The Sad, Strange Saga of Crane Stationery

Amidst the turmoil that has enveloped the country since March, it’s understandable that the travails of stationery companies wouldn’t receive much attention in the mainstream national press. Still, Crane & Co.’s decision to drastically reduce their workforce by 200+ individuals and close their North Adams, Massachusetts manufacturing facility is notable not only because it’s a cautionary tale for those stationery companies that fail to adapt to modern realities, but also because it marks yet another end of an iconic American stationery manufacturer with more than 200 years of history behind it.

Based on the limited media coverage and my own discussions with knowledgeable sources, the January bankruptcy and closure of retailer Papyrus - Crane’s largest distributor and retail footprint - threw the Company into a precarious financial situation from which it simply couldn’t recover once COVID-19 forced the shutdown of the North Adams facility in March. What followed was a series of apparently ham-handed efforts to manage the fallout, which saw the company get embroiled in a dispute with the local officials over their attempt to re-open as an “essential business” in alleged violation of local COVID-19 guidelines, followed by an announcement that the “reopening” would be temporary, and that 200+ Crane employees would be laid off on June 19, and the North Adams manufacturing facility closed.

Indeed. #feelingrightnow #dowagercountess #penaddict #fpgeeks #crane #cranestationery #stationery #finewriting #downtonabbey

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It’s unclear whether this is the end of Crane as a brand. Parent company Mohawk Fine Papers, Inc. has stated that they plan to relocate an unspecified (i.e., small) number of employees to their main facility in Cohoes, New York. Other sources say that all remaining employees will be laid off by September. As of now, the Crane website is still live, and their COVID-19 statement still emphasizes that “Crane products are exclusively produced in the Berkshires of Western Massachusetts and have been for 2019 years. We are inextricably connected to the wellbeing of our community, and its wellbeing will always be our top priority.” In my opinion, not the best look given everything that’s occurred, and one would think that clearer messaging might be in order. Then again, I’m not sure whether Crane’s “core consumer” cares as much about the history behind the company and American stationery traditions in the same way readers of this blog might.

Regardless of whether “Crane” stationery continues to technically exist, the end of a storied 200-year run of making stationery in the Berkshires will be sad to see. I have the Crane engraving plates for the personal stationery for three generations of my family, as do, I suspect, many in this community. I’ve not paid much attention to Crane outside their (well received) efforts a couple of years ago to expand their business beyond wedding invitations and formal stationery, but when I visited their setup at the National Stationery Show in January, the company seemed poised to branch out further with some new licensing deals and collaborations designed to appeal to a more modern consumer. I presume that going forward, Mohawk will continue to fulfill orders for wedding invitations and personal stationery via Crane’s existing retail footprint, but it will be interesting to see whether any effort is made to grow the brand further. They could continue to build on 200 years of tradition, or Crane could simply go the way of Eberhard-Faber and other former stationery “greats” and become just another label. This will likely be a story I continue to follow, so stay tuned….

How To Choose The Best Pen For You

By far, the most common question I receive through the website and via social media DMs is "I want to buy my first nice pen. What kind of pen should I buy?" It's also one of the most difficult question to answer, because it depends on so many variables: personal aesthetic preferences, how you plan to use the pen, and of course, your budget. I firmly believe that if you're going to buy a pen that you will use everyday, it's worth it to take some time, carefully consider the purchase, and spend what you need (and can comfortably afford) to get the right tool that actually works for you. Don't set your heart on an expensive fountain pen simply because other people think fountain pens are the only option for "real" pen enthusiasts. For many people, ballpoints, rollerballs, and gel pens are infinitely more practical solutions, and you can find great pens of all types at every price point.

When considering a purchase, I'd encourage you to ask yourself the following questions. If you choose wisely, you'll get years of enjoyment from your new companion.

What Type of Writing Do You Do?

Are you writing mostly at a desk, where ink can take time to dry and things like water resistance are less important? If so, you probably have a lot of flexibility. Or do you spend your days "in the field," jotting down notes in a pocket notebooks or otherwise writing while standing up? Then it might be hard for you to use a fountain pen, especially one that you have to cap/uncap one-handed while simultaneously holding a notebook or a clipboard. When I'm away from my desk, I find myself reaching more and more for a ballpoint pen, gel pen, or a woodcase pencil, which are not only easier to deploy but also withstand things like rain and coffee rings.

