Miami, July 11-13, 2015
(Or, the 58 Year Old Virgin)
It certainly took me long enough to
go to my first pen show. It was about twelve years ago that
I was given a fountain pen (a Pilot Varsity) by a customer
of mine, and I remember as clearly as if it were last week
the “Aha!” moment it was to write with one for the first
time, to feel the flow of ink and the subtle, slightly
scratchy sensation of nib on paper and know how very
satisfying that was to me. I was suddenly in love, and for
probably three years I read everything on the internet I
could find about pens, both new and vintage.Then, for
various reasons, I went on to other hobbies, and it wasn’t
until the fall of 2014 that I came back to the fountain pen
fold, hungry to learn again. So much had changed since then
in the way of affordable pens. So many more choices to
consider, it boggled my mind. In a good way. I knew there
was supposed to be a Miami Pen Show in July 2015, but that
seemed so far off at the time! But finally, the show was
weeks away, then days, and then we were working out
carpooling with the other pen lovers I knew, and driving
down from Palm Beach County for our first day there. How
exciting!
We arrived at the Dadeland Mariott on
Friday morning, about an hour after the opening of the show.
As I approached the entrance to the show, my heart skipped a
beat in anticipation of the pens I would be able to see and
touch and possibly try in the flesh! In the past (since the
closing of the beloved Levenger outlet store in Delray Beach
years ago) pen buying was done online based on
recommendations,reviews, and my best guess. This would be
completely different. I took a deep breath and dove in,
taking in an entire room of various dealers.
We have arrived!
My first purchase was a bottle of
Montblanc JFK Navy special edition ink (because I love that
SE bottle with the MB snowflake and dark blue inks), and
then I made my way over to Susan Wirth’s booth. My big
question of late has been whether I prefer
italic/stub/cursive italic/needlepoint italic nibs, or
simply a regular grind. Here I was able to write with many
different nibs and know how my handwriting looks when used.
This was immeasurably helpful, but didn’t see a pen I had to
have.
After browsing several more dealers,
I headed over to the Franklin Christoph table, to experiment
with their over 40 nib possibilities. Surprisingly, this
wasn’t particularly overwhelming to me due to my previous
trials. Here I could narrow down the field to the nibs that
felt the best for me (by the way, I’m a lefthanded
overwriter, definitely a factor in my choice), getting it
down to three finalists. Of course I’d heard great things
about their pens, but it wasn’t until I saw the special
“Miami Edition” Marietta model 20 they had that I felt it
was a pen I could commit to. Of the four special edition
colors they had, the shimmery pink one with white and black
accents stood out as really unique. This model pen is the
newest in their lineup, made as a slip cap for writing in
short bursts easily, and is comfortably light (22.7 grams),
but best of all, the pen just fits my hand wonderfully, the
nib smooth with slight feedback, exactly as I prefer my
writing experience. This, as many before me have said, is a
fantastic pen, certainly not an inexpensive pen, but a very
well engineered and made one. My final choice was the
Marietta with an F nib, as I’m still not sure I like
anything other than a standard. For me, the best part of
having a fountain pen is sitting down with my journal, or to
write to a pen pal, and letting the words flow. That feeling
is for me at least, meditative and uplifting, and so far
writing with anything approaching a stub or italic or overly
broad nib interferes with that.
My new pen!
Though I did spend time at most of the
booths there, I would have to say one of the real highlights
would have to be chatting with bespoke pen maker Shawn
Newton, admiring his work as well as his scholarship
program. He is so wonderfully friendly, and his pens very
tempting, but my pockets weren’t as deep as I might have
liked!
The very talented Shawn Newton
and some of his creations
The remainder of my purchases
would be Califolio inks (imported from France) from Van
Ness, one of the busiest booths at the show that day.As much
as I enjoyed seeing so many pens and inks in one place, I
wish there had been more variety, as there was a lot of
repetition, as well as brands not there at all, and the
vintage pens were the ones you would expect, with little
that was unusual. I would also have liked to have had a
vendor with a good selection of papers and journals
available, but I hear that previous vendors who sold them
had not returned this year. I’m also still questioning
having a show in Miami in the middle of July but I suppose
there is a reason for it. Why not someplace in Florida not
so far south? And perhaps in October, or a slightly cooler
time of year?But with those things said, I loved the show
experience thoroughly. Both times when I came down that
weekend I had people with me, and this made it so much more
fun to have friends to experience it with, share a meal
together, and discuss the show afterwards.
Giovanni and Albertina Abrate
For me, the very best part of it
wasn’t the things I bought! The best part? That was talking
to complete strangers, taking about our favorite pens, or
what their first one was, hearing their stories of losing
their Waterman Edson the day before but finding one that day
to replace it, or hearing about the early days of the Miami
Pen Show in the 90’s. These stories and many more are what
will keep me coming back year after year, something I
already look forward to doing.
This is Willow and she shows a lot of interest in my
pens....
(C) 2015 by Lee
Ely - All Rights Reserved
A Few
Pictures from the Show
by
Giovanni Abrate
Bertram's Inkwell - the Show
Organizers |
Lee Chait (sitting) and Craig Bozorth
The entrance to the main hall |
