Pen Show Vendor Swag, courtesy of Rickshaw Bags!

San Francisco Pen Show: The Big Weekend Recap

September 1, 2021

What a weekend! The only other pen show I have attended that I can compare to the San Francisco Pen Show is Baltimore, and that’s because the focus remains on ensuring people have a positive experience, as opposed to cramming in as many people and vendors as possible. I’ll certainly return to the San Francisco Show, and next year (fingers crossed) I plan to have my own table. I met so many readers and customers over the weekend, and it was wonderful to match names (and online handles) with faces!

A little Pen Shows After Dark on Saturday night.

Some General Observations from the Weekend and What I Loved about the San Francisco Pen Show

It’s Truly “The Fun Pen Show”! As I noted above, you can tell that the organizers focused on ensuring that everyone had a good time, with events organized most nights for vendors and weekend pass holders. Highlights included a vintage pen auction on Friday night (rare these days), and live music on Saturday. The Pullman San Francisco Bay is also one of the nicer pen show hotels on the circuit, with breakfast available in the morning, an espresso bar (key!), and a bar with good drinks and excellent food.

Three Vanness-exclusive Robert Oster inks: Blue River, Hemp, and Hickory Aflame. (Charred Hickory, the non-shimmer version of Hickory Aflame, sold out quickly).

A Diverse Array of Vendors. The best pen shows, like San Francisco and Baltimore, feature a balance of large and small retailers, independent penmakers, vintage traders, non-pen artists and craftspeople, and even national brands. San Francisco mixed everyone together well, and the show was organized in a way that encouraged you to walk the entire layout. Vendors I saw at San Francisco who I’ve not seen at other shows included Curnow Bookbinding & Leatherwork (creators of the “Backpocket Journal”), Peyton Street Pens (from whom I acquired two custom pens with vintage nibs), Japanese stationery specialists Maido/Kinokuniya, Rickshaw Bagworks, and international brands Pilot, Traveler’s Company and Plotter (more on them below). You can view the full list of exhibitors here.

J.C. Ament was grinding away on Sunday morning!

LOTS of Options for Nib Work. If you came to the San Francisco Pen Show looking to get a nib ground, you were in luck. Mike Masuyama, Gena Salorino (Custom Nib Studio), Kirk Speer (Pen Realm), and J.C. Ament (The Nib Tailor, in his first show as a full-time nib grinder) were all present, and most had walk-up availability.

My Plotter planner and Curnow Coptic-Bound journal with a stork pattern.

Less Crowding. While I suspect traffic was down from prior years due to a combination of circumstances (pandemic, fires, etc.), a lot of people still came through the door, Pen shows with wider aisles and vendors spread out over multiple ballrooms are more pleasant to walk (not to mention to work). Not only do you not get pushed and shoved by the crowds when you’re trying to look at a pen at someone’s table (L.A., anyone?) but it’s even more important today when everyone is already a bit less comfortable due to the ongoing pandemic and the fact that masking and other precautions are required to ensure these events can happen safely.

OK, So What Was the Coolest Stuff I Saw This Weekend?

In addition to my two custom pens from Teri at Peyton Street Pens, I picked up a pair of Ultem Fountain Pens from Schon DSGN, a Galen Leather 12-pen hardshell leather pen case from Vanness, a Parker 51 for an exceptional price from vintage dealer John Strother, a couple bottles of Kiwi Inks, and some handmade coptic-bound journals from Curnow Bookbinding & Leatherworks, which I brought home as gifts. Perhaps the most interesting, for me personally, was a planner set I was offered by Plotter USA as part of a pilot program they are running to test their planner system prior to a U.S. release later this year. Plotter is owned by DesignPhil, the same company that brought us Midori MD and Traveler’s Notebook, and the brand accordingly features a similar aesthetic, but uses a ring binding system with the same six-hole layout as Filofax and other brands (so your hole punches and other accessories should work). I received the “Narrow” size, which is approximately the same dimensions as a Kokuyo Sketch Book - a size below my lovely B6 slim Cafe Note. I’ll be providing Plotter with feedback on the system over the next few months, and of course posting photos here.

Not technically a pen show picture, but the Platinum Preppy Wa’s are awesome and worth a look!

Otherwise, I enjoyed visiting with friends new and old, from the team at Kenro where I saw the Pininfarina PF2 for the first time, to the crew at Luxury Brands, who are helping to promote the launch of the latest from Platinum, the limited edition Platinum Preppy Wa (that’s right - a limited edition Preppy), which is really cool and as you would hope, priced in a way that should be accessible to most everyone. I also got to meet with the new owners of Retro 51, and I’m excited to see what they have in store for the future. Despite a somewhat rocky start (exacerbated by the pandemic and accompanying economic uncertainty), the new team seems enthusiastic and excited to make Retro more visible to the at-large community of pen enthusiasts, including attending more pen shows.

