Even though the Pear Tree Pen Company is not an active pen seller, my love for all things pen, paper and ink continues to grow. One of the questions I get asked most often is what ignited my passion for fountain pens. As I reviewed the contents of this blog recently, I realized that I have not explained how my interest began - what attracted me to fountain pens in the first place, and how long it took for the interest to grow into an addiction.
It began innocently enough when my wife gave me a fountain pen for a gift many years ago. It was a Waterman Hemisphere that she had purchased from eBay. She had received her very own fountain pen (a Waterman Gentleman) from her father as a graduation gift and enjoyed it. She also thought that every lawyer ought to have at least one nice pen - and I didn't have one. (In case you didn't know - I'm a U.S. based attorney). I remember opening the box and, upon viewing the pen, thought, "what a stupid gift!" (Of course, that sentiment was never voiced out loud.) Like many of the uninitiated, I figured pens were free from my office supply closet, so why would I want to carry this around, especially since I'd probably lose it anyway. Graciously, I said thank you, and brought the pen to my office where it sat on my desk, barely used.
A few months later, my father's birthday rolled around and I was planning to send him a birthday card. Seeing the pen on my desk, I re-inked it, wrote a nice note on the inside of the card and addressed the envelope. I wrote more slowly than usual because I was generally unfamiliar with fountain pens and didn't want to smear ink. My father phoned me a few days later to thank me for the card. To my surprise, he asked me who addressed the envelope and wrote in the card, because the handwriting was too neat for it to have come from me (I have always had notoriously poor handwriting - in elementary school, I consistently got "Ns" (for "needs improvement") in handwriting).
Upon reflection, I realized that the fountain pen had improved my handwriting - probably because I slowed down to write more legibly. This epiphany led me to research pens. Soon, as they say, the hook was set. The more I learned about the effect nib size and shape has on writing, I began to covet different pens with a variety of different nibs. From there, it progressed to learning about inks - different colors, different consistencies, different properties. Within a year, I was full-fledged pen geek.
Now you know my story. What's yours? I'd love to hear what caused you to fall in love with your favorite writing instrument.
Thanks for stopping by.
James
2 comments:
My foray began in a similar yet different respect.
Like every law school student, I took copious notes and learned many shorthand notations so that I could keep up with the lecture and discussion, and still have an accurate record for later review. Although many students use laptops, I found writing by hand provides far more flexibility symbols, and even how/where on the page I recorded certain information.
Therefore, I needed to write fast. All the other pens I tried really did not work for me for some reason or another. I bought a fairly inexpensive fountain pen looking for some relief and was very pleased. Not only could I write fast, but my hand did not get tired. From law school, to the bar exam, to my practice, I have found them to be an essential tool.
As long as I can remember I have loved fountain pens. It began when I came across one that my parents had and experimented with it. Even though the pen was terrible, I saw something magical in that liquid ink and bought myself a (terrible) dime store fountain pen. Then in high school I bought myself an expensive (to me anyway) papermate pen, which sadly was stolen. Many years later I moved on to a Cross Metropolitan and recently bought a Lamy Safari (I work in elementary schools, and while I love beautiful pens, my budget says "something tough and not heartbreaking when it gets lost, broken, or beat up).
I stumbled upon Pear Tree Pen Company last night while looking for ink..sadly, it seems I am late to the party and Pear Tree is no longer in business. So my question is this. I wanted to order several of the sample inks and if anyone reads this can point me in the direction of where I could perhaps find them I would greatly appreciate it. (or if The Pear Tree were to re-invent itself). I can be reached at Cherice dot M at gmail dot com.
As a side note I have introduced two of my children to the joys of fountain pens. Write on!
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