Are You Right or Left Handed?

For lefties, choosing the proper pen can be tricky, depending on how you hold the pen and whether you tend to smudge ink that doesn't dry quickly enough. Many fountain pen inks can take as long as a minute to dry, and even more if you use slick paper. I'm right-handed, but the other two members of my household are southpaws. One is an "underwriter" who can use pretty much any pen comfortably, including fountain pens. The other can't, and sticks to ballpoints and quick-drying gel pens. For lefty-related questions, I would refer you to Ana over at the Well-Appointed Desk, who has published a wealth of helpful information on considerations for left-handed writers.

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Do You Have a Favorite Type of Paper?

Some people absolutely love Field Notes, Moleskines, composition books, and yellow legal pads, or want the flexibility of being able to use whatever their office stocks in the supply closet or printer. The problem is, most fountain pens and many rollerballs tend to feather and bleed through most thin or inexpensive paper, leaving you with ballpoint, gel pens, or even pencil as your most plausible "cheap paper" options.

Writing with a fountain pen or rollerball will likely force you to more carefully consider your paper choices. Clairefontaine, Rhodia, Leuchtturm, and house favorite Write Notepads all make excellent and more widely available paper that handles water-based ink quite well, but the paper may be more expensive than what you are used to. If you churn through lots of notebooks or legal pads, this is something to keep in mind.

For additional guidance on all things paper, check out my recent five part series, "The Best Paper for Everyday Writing," in which I discuss Hardcover Notebooks (Part I), Softcover Notebooks (Part II), Spiral Notebooks (Part III), Pocket Notebooks (Part IV), and other things like pads, notecards, and looseleaf paper (Part V).

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A fountain pen requires more cleaning and maintenance than a rollerball, ballpoint, or gel pen, but would you really miss out on the hundreds of colors offered by brands like Diamine?

Is "Low Maintenance" Important to You? How Do You Feel About Filling a Pen from an Ink Bottle?

It doesn't get much easier than popping a new refill into a ballpoint, rollerball, or gel pen once the old one runs out of ink. If you value convenience and refill availability above all else, these are obvious choices. The downside is that you miss out on the range of colors available to fountain pen users, especially those willing to fill from an ink bottle! Sure, ink can make a mess, and I've stained my share of clothes, carpet, and desktops, but there's something timeless and almost meditative about taking the time to clean and re-ink a fountain pen that I would never give up.

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Are You Prone to Losing Things?

If so, consider a nicer "disposable" pen, or, if you want to keep pens out of the landfill, an inexpensive pen that still gives you the option of refilling. Platinum's "Preppy" fountain pen is a serviceable writer that costs less than $5 and uses Platinum ink cartridges. Similarly, the Pokka Pen ballpoint was conceived after the owner tired of losing expensive Fisher Space Pen "bullet" pens. You get the same compact functionality in a disposable pen that can still be refilled if you wish. Personally, I don't worry too much about losing my nicer pens. I've always found that if I spend at least a little more money I'm more conscientious about the purchase and less likely to misplace or damage it. I've been in the pen hobby for nearly 10 years, using a LOT of pens, and I think the value of pens I've lost over that time is well under $100.

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The Lamy Safari ballpoint offers an excellent (and versatile) writing experience that you can find for less than $20.

What’s Your Budget?

Of all the considerations on this list, price is the least important. Excellent pens exist at every price point, and just because you might have less than $20 to spend doesn't preclude you from getting a good pen that meets your needs, especially if you're willing to consider a ballpoint. I recently reviewed the Lamy Safari ballpoint, and Fisher Space Pen makes a wide range of products to hold their excellent pressurized refills. What I would encourage, however, is to spend as much as you can comfortably afford to get a pen that actually meets your needs. Chances are, you'll be happier with the purchase and won't be as tempted to "try more pens" to find something better.

I maintain a list of "Best Pen" recommendations that I update annually, with pen recommendations at a variety of price points. Also, TGS has more than four years of archived content, including reviews, lists, and guides focused pens and stationery for all budgets.

I hope you've enjoyed this article. If you have further questions about a pen you're considering, please don't hesitate to drop a question in the comments, using the "Contact Me" link, or directly emailing me at joe(at)gentlemanstationer.com. Thanks for reading!

