, who traveled from the UK for his first time at an LA show!
Ikkaku is Nahvalur Pens’ newest release with urushi and raden!
Big news from the weekend - OMAS is back! In a partnership with Frank Zhang (of Nahvalur), Jorge Mejia (pictured) and Manu Caltagirone, OMAS released the new Ogiva Extra Blue Saffron at the CA Pen Show.
Food
As mentioned above, there were 3 restaurants and a Starbucks at the hotel and most folks had their meals there because it was convenient and the food was good at typical hotel prices. I heard that there were some food trucks and other casual dining spots not too far from the hotel, offering Hawaiian, Thai, Mediterranean cuisine and more. For something more in the middle, you’d have to take a short Lyft/cab ride to get pretty much anything you’d want to eat.
Score - 8/10
Starbucks and two of the 3 restaurants in the hotel.
The after hours scene was a good one given all the spaces available in the lobby and near the bar area! People gathered on the couches, tall and short tables and were passing around pens and showing off their goodies. This started on Thursday afternoon and lasted into Sunday for the folks like me who were still in town. Of course, this gal was having such a good time every night that she forgot to take pictures until Sunday night. (Mental note to self, don’t stay up til 1:30am on Thursday night of a pen show weekend, haha!)
Usually things are slower on Saturday night in LA because everyone is waiting for the crazy Sunday crowds but since there were 3 public days, plenty of folks were hanging out Saturday night too! There were folks watching the Super Bowl on Sunday as well and were happy to relax after a long weekend show.
Score - 8/10
Adjacent to the bar were high tables and couches and plenty of room for people to gather, show off pens and chat. Good times!
I spent most of my recap from last year explaining how weird the LA Show is compared to all the other US shows I’ve attended. And I can’t tell you what a relief it was for me and for everyone around to experience it as a regular pen show. Were there hiccups and things the organizers can improve on? Absolutely (and I’ll talk about that in a bit). But from the get-go, vendors were happy because they knew where they would be all weekend. Ballrooms were locked at 5pm, not unlocked and unsupervised until 11pm. Attendees could pick which days they wanted to go and pay a very reasonable price. This really put everyone in a good mood heading into the pen show weekend.
Thursday - I didn’t spend much time talking about Thursday afternoon, which is typically reserved for vendors and weekend pass holders to get a first look at each other’s pens and things, as well as for non-vendors to sell some of their own pens to fund pen show purchases. This was held in one of the smaller ballrooms as access to the main ballroom wasn’t available. It’s pretty common for some of the vendors to buy/sell/trade on Thursday to prepare for not only this show, but for future shows too. Not all pen shows do this, but the ones with a good number of vintage dealers will have Thursday trading hours.The previous LA shows had Thursday trading hours (in the main ballroom), so it was nice to see the CA Pen Show continuing this tradition.
Thursday afternoon and people were already shopping, selling, wheeling and dealing! (PC: Shane Glynn: chiefnoofficer_ on IG)
Thefts - It is sad when there is theft at a pen show. The LA Pen Show has had a notoriously bad reputation for thefts; most recently a whole suitcase being stolen on Thursday, as well as trays at Sarj Minhas’ and Ray Walters’ tables among others. At this show, there were a few items stolen from several different vendors, but it was much less than in past years. Is that because thieves didn’t know the show was happening? Not sure, but the security at the front were pretty vigilant about making sure people had wristbands or badges before entering. When I left my badge at the F-C table, I was escorted to my table where I showed my badge. Over the top? I don’t think so. I hope that it was enough of a deterrent to keep the thefts low.
In other theft-related news, the folks from Urushi Pen had their rental car broken into while in LA after the show (not at the hotel) and had all their luggage stolen, including a lot of Danitrio and ShiZen pens. Please be on the lookout for sales of these pens. Just another sad reminder to be careful of leaving valuable stuff in your car, even if it’s in the trunk.
A few thoughts (which I will also share with the organizers, Frank Zhang of Nahvalur (formerly Narwhal) Pens and Mario Campa of Toys from the Attic):
I think this show had a lot going for it, namely two organizers who wanted to do better than what had been done in the past, and vendors who were more than ready for it. That said, there is room for improvement (hence this score) and I think they should be more than able to build on this first admirable effort.
Score - 7/10
Report Card:
0-50 Oof, do not attend
51-70 Show is alright
70-80 Show is solid
80-90 Show is pretty darned good!
91-100 REALLY good show and not to be missed
The first ever 2023 California Pen Show scored 76/100, which is actually a decent score, when you consider that the lowest score was due to lack of any classes/seminars. Everyone was glad to be there from start to finish and said they look forward to coming back next year.
