Baltimore Pen Show: Day One Friday Recap

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.

View fullsize

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.

View fullsize

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.

What You Shouldn’t Miss if You’re Attending the Baltimore Pen Show

• 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.

A Trade Show vs. a Pen Show: My Trip to NY Now and Shoppe Object

I promise I won’t geek out too much about this past weekend, because it may or may not be of interest to the general readership, but in case you missed it, I spent a couple days at two of the largest stationery and gift trade shows: NY Now (held at the Javitz Center) and Shoppe Object (held across town at Pier 36). Both of these shows are “to the trade” only, meaning they are essentially giant showrooms for retailers and distributors to view new products, as opposed to direct-to-consumer retail events like pen shows. No actual goods change hands, though samples are sometimes available and retailers can place orders for future delivery, It’s somewhat refreshing to be able to browse a nearly overwhelming number of products without the pressure to buy immediately.

View fullsize

YES. More reading accessories please.

Here are my main takeaways from this year’s events:

• Stationery is more popular than ever. While I’m not sure I’d say that pens, pencils, and paper are going “mainstream” in a culture that continues to fetishize tech, there’s definitely more attention being paid by brands to people’s desire to keep a portion of their life firmly analog. The fine writing and stationery booths were quite popular and well-attended, though you sometimes had to hunt for them among the cooking and fashion accessories.

• Distributors and Manufacturers are catching on to the idea of overlapping interests. One thing that caught my eye this time around was the extent to which several booths paired stationery items for display alongside things like reading accessories (somewhat intuitive - who would’ve thought?) and coffee accessories (somewhat less intuitive, but which makes sense).

• I find these trips to be a good investment as both an enthusiast and a retailer. While I love attending the “traditional” pen shows, they focus on a very narrow segment of stationery users: mainly fountain pen enthusiasts, collectors, and those looking for the unique and unusual. Trade shows, on the other hand, are more “mass market,” and I don’t mean that in the pejorative way that term is often used. A large trade show focuses on displaying those products that manufacturers and distributors believe will appeal to as many people as possible, and there’s something refreshing about that, especially as someone who uses their stationery on a daily basis as part of their work life and not just as a hobby.

View fullsize

Anterique pens combine the style of a vintage click pen with an exceptionally good .5mm low-viscosity ballpoint refill.

Both times I’ve attended NY Now and Shoppe Object I’ve discovered new products that previously have received little-to-no attention in the stationery circles I run in, and I can’t wait to share this week’s discoveries with you! I’ll definitely be posting more as new items arrive, though some are pre-orders and will be showing up throughout the year. In the meantime, you can visit our shop, which is constantly being updated. If you’d like to read about my last trip back in 2020, which is the first time I’ve attended any trade show, check out this post here!

View fullsize

I mean, how do you all think that I found these stamps? Not at a pen show.

View fullsize

New York City has a wealth of independent stationery stores that stock a wide range of products, and I think it’s extremely important for me to try paper in person before I make a decision to either recommend it on the blog or sell it myself. Internet recommendations as to what is or is not “fountain pen friendly” can vary wildly, and certain papers that were recommended to me ended up being terrible, while others that are popularly panned as “low quality” sometimes surprise me.

View fullsize

These Maruman note-sized looseleaf binders were a popular item, and something I’m testing out.

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.

Travel Kit: National Stationery Show Edition

So I’m kicking off an extended period of pen-related travel with a trip to New York City to attend NYNow and Shoppe Object, two of the largest stationery trade shows in the country. Hopefully I’ll come back not just with lots of fun stories but new finds for the T.G.S. Curated Shop, which I have plans to expand. (See yesterday’s post for the latest arrivals, and I’ll be spending some of my “down time” this weekend updating inventory and listing a few stragglers that arrived yesterday.) Shoppe Object is where I first discovered my friends at WMS & Co. back in 2020, and while I don’t know that they’re attending this year, the ability to meet with these brands in a somewhat more laid-back setting where there’s no immediate pressure to buy (unlike at a direct-to-consumer pen show) is invaluable in finding new additions that might be a good fit for our business.

