The DC Show floor

For me, one of the highlights of the DC Pen Show was acting as a tour guide for my brother-in-law. To protect my brother in law, since he has not yet found the quite the right moment to ‘fess up to his wife, I’ll refer to him as “Bil.” As you will see, it may be a lengthy confession.

Bil had used fountain pens for years, but was interested in attending the DC pen show and purchasing, according to him, “perhaps one” pen.

John Mottishaw with a customer

We started our tour by visiting John Mottishaw to obtain a replacement nib for Bil’s old style Pilot “stealth model” Vanishing Point. I had given him the pen as a Christmas present, but he dropped it face down and completely boogered up the nib. I turned around to speak with someone for a moment, and when I turned back, Bil had purchased not only a new nib, but also a Namiki Bamboo in black resin.

The next stop on our tour was Chuck Swisher’s table, where Bil purchased one of the cool little Kaweco Sports that Chuck was selling.

Richard Binder at work

We next visited Richard Binder who, after watching the strangely contorted way Bil writes (he’s left handed) suggested a Pelikan 200 right-footed oblique nib. Bil loved the way that nib wrote so he purchased one, along with a Pelikan 200 red translucent pen to hold the nib, and a large bottle of vintage blue/black Parker Quink to fill the pen.

Parts Table

That finished up Saturday’s tour. We visited the hotel bar that evening and spent some time with Terry Clark and Victor Chen. Terry told Bil that he had a few pens that might interest him, and he asked Bil to stop by his table the next morning.

On Sunday morning, we started with a visit at Terry’s table. Bil ended up purchasing a Mont Blanc 149 and a Visconti Voyager from Terry.

Fountain Pen Hospital

Since Bil had not yet experienced the joys of a vintage pen, we then paid a visit to Joel Hamilton. After testing a number of makes and models, Bil ended up purchasing a Scheaffer Snorkel and a Waterman Stateleigh Taperite from Joel.

Of course, with that number of pens, Bil now needed a pen chest. After surveying the pen chest offerings, he selected a large wooden chest from White Mountain Trading.

What was Bil’s final tally? He joined our obsession, made a bunch of new friends, purchased seven pens, a nib, a bottle of vintage ink, a pen chest, and created a difficult disclosure issue with his spouse. I enjoyed acting as the tour guide, but he is on his own with his wife (especially since he is already eyeing another Visconti and a PFM).

Text © 2003 Mark Van Blargan. Photos © 2003 Brad Horn.