Why Fountain pens?

Why pens? Why Fountain pens? 

There are many reasons.

One of those reasons is the link of fountain pens to history. Fountain pens still do what they were invented to do: they write. Yes, so do biro's (ballpoints); so do rollerballs, and so do keyboards (OK, the people holding them, or using them). All those other forms of writing instruments however, evolved from one: the fountain pen. The fountain pen is a slim but poignant link to people in another time and place, holding the same form of instrument in their hands. This, for me, is an extraordinarily powerful attraction. Perhaps this too is one of the reasons that vintage fountain pens continue to be handed down from generation to generation; and that collectors value many vintage pens over modern examples. For me, there is so much enjoyment holding in my hand a pen that was created thirty years before I was born. Who has held this pen before? What did they write with it? How did they live? Where did they live? These thoughts also lead to the manufacture of the pens themselves. Many fountain pens are extraordinary examples of artisan work. Celluloid, silver, gold, hard rubber and ebonite creations in many shapes, combinations and sizes that serve their owners in one task: the art of communicating.

 A letter or note takes time. There's a stamp, an envelope, the address. It's all part of a ritual that demonstrates we've thought about this; that YOU are important enough for us to take the time. 

Another part of that attraction is the almost radical thought that I might write to someone rather than text or email! (It's OK, you can pick yourself up off the floor now!) But it's more than that. Have you recently received a hand written note or letter. What does a person's handwriting tell you about them? Yes, there is a little of our personality hidden in our handwriting. Large loops and ostentatious twirls, tiny letters in fine script, cursive, all capitals, copperplate. Every letter is an individual statement that tells us more about the letter-writer or their mood than the letter alone may reveal. For many, writing in pen and ink is an opportunity to be expressive in a way a keyboard never can.

(nothing too extraordinary about my handwriting - but I'm working on it!)

This is clearly why the pen manufacturers invented nibs. Vintage nibs especially ( usually gold) still maintain their flex today and provide opportunities for so much variation in line. The art that exists in the writing of many stylophiles is just extraordinary.

Extraordinary too, and intriguing, is the similarity in handwriting within families. You haven't noticed that? Just test it out and let me know through comments on this blog what you find out. I'm still waiting for my first comments :)

A link to history; an ongoing communication tool that continues to inform in both its content and its structure; a work of art, or many works in many words, that communicates as much by its existence as by its substance. So much potential. So much fun.