From left: Conid Bulkfiller Kingsize; Schon DSGN Full Size; Pilot Custom 823; Traveler’s Company Fountain Pen; TWSBI Precision Mechanical Pencil (.5mm Retractable); and Montblanc Classique Fineliner.

Enough Shop Talk, What’s the Travel Kit?

While it could be just a by-product of working primarily from home for the past few years and getting out of a “travel mentality”, the act of prepping for a trip has started to cause me a greater degree of stress than it used to. I decided to keep it simple this time, sticking my journals and an A5 Tomoe River notebook into my Lochby Field Journal, and pulling together some airplane-friendly pens into my Lochby Tool Roll. My Plotter A5 is coming with me as the notebook I plan to carry around the city and to the shows. I just realized I forgot my headphones, but hey, at least I have my stationery!

This is a pretty compact carry for three notebooks and seven pens.

Send Me NYC Stationery Store Recommendations!

It’s been three years since I’ve been to New York City, so my stationery store list is hopelessly out of date. I’ve shockingly never visited Yoseka Stationery, so that’s on my list as a “go visit right away” trip as soon as I hit the ground. CW Pencil Enterprise has sadly closed, and Fountain Pen Hospital is not open on the weekends. I have some time to kill, so give me a hand 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.

2022 D.C. Pen Show: Short Friday Recap and Saturday Details

So far at the 2022 D.C. Pen Show, we’ve only had a half a public day (from 12-5pm on Friday). Attendance was good, but it’s nowhere near the rush that typically hits the show on Saturday, when the show is open to the public all day (10-5). Due to construction in the hotel, things look very different, and it’s worth spending a bit of time familiarizing yourself with the show layout before diving in.

First, there are multiple levels (upstairs and downstairs) to this year’s show. The main ballroom and the hallways surrounding it will look very much the same. T.G.S. is located in the front hallway between Shawn Newton and Pilot Pens, immediately to your right as you enter the show. As I’ve mentioned online, we do not have items available for on-site sale (we didn’t have enough time to prep inventory), but we do have a wide selection of testers and samples available for you to play with, as well as a show special coupon for you to take home and use online should you find something you like.

View fullsize

Be sure to visit the Gulgurilkbahar table next to Galen Leather, featuring these beautiful hand-painted Kaweco Sports!

If you continue down the hallway to the left of the main ballroom, you will see a staircase with a banner above it. Downstairs is the “independent makers” area, with vendors such as Galen Leather, Carolina Pen Company, Kanilea Pen Company, Hinze Pens, and Schon DSGN. Please don’t forget to head downstairs to visit!

So What Did I Pick Up On Friday?

I was at the table visiting with people for most of the day, but I did have the opportunity to do a quick sweep of the show, including picking up some new samples from Galen Leather, a Nahvalur (formerly “Narwahl”) Nautilus in purple striated ebonite, and a handful of pens from Gravitas (Ben Walsh) who was attending from Ireland. I need to make some more visits today, and will report back with a full recap and post early next week, but in the meantime will be documenting the show over on my Instagram account.

A Reminder on Pen Show Weekend Specials

Whenever I’m traveling to a show, I typically run a special online in the shop, and this weekend is no exception. You can still get 10% off certain pens and paper, automatically applied at checkout. This sale will end Sunday at 11:59pm, so take advantage while you can! The Pen Show-exclusive coupon discount will remain active for two weeks after the show, expiring Sunday, August 21 at 11:59pm. There are a handful of additional Traveler’s Notebook 2022 Limited Sets in the Passport size (“Traveler’s Train” and “Traveler’s Records”) available, as well as the new Platinum Plaisir “Aura” 2022 Special Editions, so be sure to check them out!