Disclaimer: Please be advised that many of the links to purchasing options here and elsewhere on the site are to paid sponsors and affiliates, and in certain cases my own Curated Shop, which is how I support the site and keep things running.

Pen Show Prep 2020 and My One-Pen Challenge

Pen Show Season is here, and I’m about to kick things off by heading to Philadelphia late Thursday night for the 2020 Philly Pen Show! Philadelphia is the first show of the year, and I’ve never been able to attend despite hearing great things. What am I looking forward to the most? Just hanging out and walking the show. I’m not working for anyone this time, and while I plan to make time to meet up with readers and Patreon supporters, I don’t have any set obligations, much less a list of anything specific that I’m looking for. The lack of a plan, of course, can be a recipe for disaster at a pen show, but this year feels different.

My One-Pen Challenge(s) and the Year of Reducing My Stationery Hoard

Why? As I previously mentioned, I spent some time around the New Year sorting through my pen collection/accumulation and cutting things hard. I have all sorts of pens, inks, and paper queued up to list for sale throughout the year, and I don’t regret any of it. One of my main themes for 2020 is to acquire and hold onto less stuff, which in my case necessarily involves taking a deep dive into the dozens of pens that remain in my collection and figure out what I want to keep before I cut even more. It bothers me to have pens I like sitting unused for over a year, simply because there’s no feasible way for me to rotate through them. Committing to a quarterly sale, and having a hard backstop like Patreon supporters who have paid to participate in these sales in a timely manner, will keep me honest with myself. My goal is to eventually get to 12-24 pens in my personal collection.

So how do I decide to thin the herd? The only way, in my opinion, is to spend extended periods of time with a pen, compared against a pen that I know I love and will always have in my collection. Here’s what I plan to do:

• Limit the Number of Pens Inked. I have to do this, otherwise, it gets stressful because I feel that I have to write each pen dry and I flit back and forth between a dozen different pens and don’t focus on anything. Having no more than 5-6 pens inked at any given time, and carrying no more than 3 with me on a daily basis, will allow me to focus better, not just on evaluating my own pens but on providing more in-depth review content here.

• The “One Pen” Challenge. Have one pen that’s with me all the time, all year long, and use this pen as the baseline against which I evaluate others. For me, that pen is going to be a Lamy 2000 with an EF nib, probably my Blue Bauhaus 100th Anniversary edition since it has the best-writing nib in my small collection of Lamy 2000s.

• The “Monthly Pen” Challenge. Choose one pen that will stay with me for the month and not get swapped out of the six-pen rotation, even if the pen runs out of ink. For the month of January, that pen is the Leonardo Momento Zero Grande Arlecchino.

• Monthly Change-Up. At the end of the month, clean and ink 5 new pens, including a “monthly pen.” Take note of what pens I’m using, what pens I’m not using, and why. If a pen doesn’t work for me anymore, it goes on the block in the next quarterly sale.

Pen Show Goals for 2020

So what am I going to be up to at pen shows this year? Hanging out with people. Taking pictures and checking out new review items for the blog. To the extent I acquire anything, I love the idea of picking a single model of vintage pen that I can use to create a “mini-collection” within my personal collection, as Jacklyn discusses in her recent blog post. I may take a class or two with Salman and Azizah of the Toronto Pen Company, which is something I’ve never done before at a show. As with most pen shows, you’ll find me in the hotel bar most nights, and I’m signed up for the Pen Mixer at 6pm on Saturday. I’m still pulling together pens I’m taking to Philly for Pen Show Show-n-Tell, so feel free to send me a message if there’s something in particular you want me to bring.

My pen show travel over the rest of the year is also starting to take shape. In addition to Philly, I plan to attend the Baltimore Pen Show (Feb. 28-March 1); Arkansas Pen Show (March 13-15); Atlanta Pen Show (April 3-5); D.C. Pen Show (July 30-Aug. 2), and since D.C. is early this year, possibly the San Francisco Pen Show (August 28-30).

So What Am I Going To Do With All The Pens I’m Selling?

