Do these pens look familiar? Most young people probably have never used a “fountain pen” and certainly wouldn’t know how to put ink in them. (NOTE: These are not my pens. This photo came from a website on the internet.)
When I was in the 6th grade, our teacher Miss Fuller, decided to have penmanship classes to help us improve our handwriting. She had beautiful cursive handwriting and used a fountain pen. I admired her pen so much and one day she let me try it. I was hooked. I went home and told my parents about the fountain pen and that I wanted one. I didn’t know that my mother had one that she kept put away from us kids. She showed it to me and let we write with it. I started writing letters to family members who lived away from home just so I could use the fountain pen.
My parents knew how I longed to have my own fountain pen but they were expensive. WWII was still going on and it was hard to obtain pens with the steel or gold tip (nib). The ink reservoir was rubber, and rubber was almost non existant during the war years.
One warm spring day I came home from school and there was a package on the dining table with my name on it. It wasn’t my birthday so I was very surprised and wanted to open it right away. Mother wanted me to wait until supper so daddy would be present when I opened it. It was a long wait that afternoon, especially since I had no idea what was in the package with my name written on it. Later I learned that he got it at Button Grimes' General Merchandise Store at Danley's Cross Roads. You could find almost anything at this big store near where we lived.
Finally I got to open the package and I can still feel the excitement and remember how thrilled I was when I saw what was inside; the most beautiful ivory-colored fountain pen with a flag printed on the cap of the pen, and the work Schaeffer written on the clip of the cap. Inside the package was also a bottle of royal blue, fast drying, Sheaffer’s ink. I wouldn't have to use an ink blotter.
My parents knew how I longed to have my own fountain pen but they were expensive. WWII was still going on and it was hard to obtain pens with the steel or gold tip (nib). The ink reservoir was rubber, and rubber was almost non existant during the war years.
One warm spring day I came home from school and there was a package on the dining table with my name on it. It wasn’t my birthday so I was very surprised and wanted to open it right away. Mother wanted me to wait until supper so daddy would be present when I opened it. It was a long wait that afternoon, especially since I had no idea what was in the package with my name written on it. Later I learned that he got it at Button Grimes' General Merchandise Store at Danley's Cross Roads. You could find almost anything at this big store near where we lived.
Finally I got to open the package and I can still feel the excitement and remember how thrilled I was when I saw what was inside; the most beautiful ivory-colored fountain pen with a flag printed on the cap of the pen, and the work Schaeffer written on the clip of the cap. Inside the package was also a bottle of royal blue, fast drying, Sheaffer’s ink. I wouldn't have to use an ink blotter.
My dad said he got the pen for me for graduation from the 6th grade. What was even more special is that my dad actually bought the gift instead of my mother. I learned to master the art of filling the rubber vacuum tube inside the pen, adding just the right amount of ink by lifting a lever up and down on the barrel of the pen, being careful not to overfill. You could write for a long time with just one “fill up”.
I was the oldest of 7 children and I’m sure the pen was misused by some of my younger siblings and after awhile the point became “scratchy”. You could buy replacement points and I probably bought a few. Then the rubber ink tube inside the pen deteroriated and began to leak. I finally retired the pen when I started to high school, and got a new Parker 51. It had ink cartridges that you put inside the pen and didn’t have to fill it. But cartridges were expensive so I got a used syringe from my aunt who was a nurse and filled the syringe with ink and refilled my ink cartridges. I used this fountain pen throughout high school and took it to college with me. I think I kept it around for many years after I got married and finally one day disposed of it, or did I put it in a drawer with some other keepsakes? I must check that out one day soon. It would be a miracle if I still have it!
I was the oldest of 7 children and I’m sure the pen was misused by some of my younger siblings and after awhile the point became “scratchy”. You could buy replacement points and I probably bought a few. Then the rubber ink tube inside the pen deteroriated and began to leak. I finally retired the pen when I started to high school, and got a new Parker 51. It had ink cartridges that you put inside the pen and didn’t have to fill it. But cartridges were expensive so I got a used syringe from my aunt who was a nurse and filled the syringe with ink and refilled my ink cartridges. I used this fountain pen throughout high school and took it to college with me. I think I kept it around for many years after I got married and finally one day disposed of it, or did I put it in a drawer with some other keepsakes? I must check that out one day soon. It would be a miracle if I still have it!
I have always wanted to try writing with the "cadillac" of fountain pens: the Monteblanc. I looked at prices on eBay and here is one example: Montblanc - Meisterstuck - Gold Trim - Black with Gold Trim(#13661) LeGrand Fountain Pen #146-Bottle Fill Only List Price: $570.00 - Our Price: $456.00. Think I'll wait awhile to buy one of these!
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