The Gentleman Stationer is supported by purchases from the T.G.S. Curated Shop and pledges via the T.G.S. Patreon Program. This post does not contain links to paid sponsors or affiliates.

Travel Carry, Part II

I rarely buy bags. I only have a handful, and bags - whether you’re referring to backpacks, briefcases, luggage, or whatever - are a “buy it forever” category for me, meaning that I tend to buy good bags and keep them until they fall apart. In terms of daily carry, I own two briefcases, a Filson Original and a leather Lambertson Truex that’s no longer made, a single backpack (a North Face Surge), and a handful of tote bags in various sizes. Over the past few years, the versatile tote bag has become my new favorite product category. My current lineup includes an early version of the Baron Fig “Roamer” bag, as well a recent addition, the Filson Zippered Tote, which is the first bag I’ve purchased in three years.

View fullsize

The Filson Zippered Tote was my "I-don’t-need-fewer-notebooks-I-need-a-bigger-briefcase” purchase. This thing absolutely swallows notebooks, pen cases, legal files, and even a 16-inch laptop if necessary. While it won’t serve as my primary everyday carry bag, it will see plenty of use on days when I need to lug a bunch of stuff to work, and certainly when I travel.

Since I’m still on the road (and can’t wait to get home tonight), I thought it might be fun to do this short post on travel carry. Pics shown here have been taken in real time, and accurately reflect what I’ve been using for the past week-plus. Links below. Enjoy!

Disclaimer: None of the third-party links in this e-mail are paid affiliate links, and I am not receiving any compensation in exchange for listing them here. The Gentleman Stationer is supported entirely by purchases from the T.G.S. Curated Shop and the T.G.S. Patreon Program.

1. Filson Original Briefcase (via Filson). I have the original twill in “Otter Green”, and it’s lasted me well over five years. While not a fancy backpack, Filsons are essentially indestructible, have three compartments for files, a laptop, iPad, etc., and a few pen slots.

2. Filson Zippered Tote Bag (via Filson). As discussed above, this Filson twill tote is extremely versatile. In the short time I’ve owned it, it’s been used for everything from an overnight carry-on to a larger briefcase.

3. North Face Surge Backpack (via North Face). Though I don’t carry a backpack that often - typically only when I’m flying or at a pen show where I need something more ergonomic than a shoulder bag - I’ve loved this older version of the Surge, a classic North Face backpack that has three versatile compartments and can hold multiple laptops, sometimes a necessity for work trips.

4. BaronFig Tote Bag (via BaronFig). My first “grown up” tote bag that I purchased after they were first released by BaronFig several years ago. A great basic tote for the grocery store, library, and sometimes work. It’s also my “pen club” bag when I’m carting pens, paper, and products for local delivery.

5. Traveler’s Notebook Standard Size. My go-to work notebook, and overall my favorite notebook system that I appreciate for its customization options. I have the blue, and you can see exactly how I’ve customized my notebook with my most-used refills and accessories in this post from last year.

6. Lochby Field Journal. The rugged Lochby series of notebook covers and cases serves as the perfect complement to my Filson gear when traveling. The Field Journal notebook cover holds as many as six A5 notebooks (depending on thickness, of course). For maximum capacity opt for the Lochby refills, which come in a variety of rulings and feature exceptional Tomoe River 68gsm paper.

7. Lochby Tool Roll. While it’s currently sold out (more on the way!) the Lochby Tool Roll made it’s debut as my primary pen show travel case, and I don’t see it being dethroned anytime soon. The Tool Roll holds at least a dozen pens, plus it has additional pockets to stow notecards, post-its, and more.

8. Lochby Pocket Journal. Another excellent Lochby item that I carried at the Baltimore Pen Show this past weekend and used to test pens and nibs. In addition to holding two regular-size pocket notebooks (or a notebook plus passport), the Lochby Pocket Journal has an exterior pen slot for a larger fountain pen, plus smaller items like cards. You could easily use the Pocket Journal as a larger wallet.