The TGS “Gently Used” Sale will go live to the general readership on February 1, 2020. Currently, the sale is open to Patreon supporters as one of the benefits they receive through that program, along with progressive discounting depending on the level of support. Pens listed for sale include some special edition Pilot Vanishing Points, a matte black Leonardo Momento Zero, an Esterbrook Estie, and nearly three dozen bottles of ink, most of which have had 1-2 fills taken, max. I’ve priced all of these items aggressively, with the goal of giving my readers and supporters as good a deal as I can while still accomplishing my goal of shoring up blog finances for the year ahead.

I hope to see you all in Philly, and if you’re headed to the show, safe travels!

Disclaimer: This post contains links to paid sponsors and affiliates.

My 2019 Retrospective

What an epic year to close out a decade! 2019 was not only one of the best years I’ve had on the blog in terms of traffic and overall reader engagement, but I was able to visit more pen shows than ever before and truly feel like I engaged with and made an impact on the community. Today I want to recap the last year and share some of my own reflections and travel plans for 2020.

2019 Pen Shows

I was able to attend the Los Angeles, Baltimore, Arkansas, Atlanta, and D.C. Pen Shows in 2019, and enjoyed meeting many more readers in person. Overall, pen show attendance seems to have stabilized, and smaller shows like Atlanta continue to grow in popularity. By far the highlight of my pen show year, though, was Baltimore. Timed to take place a the end of the dreariest part of the year, just before spring, this well-run and friendly show could eventually steal D.C.’s place as the premiere East Coast pen event. To its credit, the D.C. Pen Show seems to have resolved most of the logistical issues plaguing the past couple of years, and from behind the Vanness Pens table, still seems as well-attended and busy as ever. On the other end of the spectrum, the local community-focused Arkansas pen show in Little Rock offered a refreshing change of pace, including an after-hours meetup at Vanness Pens.

I’ve linked to my recap of each 2019 pen show in the paragraph above. The current plan is to attend most the same shows in 2020, replacing Los Angeles with Philadelphia and possibly adding San Francisco. Since both D.C. and San Francisco are in August, I may have to choose one or the other and haven’t yet made a final decision. For those of you who back The Gentleman Stationer on Patreon, I am working on special pen show meetups for those shows where we overlap. See below for more details.

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My Five Favorite Pens of 2019

It was pretty easy for me to pick out the five pen reviews that I most enjoyed writing. All five of these posts discuss pens that I acquired for my own personal collection, and have used extensively over the past year. As I’ve mentioned recently, I scaled back my personal acquisitions pretty significantly in 2019, and will continue that trend into 2020. I still plan on reviewing pens on the blog, but I do want to mix in some different types of content and the main goal is not to hold onto things that I won’t use over the long-term.

1. Leonardo Momento Zero. What can I say? As someone who mourned the loss of Italian pen company Delta, the emergence of Leonardo filled a void in the market (and my own collection). I have Momento Zeroes at the high end (the “Maestro set”) and from the standard mid-range lineup, and they’re all excellent.

2. Lamy 2000 Bauhaus 100th Anniversary. I let Lamy have it a little bit here for their curious decision to severely restrict the release of this exceptional limited edition pen, and for pricing it at an inaccessible - and somewhat incongruous - price point. That said, I love my Blue Bauhaus, and it’s going to be the “one pen” for 2020 that’s always with me.

3. Aurora 88 Sigaro Blu. Though it’s easy to get lost in a seemingly endless flood of limited editions, the Aurora 88 is a classic fountain pen that’s one of the best workhorse tools out there.

4. Franklin-Christoph Model 20 Marietta. 2019 was the year that I finally settled on the Model 20 “Marietta” as my Franklin-Christoph pen of choice. “Winter Pine” for the win - bring it to the standard lineup!

5. Montegrappa Extra 1930. Montegrappa has really emerged as a major player over the past two years, and not just at the high-end of the market. While the Extra 1930 is an expensive pen, the craftsmanship and material are such that I don’t regret the purchase at all.

I have a few other favorite posts from 2019 that were not necessarily pen reviews. I particularly enjoyed writing this piece on my own thought process behind purchasing more expensive pens, which is the culmination of a year of thinking about how I want to frame my own interest in this hobby. I also wrote a bit about the direction of Chinese brand Moonman, which has taken a different turn recently that’s not altogether positive, in my opinion. Finally, check out my article on “Picking a ‘Workhorse’: How to Choose a Fountain Pen for an Everyday Writer.”

