To be honest, I didn’t get to shop much at the 2026 San Francisco Stationery Fest that we attended last week. The show was MUCH busier than I anticipated, with crowds that approached the San Francisco Pen Show. I did get to roam a bit on Sunday and managed to collect some stamps, and I had a steady stream of attendees bringing me stickers throughout the weekend once they realized we were unable to break away. (Thank you all!) In this week’s episode of On the Paper Trail, we had an in-depth discussion of our reactions to the show and how we felt that it differed from a traditional pen show. I won’t go into all those topics again here, but the two main takeaways that stuck with me were:
Stationery and analog tools are growing in popularity and showing no sign of slowing down. Best of all, people aren’t just collecting - they are using their stationery to plan, journal, and simply to make everyday life more enjoyable.
The growing interest in stationery extends well beyond pens. While pens were certainly popular this weekend, the focus fell on things like washi tape, paper, rubber stamps (including free stamps that attendees could collect at tables), and stickers. It was refreshing to meet other customers and vendors who haven’t previously attended traditional pen shows.
A couple shots of the T.G.S. and Vanness tables during setup on Friday
We brought TGS, Vanness, and On The Paper Trail rubber stamps and well, people tested them.
While T.G.S. started as a website focused on pens and pen reviews, over the years the scope of the site (and later, the shop) expanded to cover both the traditional fountain pen community as well as other segments of the stationery world. Especially as we’ve built out core shop categories such as Roterfaden and other Notebook Systems, I’ve personally become more interested in the goings-on in the planner and general stationery community, so this particular show resonated with me in a way recent pen shows haven’t, especially the focus on using products over pure collecting and the large number of seminars, workshops, and meetups available to attendees. The organizers did a great job curating vendors and classes.
Vendor Tokyo Seihan offered three different giant Godzilla stamps throughout the weekend, free to anyone who came by the table. Unfortunately I was only able to get one on Sunday!
You could also buy a set of your own Godzilla stamps at their booth.
The Sleeper Hit of the Show: Multi Pens!
People always ask me: What sold well at the show? This time around, the answer was multi pens. The stationery crowd loves color, and multi pens offer the ability to quickly switch between inks and line size in a way that can be difficult with fountain pens. I brought several different multi pen “systems” with me, and based on the conversations I had with attendees and questions they asked, it might be helpful to offer a few points of clarification for those who bought a pen in San Francisco or who might otherwise be interested in further exploring this category of writing instruments:
Most multi pen systems use proprietary refills. The two most popular gel multi pens are the Pilot Hi-Tec-C Coleto system (famous for it’s needle-tip), and the Uni Style-Fit. While both offer a wide array of colors and tip sizes, you cannot use the refills interchangeably.
Ballpoint and hybrid ballpoints (i.e. Jetstream/Acroball) have limited color options. These are almost always black, blue, green, and red. The one exception is the Pilot 4+1 multi pen, which uses a Pilot multi pen refill that happens to be the same diameter as the Uni Style-Fit refill, so this excellent multi pen can use both ballpoint and gel ink! (Once I was able to demonstrate this we sold a lot of these Pilot 4+1 pens last weekend.)
D1 multi pens allow you to mix and match refills from different brands, though you will be limited in terms of color options. Some multi pens (namely the Lamy 2000, Pilot Legno, most Tombows, and Penco pens) use a universal D1 size, which will let you mix ballpoint and gel inks, as well as use refills from different brands. That said, D1 refills don’t usually come in the wide range of colors and tip sizes that the Uni and Pilot gel ranges offer.
The two stars of my San Francisco Stationery Show Table, at least pen-wise.
Last But NOT LEAST: SAVE THE DATE For On The Paper Trail Live in Nashville October 16-18!
Today’s post seems as good a time as any for a fun announcement: Lisa Vanness and I will be hosting our own event in Nashville the weekend of October 16-18! While we are still finalizing details with the venue (including the final number of attendees we can accommodate and details on hotels, etc.), it’s time to go ahead and announce On the Paper Trail: Live in Nashville! We’re planning a smaller event that will focus on a select number of vendors - while still representing most major categories of stationery - along with a heavy focus on classes, seminars, and opportunities for attendees to socialize during the event and after-hours. We’ve spent a lot of time visualizing what we’d consider to be our “ideal” stationery event, and think that we’ve come up with something unique that will be enjoyable for all. We can’t wait to share the details with you - stay tuned for a follow-up announcement. In the meantime, get caught up on all SIX episodes of On the Paper Trail, our joint podcast, and we’ll probably have more to share next week when we record Episode 7!
The Gentleman Stationer is supported by purchases from the T.G.S. Curated Shop and pledges via the T.G.S. Patreon Program. You can also come visit us at our physical stationery store in Nashville, Tennessee.
