(Kimberly (she/her) took the express train down the fountain pen/stationery rabbit hole and doesn't want to be rescued. She can be found on Instagram @allthehobbies because there really are many, many hobbies!.)
Pull up a comfy chair, grab a beverage and hunker down for some reading because this is definitely not going to be a quick read (although it could be if you just looked at the pictures).
Disclaimer: The San Francisco Pen Show was my first ever pen show in 2017. It is also my home show, as in, I live 4 miles away. I’m also a member of the SF Pen Posse who also help out at the show. All this means is that it is really difficult for me not to be biased but I promise to be as objective as I can.
You know how I always need to recover from pen shows because I had so much fun? That was me after this year’s 2022 SF Pen Show, but multiply that by 10, lol. I started off the pen show week with my own version of Pen Show Uber; picking up my pen friends at the airport.
Brad “The Bossman” Dowdy and Jessica Coles were among the pen friends that I shuttled to/from the airport.
Like other shows, I worked behind the Franklin-Christoph table all weekend. I was pretty busy Friday and Saturday but traffic was lighter on Sunday so I did get a chance to walk around a little bit and do some shopping, so there will definitely be more pictures than my last “quick” recap. Ready for the rundown? Let’s do this.
Size
While not the largest US show (DC has that honor), the SF Pen Show is probably the second largest show. There were about 100 vendors, maybe more. I do not know how many people attended the show, but it was definitely more than in 2021, but close to 2019 numbers. As SF was a destination show for many, quite a few attendees arrived on Thursday, raring to go on Friday morning. The aisles were pretty packed and there were lines forming at several tables, most notably at Toyooka Craft. Usually Saturdays are the busiest days at pens shows but this Saturday was a bit slower than Friday. And Sunday was pretty slow, but that’s pretty common for this show as it was a travel day for many. It was really nice to see vendors from across the Pacific like Atelier Musubi, Bungubox, Toyooka Craft and Yamamoto Paper, as well as Ahnitol, Nagasawa and Tokyo Station Pens who were new to this show. We also had other first time vendors like Flax Pen to Paper and Skogsy Pens as well as veteran vendors like Jonathon Brooks of Carolina Pen Company who hadn’t been back since 2019. I was really glad to see more vendors and attendees at this year’s show vs last year.
Daryl Lim of Atelier Musubi readies himself for the Friday crowd.
Looking at these Musubi notebooks, it’s not a surprise that all but two sold out!
Kaoru Yamagashi and Bruce Eimon of Bungubox were happy to be back at the SF Pen Show.
The folks from Nagasawa stationery stores in Japan (you may know them for their Kobe inks) were first time attendees and had their inks and pen exclusives as well.
==toyooka line== There was a line forming in front of the Toyooka Craft table on Friday morning. Why?
One look at these gorgeous wooden pen boxes, chests, trays, and it’s easy to see why. Check out Brad’s post to see the carnage after a mere two hours.
Another view of the Toyooka Craft table where you can also see the rest of the crowd in the ballroom.
As in past years, there were a variety of vendors, from vintage, to modern, to locals and international sellers alike. Aside from the distributors (like Coles of London, Kenro, Pilot), there were also a lot of modern dealers including Dromgooles, Franklin-Christoph, The Pleasure of Writing, and Taccia. There were some vintage dealers but the SF Pen Show definitely skews more modern; you could still find folks like Paul Erano, Myk Daigle of MaD Mercantile, John Corwin with his vintage flex pens, John Strothers and more. Aside from the vendors named above, other international vendors also traveled to this show including Tom Westerich, Miro Tischler, and Ray Walters (he absolutely lights up the dance floor). And I always like seeing local folks at pen shows including SF Posse friends who had tables, as well as Enigma Blanks from the East Bay, Maido, Peyton Street Pens from Santa Cruz, and of course, Rickshaw Bagworks from San Francisco.
Cary Yeager and Ryan Sirignano of Kenro Industries are all smiles.
Once again, I was honored to work behind the Franklin-Christoph table with Audrey, Dustin and Rhonda.
I love watching people figure out which F-Cs they want to try!
Dan Wearsch and his family working together at the Enigma Blanks table. They were right across from the F-C table and have a lot of cute stuff!
Jeremy Saumure (left) and his crew from Flax Pen to Paper came as an attendee last year and enjoyed it so much he came back as a first time vendor this year!
It was good to see Hugh and crew from Kanilea Pen Co back at the show.
Karas Kustoms told me they had a great time at the show - just look at their smiles!
Jane and Brian Weaver of Ironfeather Creative with their beautifully crafted pens.
The Aster Room had a lot of natural light, perfect for showing off pens at the Parker table.