Anticipated 2020 Pen Show Calendar

I currently plan to attend the following pen shows in 2020:

• Philadelphia Pen Show (January 17-19)

• Baltimore Washington International Pen Show (February 28-March 1)

• Arkansas Pen Show in Little Rock (March 13-15)

• Atlanta Pen Show (April 3-5)

• DC Pen Show (July 30-August 2) TENTATIVE

• San Francisco Pen Show (August 28-30) TENTATIVE

In addition to attending shows, I hope to organize more meetups during my other travels. To that end, I will be in New York City at the end of the month to attend the National Stationery Show with the crew from Vanness, and we are targeting a meetup the night of January 31. Stay tuned for additional details!

Patreon Update

Many thanks to everyone who has backed The Gentleman Stationer on Patreon! Check out the Patreon page for full details, but I wanted to post a few quick updates. First, I am now able to offer backers a new benefit in the form of a special “thank-you” coupon for 10% off your order at Vanness Pens, in addition to other periodic promotions that will be exclusive to my Patreon members. As I discuss on the Patreon page, one of my longer-term goals is to be able to develop some exclusive products of my own that I can offer in partnership with retailers and manufacturers, but in the meantime I’ll be exploring other ways to bring value to the membership. Second, I will be attending the Philadelphia Pen Show next weekend, and since I’ve met the first Patreon goal I’ll be doing something special for any Patreon backers in attendance. I’ll post details on the Patreon page. Finally, I still have plenty of pens and ink available in my year-end clearance. Patreon backers get early access through the end of the month (in addition to discounts for certain tiers of support), after which the sale will be opened up to the general readership.

Many thanks to all my readers for a great 2019, and I look forward to making 2020 even better! I have my first review of 2020 lined up for Saturday, as we leave the last decade behind us for good.

Disclaimer: This post contains links to paid sponsors and affiliates.

Five Themes for 2020 and a New Decade, and Introducing TGS Patreon

New Year’s resolutions have rightly fallen out of favor, given how they’re nearly always doomed to fail. After trying - and failing - to keep traditionally framed “resolutions” for most of my life, I’m now firmly on the “yearly themes” bandwagon, in which I try to keep things fairly general and then build new habits to support the theme throughout the year. I don’t plan on writing a full length piece on this idea, at least not here. If you’re interested in reading more on this idea, you can check out books by James Clear and Charles Duhigg, and if you’re more of a podcast person than a book person, the latest episode of Cortex on RelayFM digs into the concept of annual themes.

With that said, after spending the past few days ruminating on what worked - and didn’t work - in the 2010s, here are five themes that I’d like to build on for the next year (or ten), all of which will affect the blog in some way. Don’t worry, I’m not planning on going anywhere, but I also don’t want TGS or my outside personal and professional life to stagnate, and you’ve got to evolve to keep things interesting, right?

Write.

The most stationery-centric of these “themes”, and perhaps the most important because it ties the rest of them together. I need to write more. Not here, on the blog, but offline - in notebooks, in journals, on scrap paper, wherever. And not just writing for the sake of writing, to test pens, notebooks, and paper. I need to do real writing, because that’s how my brain works best, whether it be processing complex ideas, planning out projects, keeping track of tasks and to-dos, or finishing the half-novel I’ve slowly churned out over the past eight years. One possible outcome is that you see more process-focused reviews here as I re-evaluate not only how I use things but how well products actually hold up to daily use.

All of this ink needs to go. Details on how I plan to run my sales this year at the bottom of this post.

Own Less Stuff.

Cancel subscriptions. Give stuff away. Sell stuff off. Use stuff up before buying more. With the exception of a few specific products that I churn through on a regular basis, I stopped stockpiling stationery last year. I’ve reached full S.A.B.L.E., and if I stopped buying stationery today, I’d never use up what I already have. Some of this can be sold off to recoup unwisely spent funds and/or to re-invest in TGS, which I will discuss further below. I’m not going full Marie Kondo, but when stuff becomes clutter it develops a sort of psychic weight that prevents me from fully enjoying those things I am actually using at the moment.

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A fraction of the pens I acquired over the past couple of years that don’t get nearly enough love. They need to move on to new homes. All of these, and more, will be available in the stationery sale discussed below.

