With this issue the PENNANT takes on a new look by sporting a new designed masthead, layouts and page arrangements. This is one of my favorite pen magazines devoted entirely to vintage pens and ephemera, repairs, the familiar and the obscure. PENNANT is always well written by devoted collectors and most people we know and see on the regular pen show circuits and often contribute to various pen chat boards. Frequently new pen collectors come onto the scene and are generous to write and submit material on subjects in which they have a main focus. As a result, there is a constant flow of exciting and new information on specific subjects that would otherwise be lost to the pen collecting community. Fifty pages packed with a lot of information, glossy full color covers and black/white content.

William E.L. Bunn, Part 1 of The Sheaffer Papers
This feature article is written by PCA President Sam Fiorella.
William E.L. Bunn was one of Sheaffer’s most talented designers. An Iowa native, he studied mechanical drawing and graduated with majors in science, graphic arts and engineering. Sam Fiorella documents the work of Mr. Bunn after finding a pile of his papers and sketches. Among the sketches and designs, some of which are reproduced in the magazine, were elaborate detailed drawings of what we now know as Sheaffer’s inlaid nib and designs for prototype pens that never went into production. Fascinating article with many illustrations of index cards found in an envelope marked “Sheaffer Mural Ideas” for the new Sheaffer Building which was dedicated in 1952.

Parker Sold Pearl Dip Pens? by L. Michael Fultz and Daniel A. Zazove
As early as 1898 George S. Parker talks in his company magazine Side Talk, about Parker’s line of pearl dip pens, and Klymax slip-on clips which were made by that other Janesville pen maker Williamson Pen Company. Other less known products sold by Parker were very fine 925/1000 sterling silver articles such as paper cutters, manicure sets, button hooks, finger nail files, cigar cutters, moustache combs and perhaps a few more we don’t even know about.

The Life and Works of Frederich Soennecken – The Man and his Legacy (Part One)
By Carla Mortensen and John Schwab
In the U.S. the familiar names are Parker, Sheaffer and Waterman. In Germany and Europe an equally famous name in the history of writing and pens is Soennecken. Carla introduces us to his early history as the founder of a writing society in 1868, which was a commercial school to promote his “Rundschrift” or “ronde” (round) writing. he had developed by the age of 20. His style was a radical departure from the commonly used Fraktur style which was distinctly Germanic eschewing the Antiqua style that had been created by the “godless humanist movement” in Italy. Carla presents the history of Sonnecken’s pursuit of creating a major change in writing and the design of the perfect steel nibs for his writing style. At one time, the nibs of choice used by Friederich Nietzche and the crusty Franz Kafka. Soennecken fountain pen production started in 1890 with various eyedropper models and eventually was a major manufacturer along with Montblanc and Pelikan. Nicely illustrated article, historically significant as an introduction to others that may wish to focus on this line.

Swan No. 6 UK vrs USA
The Swan No 6 Eternal.
by Jim Marshall
A close up look at the differences between U.S. and UK made pens.

Quill Pens & Nibs also by Jim Marshall
A look at quills, barrel nibs, Bion Scheffer, Bramah and Mordan pens.

Local Focus - Profiles of Pen Clubs
The Baltimore Fountain Pen Society by Teri Lura Bennet

The Triangle Pen Club
by Deb Kinney, photos by Jim Mamoulides with the faces of familiar names such as Doug Addington, Fran the Man, Dean Moser, Ross McKinney, Leigh Moser, Trish Jones, Mark Anderle, Glenn Jones, Frank Kauffman, David Brown.
Talk is about how the clubs were formed and their meetings.
Giovanni Abrate and Roger Bogda announce they are interested to form the Miami/So Florida Pen Club.

Pursuing the Hartline Pen by Craig Bozroth
A high quality full size pen with a crazy top. Who ever heard of an ink blotter roll on the top of a pen under a blind cap? Made in Florida, Craig educates us on the history of this unique company. Very cool pen, I’ve had a few of these.

The Broker’s Pencil by Melissa Lowry
Stockbroker’s pencils. Those pencils with the enormous soft leads, used by well to do stock brokers, these pencils were often beautifully made in sterling and 14K gold.
Quite an interesting focus.

Reader’s Forum by Sam Fiorella
Pen collectors are defined as The Purist, The User and the Eclectic. The one she refuses to discuss used to be me, me thinks : The Obsessive-Compulsive Collector, also called the Accumulator.

Pens for Kids, by Sam Fiorella
A regular feature describing the PCA efforts to bring pens to children. This article describes her efforts with the Cleveland Elementary School in Cedar Rapids, Iowa.

Repairs & Restoration Clips & Nibs by Frank Dubiel
Q & A session with our recently departed friend Frank, advice and comments on pen repairs and tips.

Tech Notes Clips and Inner Caps by Victor Chen
Victor discusses cap ventilation, clip designs from Parker, Waterman, Sheaffer, Conklin and Van Valkenburg (called VV) these were one of the very earliest cap clips used by Parker and Conklin.

New Corporate Sponsors of PCA
Bexley – Sanford North America (Parker, Waterman, rOttring and Sensa)
Stylus Magazine

Miami Pen Show and The 2003 Washington DC Pen Show review by Melissa Lowrey
The chat, the gossip, who’s who and the happenings at popular pen shows.

Final pages list a Pen Repair Directory, specifically for vintage pens and 8 pages of classified advertising where I always find some new kid on the block, contributing author profiles and photos, it’s always nice to put a face to a name.

Cover illustration from the collection of Sam Fiorella. Original sketch by William Bunn marked “Design 6-20-56 No 240” a variant of the Triumph nib.

Favorite line in this issue : “More than kisses, letters mingle souls” - John Donne

Pen Collectors of America
www.pencollectors.com

U.S./Canada 1 year $30. Three years $75.
Foreign – 1 year 40. Three years $105. (U.S.)

the PENNANT Magazine is given free to members of the Pen Collectors of America (PCA). Published three times a year, issues are released in Spring, Summer and Fall.

PCA is the largest pen club organization in the world with about 2,000 members.

Pentrace Readers are invited to submit their own reviews and comments on this publication and any other pen related magazines.