The Plotter (“Narrow”) compared against the Nanami Paper Cafe Note in B6 Slim (left).

Plotter is a brand that I think I’m going to enjoy exploring - it’s quite customizable with different inserts and accessories. Shown here are paper folders that can be used to organize notes by topic.

In short, San Francisco has made my list of “must-attend” pen shows, and I really want to spend more time with West Coast pen friends! If you missed my Friday/Day One Recap, you can check it out here.

This post does not contain affiliate links. The Gentleman Stationer is supported by purchases from the T.G.S. Curated Shop and reader donations. If you would like to support us even further, please consider checking out the T.G.S. Patreon Program, which offers access to online meetups, exclusive discounts and pre-orders, and more.

San Francisco Pen Show: Day 1 Recap

August 28, 2021

This week marked my first ever trip to the San Francisco Pen Show, which the show organizers affectionately dub “The Fun Pen Show”! There’s a reason too - the San Francisco show is set up in much more vendor and user-friendly way than many other larger shows such as D.C. and L.A., in addition to having some great after-hours events. The aisles are spaced widely, allowing for better browsing and a less crowded experience, which is especially important these days.

Get to the Schon DSGN table early - that way you get a chance at things like the “Black Ultem” on the right. (I swapped sections with the standard Amber Ultem to get the two-tone look.)

As with most larger shows, Friday is the “trader pass” day, which means that until 1pm, the show is only open to weekend pass holders and not the general public. For vendors, this can be a mixed bag, as it typically involves less foot traffic in the morning, but for attendees who purchase the three-day pass it can provide an opportunity to interact with vendors before they’re swamped with potential customers, as well as the chance to pick up limited or small quantity items before they sell out. (Since many vendors fly to the San Francisco Pen Show, they have to bring less stock than they would carry to a “driving show,” so I’d highly recommend springing for the trader pass.) Foot traffic yesterday definitely seemed a bit slower, similar to what I witnessed in D.C., and I suspect it’s due to the fact that in a normal year, many of the weekend trader passes are comprised of people who travel in from out-of-town. Unsurprisingly, with fewer people flying, you see slower Fridays, yet Saturdays and Sundays remain busy as locals and those with driving distance visit the show.

The Vanness-Vinta exclusive collaboration. Limited quantities available, and only at the show until next week, when it will go on sale on the Vanness website.

Once again, I’m behind the table with my friends from Vanness Pens, who brought with them from Little Rock a huge assortment of ink from Ferris Wheel Press, Pennonia, Robert Oster, Pilot Iroshizuku, and Vinta, including the Vanness exclusive, “Sodalite”! We also have a selection of pens from Scribo, Pilot, TWSBI, and more, in addition to new products from Galen Leather. While Kanilea Pen Co. and Ryan Krusac Studios are not attending this year, many others are, including Franklin-Christoph, Dromgoole’s, Luxury Brands, Schon DSGN, and more.

The inks available at the Kiwi Inks table. Kiwi is a brand I haven’t used before, and I picked up bottles of Nebula Space Kitty and Hyacinth Macaw.

I made several purchases on Friday, mainly of lower-stock items that I wanted to grab before they sold out. In addition to two Ultem Pens from Schon DSGN, I grabbed two handmade pens fitted with vintage Cartier and Eversharp nibs from Peyton Street Pens, as well as two bottles of Kiwi Inks. Since I was worried they would sell out by the end of the show, I also picked up this magnetic closure, hardshell leather case from Galen Leather. We still have a few remaining at the Vanness table, but these won’t last through the end of the weekend, so if you want one come by early.

Stay tuned for more updates from Saturday and Sunday at the San Francisco Show! Also, don’t forget that through tomorrow night, you can get 10% off any purchases in the T.G.S. Curated Shop by using the coupon code “SFPENSHOW” at checkout. All orders placed during a pen show weekend ship the following week, once I’m back in town.

San Francisco might not be quite as big as D.C. (shown here), but it’s known as “the Fun Pen Show” due to all the after hours events and entertainment.

This Weekend: Come Visit at the San Francisco Pen Show!

