Elastic nibs were around before Nakaya had them. Many steel dip pen nibs came with shoulder cutouts or slits. Esterbrook even had a double elastic (cutouts AND slits!) on offer. MacNiven and Cameron released their last Waverly pen in the 1950s, an eyedropper meant to remove the hassle of disintegrating rubber sacs in tropical countries. …
The first fountain pens were eyedroppers. The entire barrel held ink. I expect this was a relief to scribes weary and wrist-sore from dipping nibs into inkwells. (Centuries before that paper from plants rescued generations of goats from becoming papal bulls. Science, ever forward!) The Waterman 12 is a slim eyedropper. It was quite popular …
One of the best things about working in advertising is I can shoot myself writing in my notebook during internal meetings when only 4% of my brain is required.
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If you’ve always wondered exactly what “elastic” means when it comes to Nakaya nibs, this video should give you an idea.Â
I’ve always found it fascinating, that Waterman color-coded their nibs. Richard Binder’s site, richardspens.com, features an ad from 1927 headlined “Pick your pen point by color.” It’s a concept alien to the one-ballpen-fits-all generation, and the what’s-a-ballpen generation just around the bend. It doesn’t have to be. Writing by hand is one of the last …
A friend sent me a surprise in the mail. It was a Frankensnork. There are at least five different Sheaffer Snorkels in this Sheaffer Snorkel, and it makes me smile every time I pick it up and write with it. (On the permutations of “Franken:” in my line of work, we’re used to cobbling together …
This was my first Danitrio. I haven’t seen another pen similar to it, so perhaps it never passed the prototype stage. The entire pen is ebonite, except the feed. The barrel features sterling silver inserts: one engraved with a phoenix, the other with a dragon. I’ve had it a couple of years, and it shows. …
Back in the day, you didn’t have to change your pen if you became bored with how it wrote. You just bought another nib. Vintage Esterbrook pens are affordable and easy to find, and offer new-to-vintage fountain pen collectors the joy of interchangeable nibs. (Esterbrook.net is the online destination for Estie information, pictures and more.) …
I change bags. Many women do. I leave things inside bags I don’t use for weeks. Many women do. I found a Sterling fountain pen in red mottled hard rubber with an extraordinarily flexible nib at the bottom of a bag I had not paid attention to in months. If only for this, I am …