Five Things You Can Do To Introduce New Users to Nice 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!

1. 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).

2. 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.

3. 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.

4. 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.

5. 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.

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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.

Pen Show Season Continues: The Atlanta Pen Show Is Today!

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.

2023 Arkansas Pen Show: I Like the Smaller Shows (or Shows That Feel Small)

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.

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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.

2023 Arkansas Pen Show Haul

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.

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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.

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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.

Reflections on Selling as a Vendor at Shows

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.

Friday Drops: Pen Show Weekend, Part II at the Arkansas Pen Show!

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.

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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.

1. 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.

2. 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).

3. Write Notepads Spiral Notebooks. We will have Dot Grid, Weekly Planner, and Landscape-style Notebooks available for purchase, in most of the colors.

4. 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.

5. 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.

6. 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.

7. 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.

8. Nahvalur Fountain Pens. We have Nahvalur fountain pens, including the Original Plus Vacuum-filler demonstrators, as well as the ebonite Nautilus fountain pens.

9. 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.

10. Washi Tape and Pins. Yes, I brought it ALL with me this weekend, so you all can peruse the full selection.

2023 Baltimore Pen Show Recap: A Reliably Good Mid-Size Pen Show

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.

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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.

What Makes the Baltimore Pen Show a Reliably Positive Experience?

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.

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Franklin-Christoph in Baltimore: Still crowded, but a bit less of a fight!

A Few Reflections on Attending Shows as a Vendor

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!

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I sort of very much regret not bringing home this vintage Mr. Peanut mechanical pencil.

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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).

Up Next: Come Visit T.G.S. at the 2023 Arkansas Pen Show!

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.