August 26, 2021

It’s that time again! I’ll be behind the Vanness Pens table at the 2021 San Francisco Pen Show, which runs from Friday through Sunday (August 27-29). As I’ve mentioned before, I’m not bringing the T.G.S. Curated Shop with me to shows this year, but for those weekends when I do attend Pen Shows, I typically run the equivalent of “Pen Show Pricing” on the site. Today through Sunday, take 10% off your Curated Shop orders (excluding TWSBI and Sunderland) using the coupon code “SFPENSHOW” at checkout!

Please stop by the Vanness table and say hello! I may have some some stickers and other small items available as well….

Please note that due to my travel schedule, all orders placed between Thursday, August 26 and Sunday, August 29 will ship starting Monday, August 30. Many thanks for your support!

2021 D.C. Pen Show Recap: Saturday, Sunday, and Overall Thoughts on the Return of Pen Shows

August 11, 2021

This past weekend was something of a blur, and that’s putting it mildly. While Friday might have seen less traffic than in years past - probably due to fewer weekend pass holders traveling in from out-of-state - the two public days felt busier than ever. You could sense the pent-up demand, and not only for the buying frenzy that can sometimes take hold at pen shows, but for human interaction with other like-minded people. In short, it was a great weekend, and even though I spent most of it behind the Vanness Pens table at the front of the large ballroom, I went a bit crazy on Sunday and have quite the show haul. Good thing I spent the last few weeks selling off pens and ink!

Hugh ready to go behind the Kanilea Pen Co. table on Friday!

Which Vendors Attended, and a Few Noticeable Absences

Despite the uncertainty, the 2021 D.C. Pen Show featured a wide array of exhibitors and vendors. Retailers included Vanness Pens (where I helped out for the weekend), Dromgoole’s, Bertram’s Inkwell, Lemur Ink, Chatterley Luxuries, and Bittner. Makers included Galen Leather (who traveled all the way from Turkey!), Schon DSGN, Franklin-Christoph, Kanilea Pen Company, Ryan Krusac, Good Made Better, Carolina Pen Company (Jonathon Brooks), Lucky Star Pens, Hinze Pens, and more. Pilot USA even made an appearance this year as part of a push to increase their engagement among fine writing enthusiasts, taking a table next to the Vanness setup. I understand they will be attending more shows in the future. This isn’t an exhaustive list of attendees - just the ones who I was able to visit with. For a full list of exhibitors, check out the D.C. Pen Show website.

The new TWSBI Swipe was one of the more sought-after pens this past weekend.

In terms of noticeable absences, there weren’t many, but I felt that there were fewer opportunities for nib work than in years past. Neither Mike Masuyama or Dan Smith (The Nibsmith) attended, nor did J.J. Lax Pen Co. or Custom Nib Studio (Gena Salorino). Mark Bacas did attend, but in a personal capacity, and wasn’t taking in work to my knowledge. That said, this show created opportunities for newer nib grinders, including Kirk Speer (Pen Realm), Damien Allomar (All in the Nib), and J.C. Ament (Nibs on Point). While I didn’t have a chance to use any of their services this past weekend, I have used Nibs on Point in the past, and will have a review of some of J.C.’s nib work in the near future.

So What Did I Take Home? (Obligatory Show Haul Photos)

Let’s start with the ink. As you know, I’ve been sorting through my ink collection to eliminate duplicates and those inks that I don’t find myself using much. So for inks this year, to the extent I was going to pick up any at the show, they were going to be more unique colors that didn’t already exist in my current selection. As luck would have it, I think I may have left my inks from the show in the hotel room, so if they don’t turn up I’ll have to reorder. Grrrr……. Look for some reviews of Vinta and Ferris Wheel Press inks in the near future, courtesy of Vanness!

Photos don’t do the Brooks material or the Lucky Star/Krusac materials justice….

Pen-wise, on Friday I finally got my hands on a Schon DSGN Pocket Six in Faceted Brass with an elongated section, which I’ve had my eye on since the 2020 Baltimore Pen Show. I also picked up a golden-green (“Olive and Gold” anodized Pocket Six to add to my collection of unique finishes from Ian’s magic workshop. I didn’t buy anything on Saturday, but on Sunday afternoon I did some serious shopping. Pick-ups included a Blue Carbonesque Pilot Vanishing Point from Vanness, a Lucky Star Pens x Ryan Krusac collaboration called the Legend L31 in “Dark Andromeda”, which features absolutely gorgeous Diamondcast acrylic, two Franklin-Christoph Model 20s that were show specials, and a pen from Jonathon Brooks that I couldn’t pass up because I loved the dark blue material.

