As one of the older pen shows on the circuit, the Chicago Pen Show has a rich history. Over the years it’s been considered one of the “big” shows at times, but for now I would place Chicago in the category of mid-size shows that draw an extremely diverse group of vendors. And as a show that’s very easy for me to attend logistically, it’s not uncommon for me to jump on a cheap flight and go last-minute, which is what happened this weekend!
The Chicago Pen Show is actually located in Hoffman Estates, a suburb. The hotel is fairly large and part of the show takes place in this well-lit atrium.
The trend at pen shows has been to make Friday a hybrid weekend trader/public day, meaning that weekend pass purchasers get a few hours in the morning to shop the show exclusively before it opens to the public on Friday at around noon. This is the best of both worlds, in my opinion: The weekend pass is still worth the money for attendees because they get early access, but vendors also get the benefit of additional public foot traffic in the afternoon (especially around 2-3pm when people skip out of work early to hit the show). I made sure to pick up most of the pens I was looking for in the morning, before the show got crowded.
Clockwise from the top: Waterman Exception Night and Day, Skogsy Low-Volume Eyedropper, Good Made Better Ebonite Pocket Pen, Edison Jameson Scheherazade, Newton Prospector in Arkansas Abalone, and Edison Collier in Dragon’s Night.
This particular pen show trip ended up being a mix of business and personal, meaning that I didn’t take a table and set up as a vendor, but I did meet with a couple of different makers and manufacturers on T.G.S.-related projects. Once those were taken care of, I was free to roam a bit, visit with friends, and pick up six pretty significant pens, including two customs I had been looking to add to my collection, two new releases to evaluate, and two pens (one semi-vintage) that I’ve long coveted but had never found “the right opportunity.” Sometimes those opportunities hit you all at once. :) Here we go:
Custom Pen No. 1: Newton Prospector in “Arkansas Abalone”, which I couldn’t pass up. I’ve been looking to add a second Newton Prospector (Shawn Newton’s triangular pen) in a fun material, and this turned out to be the one. Featuring shades of iridescent pink, silver, mother of pearl, and some dark green, it’s a stunner. The resin is by D Squared, also from Arkansas. I believe Shawn has a few more pens in this material.
Custom Pen No. 2: Skogsy Low Volume Eyedropper in Beige Sand Acrylic. Designed to moderate the ink flow by limiting both the amount of ink in the barrel and the volume that can travel through the ebonite feed at any given time, Skogsy’s “Low Volume” eyedropper aims to avoid flooding the feed with ink, which leads to ink leaking into the cap and sometimes onto the page as you write. Did I mention this one has a No. 8 Magna Carta nib and ebonite feed? Expect to see more of this pen.
New Release No. 1: Good Made Better Ebonite Pocket Pen. Dan had been teasing these pens all week on Instagram, and I already had planned to take one of these home with me. I chose this mottled black, beige, pink, and orange ebonite pen with a matte finish. As always, Good Made Better’s workmanship is excellent. I understand that these pens are show-only for the time being, so if you’d like to pick one up, get one at the Chicago Show or else you’ll need to wait for the official launch.
New Release No. 2: Edison Jameson 2024 Chicago Pen Show Limited Edition. My pen is No. 7 of a (very) limited run of 15, made from older Bexley Scheherazade resin, which is a black translucent acrylic resin featuring streaks of silver foil. And, yes, it has a No. 8 nib. (You’re noticing a trend here.)
Personal Acquisition No. 1: Edison Collier in Brooks “Dragon’s Night” Resin. Does anyone else remember when the Edison Collier was first released and everyone thought the pen was oversized? I never added one to my collection, which I’ve come to regret, and I couldn’t leave this one on the table. Translucent black acrylic with dark blue/teal shimmer. I considered the Collier Grande but found it slightly too oversized, despite the No. 8 nib which was tempting.
Personal Acquisition No. 2: Waterman Exception “Night and Day”. I’ve been looking to add one of the oversized Waterman Exceptions to my collection, preferably in the black with silver trim and matte pinstripes on the side. Guess what? I ran into someone looking to unload one in excellent condition! Instant buy, and I’m thrilled to come closer to completing my “vintage” Waterman collection of most models spanning the late 1980s through early 2000s.
For Saturday, while I may pick up some smaller items and shop samples, and get a couple of nibs looked at, major shopping is over for this weekend. I expect the show to be much more crowded today. See below for some bonus pics of the new Good Made Better pens, as well as some vintage after-hours finds. (Yes, those are miniature keychain whiskey bottles that turn into fountain pens!)
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A close-up of the Good Made Better Pocket Pen I picked up.
In addition to a pocket ebonite fountain pen, Good Made Better also has these full-sized models.
