It may sound a bit random, but at least it’s a subject connected to writing – fountain pens. My collecting habit. It started out with one find at an antique fair. I’d done lots of homework on the internet, identifying pens I liked and thought were fairly desirable. Then I started to find them in the real world.
My first find turned out to be my best one! a 1926 Canadian Parker Duofold flattop, in lapis, blue on blue. It’s also in the most amazing condition. (And there’s a story in there somewhere) However, I discovered that I hated writing with it. It’s a huge pen and I don’t have huge hands to go with it. So I started looking for other little pretties and, sticking with Parker, came up with a whole range of Vacumatics. The nibs are wonderful, the Junior size is quite small, and some of them are very rare beasties indeed.
Here’s one I bought a few years ago, with a matching propelling pencil. It’s a Vacumatic Golden Web, and writes like an absolute dream. Another big bonus is that I have learnt how to repair them, after shelling out a small fortune on the first few I bought. They nearly always needed new sacs, and with the right pieces of kit ( Vacumatic wrench etc) can be repaired satisfactorily.
And finally, my current favourite. It couldn’t be more different from the two above. It’s a cheap Wing Sung from an internet auction site. I bought a Sailor Pro Gear a couple of years ago, and it recently started leaking everywhere. There was a huge crack in the section. But it had a very special Sailor Music nib. So I put the nib from the Pro gear into the Wing Sung ( size 5) and hey presto, it lays down a fat wet line. Fab!
Next blog – INKS!