Clockwise from left: Two Franklin-Christoph Model 20s, Lucky Star/Ryan Krusac Studios L31, Jonathon Brooks/Carolina Pen Company, Pilot Vanishing Point in Blue Carbonesque, Schon DSGN Pocket Sixes in Faceted Brass and a green-gold anodized finish.

I also picked up some Yamamoto Spica Bond Paper from Vanness, and an Odyssey Notebook, featuring 68gsm Tomoe River, in B5 size!

Did the Show Feel Safe, and Will I Be Attending More Pen Shows?

While the situation with the pandemic remains fluid and subject to change, I can say that as an attendee who is both vaccinated and wore a mask throughout the entire show, I felt relatively safe and was able to enjoy myself. The fact that 95% of attendees seemed to play by the rules was encouraging, and most people seemed motivated to help the organizers keep the show running smoothly. For me, I was most surprised by the amount of time it took for me to adjust to being around this many people for the first time in nearly 18 months, and the amount of energy required to socialize for three straight days. I did tend to limit my close “after-hours” interaction to smaller group dinners and tried to stay distanced at the bar. I didn’t attend any classes, seminars, or official events at night.

I would love to attend more pen shows this year, and may try to make San Francisco later this month. While I brought a few items for sale from the T.G.S. Curated Shop, including a few Sunderland x T.G.S. mk1 pens, the latest Caran d’Ache x Nespresso collaborations, Traveler’s Notebooks, and a ton of Book Darts (which were sleeper hits as expected), I likely won’t be exhibiting as an independent vendor this year. We’re a small operation, and given the stresses of a day job, kid in school, and general level of exhaustion due to what it’s taken to survive the past 18 months, I’m saving further “show expansion” as something on the horizon for 2022. Many thanks to everyone who stopped by to say hello at the Vanness table, and especially those who purchased something from me! It was nice to meet you all, and I hope to see you at more shows in the future. Stay safe out there!

By shopping the T.G.S. Curated Shop or visiting us at pen shows, you are supporting original content, pen reviews, pen show events, etc. from The Gentleman Stationer. If you would like to support us even further, please consider checking out the T.G.S. Patreon Program, which offers access to online meetups, exclusive discounts and pre-orders, and more!

About as crowded as it got on Friday at the 2021 D.C. Pen Show.

2021 D.C. Pen Show Day 1 Review and Saturday ("The Big Show") Preview!

August 7, 2021

It’s difficult to put into words what it was like to walk onto a show floor 18 months after the 2020 Baltimore Pen Show, the last show I attended. Setting aside the inevitable discomfort with being around large groups of people at a crowded event for the first time in more than a year, the experience seemed surreal because part of me didn’t really believe it would ever happen again. Was Friday at the 2021 D.C. Pen Show back to “normal”? No. The show seemed far less crowded than in years past, which was to be expected, but it certainly wasn’t sparsely attended. Vendors seemed to be doing well, people generally gave each other space where available, and mask compliance wasn’t an issue.

What really struck me was that people seemed to be reveling in the experience - in being able to catch up with friends that they hadn’t seen in a year and a half, as opposed to participating in the buying frenzy that D.C. can turn into as soon as the organizers open the door. By all accounts, Friday sales were decent, but most attendees took in the show at a more leisurely pace than in years past.

Ultem pens at the Schon DSGN Table. Is that … black ultem?

Since I spent most of Friday behind the table with Vanness Pens, I didn’t get a chance to do that much shopping, though I did finally pick up a Schon DSGN Pocket 6 fountain pen in hammered brass! Stay tuned for more pics today, as the show opens to the public.

If You’re At the D.C. Show, Come See Us By the Entrance!

The Vanness Pens table is located on the right-hand side as you enter the hallway to the main ballroom, next to the Pilot Pens table! We’re fully stocked with ink (of course), as well as pens from Pilot, Opus 88, Kaweco, Conway Stewart, and more! While I didn’t bring a full array of T.G.S. merch to the show this time, I do have a small selection including Traveler’s Notebooks and Refills (including the Lightweight Tomoe River refills), my Sunderland MK1 special edition in matte black and matte burgundy, and a few select products such as the Caran d’Ache Nespresso collaborations and some Book Darts (of course).

A small selection of what I brought with me to D.C. Vanness has everything else!

Since Saturday is the first public day, where you can enter without purchasing a full weekend pass, the show will be much more crowded, so please remember to take it slow and be safe! Hope to see you there.

For those of you who are unable to attend the 2020 D.C. Pen Show in person, I’m running a special promotion through Sunday Night! Take 10% off all orders in the T.G.S. Curated Shop using the coupon code “DCPENSHOW10” at checkout!