Stop Chasing the Latest and Greatest.

Relatedly, “upgrade culture” has burned me out. A lot of the clutter around my house consists of old devices (computer components, phones, tablets, Kindles, etc.) that have accumulated as we’ve been asked to spend ever-increasing amounts of money on devices that represent, at best, only marginal improvements over the last iteration. Pen companies aren’t necessarily doing the same thing - there’s no need to “upgrade” a fountain pen unless it breaks and can’t be fixed - but I wrote last month about the seemingly endless proliferation of “limited editions” that aren’t limited in any meaningful way, which really makes nobody happy. It ticks off collectors who might be looking to acquire something special, and for others it confuses the market and creates FOMO. Starting last year I’ve focused on making more informed purchases with an eye towards longevity and craftsmanship.

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I need to work my way through my book backlog. Only a fraction of these have been read.

Read More.

If I have one great regret from the 2010s, it’s the degree to which I allowed so much of my media and information consumption to be pushed online. I used to consider reading books a core part of my life, and though I still technically “read” a lot, it doesn’t feel the same. I have shelves of unread books to plow through, and while I managed to read more than 15 books last year and mostly kept up with a New Yorker subscription, I can do - and have done - more that that in the past. Actively reading makes me a better writer, drives creativity, and just makes me feel better about myself.

Try New Things and Trust Others to Support Me.

All of these entries will touch on the blog in some way, but perhaps this last one more than others. This coming April, I will have been writing The Gentleman Stationer for six years. Over that span of time, not much has changed in terms of format. The site has focused on product reviews, namely pens, pencils, and other fine writing accessories that not only look good and are fun to collect but serve a functional purpose. TGS is a one-man show. I’m the reporter, editorial board, and business manager, and as the site started to consume more of my time over the years I took on sponsors, advertisers, and affiliate partnerships to generate revenue to cover my costs and compensate me for at least some of the 3+ hours per day, 7 days a week I was putting in.

I don’t have a problem with my current business model, per se. I love to write. I retain full creative control and operate with relatively low overhead. I’m careful about who I partner with, and nearly all of my advertisers and sponsors are also friends. That said, it does create some discomfort on my part that the success or failure of The Gentleman Stationer as a business is driven entirely by clicks and commissions, and having to generate revenue in this way offers little flexibility to explore new ideas for content such as audio and video content, livestreams, curated retail, product collaborations, etc.

For the past year, I’ve considered how best to fix this. Should I create a “membership” model that I run myself, with a paid newsletter, etc.? Should I branch into curated retail? Should I write a book? At the end of the day, I’m still considering different options, but decided that the Patreon platform offers me the most flexibility given where the site is now. I like the idea of trusting my readers to support the site to whatever degree they see fit, and having the opportunity to interact with my most dedicated supporters on a much more personal level.

Patreon Benefits

First of all, absolutely nothing will change here on the main site. Content through Patreon will be 100% extra for those who wish to help support the site financially. If the Patreon is successful, you may see fewer advertisements on TGS as I choose to work closely with a smaller number of sponsors and partners. For now, the main benefits for Patreon sponsors include the additional content available on the Patreon platform and early access to my periodic “gently used” sales with progressive discounting based on your level of support. Other benefits will include pen show meetups, first crack at any exclusive products, a members-only “e-mail hotline”, and more if things take off. A full discussion of the various tiers and benefits is available on the Patreon page. If you decide to support TGS, you will have immediate access to the Patrons-only content, which will contain a link and password to access the sale page. The sales will run quarterly, and will remain Patreon-exclusive for the first 30 days after which I will open them up to the general readership. Currently, the sale page contains dozens of pens (including Aurora, Edison, Esterbrook, Leonardo, and Pilot), bottles of ink, and pocket notebooks, with more being added as I work my way through Goal No. 2 discussed above (“Own Less Stuff”). I’ve really tried to price this stuff aggressively to reward you all for supporting me. I can’t afford to give it away, but I can do my best to make it worth your while!

I know this has been a long post, but it’s one I needed to write, and I truly believe that changing things up will help set TGS up for success over the long term and ultimately keep this site an interesting and inspiring place to visit. Thank you for your years of readership and support, and I look forward to many more!

Disclaimer: This post contains links to paid sponsors and affiliates.