Pierre of Desiderata Pen Company not only makes the pens but the interior filling mechanisms too!
Will, Max and Helmut from The Pleasure of Writing were smiling all weekend
Another first time SF vendor, Skogsy Pens ended up selling out Sunday morning!
The Rickshaw Bagworks table was practically mobbed all weekend, but I managed to get close enough to look at a bunch of the new Nock x Rickshaw Sinclair R!
Jessica Coles taking a much-needed seat after being on her feet all weekend at the very busy Dromgoole’s tables.
Sarah from the SF Maido store had a lot of Japanese paper and stationery products.
I would say that this show definitely skews heavily on modern vs vintage (probably 70:30) but there were still plenty of vintage dealers at the show. There are so many things to shop for at this show that it definitely helps to go for more than one day! Score: 9/10
Location
Like many of the other pen shows, the SF Pen show is not located in the city for which it is named. It is located in Redwood Shores (technically Redwood City), a suburb about 30 minutes south of downtown San Francisco. It is about 11 miles south of the San Francisco International Airport (SFO), 24 miles north of the San Jose Airport (SJC) and 26 miles of the Oakland Airport.
Aside from checking out the Golden Gate Bridge, there are lots of other things to do in San Francisco including checking out Alcatraz, eating in Chinatown, going to Fisherman’s Wharf and having clam chowder with sourdough bread. Further north, there are the wineries of Napa and Sonoma counties and further south are Monterey Bay/Carmel. Lots of museums, world renowned universities like Stanford (boo) and UC Berkeley (Go Bears!), restaurants as well as baseball stadiums (MLB’s SF Giants and Oakland A’s) to check out as well. Score: 9/10
Hotel
The SF Pen Show has been held at the same location for the past several (at least 5) years but the hotel has changed names at least 3 times since I’ve been attending. Last year it was the Pullman and this year, it is now the Grand Bay Hotel. The hotel is perched along one of the many lagoons in Redwood Shores and offers nice views for anyone inside the restaurant, bar or outside by the pool. There is ample seating in the lobby, at or near the bar or in the restaurant for folks who want to eat, chat, play with pens as well as many tables and chairs outside (it was particularly nice sitting by the fire pit in the evenings).
The hotel literally changed its name in the weeks before the show. The signage could’ve been more interesting, don’t you think?
After passing the registration, you are ushered into the Aster Room where folks like Skogsy Pens, Maido of San Francisco, Odyssey Notebooks and The Pleasure of Writing were located. After you get through the Aster Room, the open and airy foyer was bustling with energy and people that were coming and going. Local favorites like Curnow Bookbinding and Leather took up their usual spot in the foyer, and Atelier Musubi returned to their 2019 position along one of the walls of the foyer along with Nahvalur (formerly Narwhal). In the room to the side, several nib workers took up residence (more on that in a bit) along with a few other makers like Desiderata Pens as well as Grifos who also sold cards from Roses without Thorns. The bulk of the vendors were located in the main ballroom - larger vendors and distributors took up residence along the walls with a variety of vendors filling up the middle aisles.
Getting ready for public hours at the registration desk (Joel Hamilton pictured talking with Gary Naka from the SF Pen Posse.)
Rickshaw Bagworks had these fortune cookies made by Golden Gate Fortune Cookies in San Francisco which had prizes like pen sleeves, cases and more!
My view of the main ballroom from behind the Franklin-Christoph table (along the right wall of the ballroom) when it wasn’t nearly as swamped on Saturday morning.
Steve and Diane Curnow of Curnow Bookbinding and Leather were in the foyer.
One downside to this hotel is that their hotel cafe closes pretty early - like around 12:30pm which is awfully early if you missed out on grabbing lunch. Overnight parking for hotel guests was $15/night with in/out privileges, and free for show attendees. The room rate was $149/night which was extremely reasonably priced considering this is the Bay Area and this is also a pretty nice hotel. It is on the medium to higher end price wise but not by much.
The best part about this hotel is that it is dog-friendly. I loved seeing all the dogs during the show - they made my day! I even convinced my non-pen-loving spouse and kid to bring our dog to the show (people didn’t believe that my husband and kid existed even though they knew about my dog, lol). Score: 8/10
Top left doggos are brothers, top right doggo is Bjorn (not to be confused with Odin), bottom left doggo is Oliver who is doing an excellent job watching Atelier Musubi’s table, bottom right doggo is the littlest doggo named Broccoli that everyone fell in love with.
Gratuitous picture of my doggo, Bungee, who is all smiles from meeting Audrey Matteson from Franklin-Christoph.