My relatively modest haul included the Bellroy Tokyo Tote (Flax Pen to Paper), two Winnie-the-Pooh Retro 51 FPs (Dromgooles), CA Pen Show ‘23 “Sunset” ink by Robert Oster, two Franklin-Christophs, vintage painted Platinum and tea cup from Traveler’s Company. Not pictured were two pens that I had ground to Cursive Italics by Mike Masuyama.
I’m off for a little vacay next week, but look forward to the next pen show in Baltimore. Until then, stay safe and stay inky!
The California Pen Show, as I mentioned in yesterday’s post, was a great first show for the new group of organizers. I thought we’d share some photos and a more in-depth recap for our first show of the year. I know the California Pen Show was not the first show of the calendar year but it was the first one that Jesi an I attended this year and I think it was a great way to jump start a new year.
The best part of any pen show is getting to spend time with people who love pens and ink as much as I do and Jesi and I revel in the time we get to spend together at shows.
The hotel where the show was located featured a picturesque pool, garden and hot tub and our room had a patio that looked out over it. Thursday, when we arrived, the weather was pretty mild but the rest of the weekend was not particularly conducive to dips in the pool sadly. But it made for a scenic view nontheless.
We ran into old friends like Joel Hamilton (pictured above with Jesi). He’s a charmer and always has a smile for us. Below, we will just photobomb you with all the folks we love to see at shows.
Jesi and I were working at the Dromgoole’s tables for this show. We were stationed at the “ink station” but we also helped with paper, pencils (100% me) and several of the pen tables. Marty and his wife Kimberly were there as well with their tables of NOS Retro51s right next to the new team at Retro51 who are great guys. Rickshaw was also in the Dromgoole’s table island with special pen cases and sleeves for the show.
Like all pens shows, set-up for the vendors starts early with a quick breakfast and then unpacking and setting up before the first customers barrel through the door ready to spend theoir had-earned cash on pens, ink and accessories.
Vendors were allowed in at 8am to start setting up which was not nearly enough time for us since the show opened at 9am for three-day pass holders and 10am for one-day pass holders.
By the end of the day on Friday, we were shredded. We ate dinner and Jesi crashed early. I stayed up,, hanging in the bar for a little while and then conked out around midnight. We knew we had a big day on Saturday.
As expected, Saturday was very busy. It was a delight to see lots of old friends from shows past and to meet new collectors and pen enthusiasts. I was only to capture a few photos, including the one above until we were seated at the bar in the evening.
Sunday was a bit slower overall which is the antithesis of the previous LA International Pen Show. The “LA” show only allows the public to attend on Sunday where the new “CA” show allows the public to attend any day throughout the weekend which made the whole show a good deal more shoppable and not nearly as harrowing for vendors and attendees.
Since we hada little time to shop and walk around, Jesi and I both got some nibs adjusted. Gena from Custom Nib Studio adjusted a janky nib for me and ground my Pilot Cavalier down to a needlepoint to be the perfect office pen (snap cap and a nib tiny enough not to bleed on copy paper). Jesi also had a nib adjusted by Gena who was stationed next to the Schon Design table. I got a chance to try the new Monoc nib that they have created. That nib is hella impressive.
Of the enhancements I’d like to see to the California Pen Show, I’d like to see the addition of workshops, classes and/or scheduled meet-up events. Maybe add an auction? The younger crowd, often made up of newer pen enthusiasts would be willing and would benefit from all sorts of classes and workshops. Everything from “how to fill a pen” or “how to clean a pen” to journaling workshops, calligraphy or nib tuning. What other kinds of classes and workshops would you want to see at a pen show?
And maybe, just maybe, reduce the entry fee on Sunday to entice people who may have missed Friday or Saturday? If Sundays are slower, its a good day for pen newbies to come and get some advice from vendors. However, if they’ve not invested in a fountain pen before having to pay a $15 entry fee plus parking might be too steep to get them in the door.
For vendors, it would be nice for the show to add some volunteers to act as table sitters. Other shows have offered this service and its really helpful for anyone who may be manning a table by themselves and need to step out for a minute or two. Providing coffee service near the ballroom in the afternoons would also be most appreciated. Its not always convenient to run all the way up to the hotel lobby and wait in line at the Starbucks kiosk for that late-afternoon pick-me-up.
Overall, the new California Pen Show is a vast improvement over the previous LA International Pen Show. I don’t know if the organizers of the LA show will try to change or improve it but I think they will definitely have stiff competition with the rise of the much better organized California Pen Show.
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