Tickets
The 3-day weekend pass for the show costs $60 and includes early access starting at 8am for Friday-Sunday. You can also purchase individual day passes: Friday afternoon (1PM - 5PM) tickets cost $25, and Saturday/Sunday day passes cost $10 each for 10AM - 5PM access, or you can get a combination Saturday AND Sunday pass for $15 for 10AM - 5PM access. Children were free. Weekend passes were sold online up until a few days before the show, while general admission tickets were only available at the door. Like DC, this show has a higher price for Friday half day than the weekend day passes. Judging by the crowds that were there on Friday morning, there were a lot of weekend pass holders. Score: 8/10
Classes
There were quite a few free seminars and paid classes at the show. There were the more commonly found seminars/classes on calligraphy and vintage pens/history, but also sessions about the Plotter system, stationery and planner meetups, as well as Every Paper has an Origin Story by Taizo Yamamoto (of Yamamoto Papers) and Bruce Eimon, Mad Scientist class taught by Leigh Reyes, Sketching in a Traveler’s Notebook by Janet Takahashi and Modifying your Pilot Parallel by Eileen Goldenberg, to name a few. In addition to the Pens for Kids Scavenger hunt that is put on by the Pen Collectors of America, they also held a free seminar so kids could learn about fountain pens and how to use/take care of them. This is one of the few times I wish I wasn’t working, so I could take several of these classes. Score: 10/10
Nib Workers
Need a nib tuned or ground? You’ve come to the right place! There were at least 7 nib workers that I knew of at this show (in first name alphabetical order) and that didn’t include those at Franklin-Christoph who also tune and offer in-house ground nibs.
- CY of Tokyo Station Pens
- Damien Alomar of All in the Nib
- Gena Salorino of Custom Nib Studio
- JC Ament of The Nib Tailor
- Kirk Speer of Pen Realm
- Matthew Chen of Matthew’s Nibworks
- Mike Masuyama
JC Ament working on a nib grind.
Kirk Speer taking a close look in the middle of his nib grind.
Matthew Chen, Mike Masuyama and CY working alongside each other in the small ballroom.
The nib workers were spread out in various locations. As far as I can tell most if not all of them were busy all weekend. Score: 10/10
Overall Vibe
San Francisco is a fun show, maybe THE funnest pen show. I tell people that vendors go to DC to make money but they go to SF to make money AND have fun. And attendees, yeah, they go to SF to buy all the things AND have fun showing them off during after hours. The SF Show’s organizers are all pen people and they want pen people (both vendors and attendees) to have a good time at the show and will do what they can to make that happen. For example, less than a week prior to the show, Mark Dwight of Rickshaw Bagworks suggested a Meet the Makers Mixer event (say that 5 times fast!) so folks could have a low-key way to meet various makers and ask questions, etc. Todd (one of the organizers) said yes, we can make that happen and we had artists, pen makers, notebook makers mingling with each other as well as with customers who wanted to know more about their craft. In another example, on Tuesday, I ran into Todd at the hotel and I noticed that the bar hours went til 10pm on Thursday and 11pm on Fri-Sun. I asked if he could get that extended to at least 11pm on Thursday and midnight through the weekend and yup, he made that happen too. And then there’s the live music (and drink tickets!) that has become a Saturday night tradition at the show.
A live band playing bluegrass and rock & roll music is a great way to get the toes tapping.
While we have a large contingent of local folks (within 2-3 hours drive) that come to the show, a lot of people also travel to come here. I heard many people say that they finally met people that they’ve only known online in Instagram or other online communities. I love that lots of people were able to meet others in real life because I’ve said it a million times before, the pens and things are nice and all, but it’s the people that really matter and being able to see them face to face and give hugs (or fist bumps) is what it’s all about.
With all this raving, you might wonder why I am only going to give it a 9. Because it is a large show and it was crowded and that can be overwhelming for some folks. I still HIGHLY recommend this show, even to the most introverted of folks, because it is such a good show and there are so many in the community who would happily take folks under their wing and make sure they have a good time. Score - 9/10
Food
The hotel restaurant was pretty good but maybe a bit more expensive than typical hotel food prices (like an average of $17 for a glass of wine). And as I mentioned above, the hotel cafe closes around 12:30pm so that isn’t an option even for an afternoon snack.
The hotel is located in the middle of an office park area so other than the hotel restaurant/bar, there really aren’t any food options right there. But a short ¾ mile walk gets you to a strip mall with several restaurants along with a posh supermarket that also has a very nice setup for take out food. And if you’re willing to take a 5-10 minute Lyft, you can find all sorts of really good food at all price points ranging from In-and-Out Burger on the other side of the freeway, to Italian, Burmese, Sushi, etc. Score - 8/10
After Hours
Even though I had a good time with my friends at DC a few weeks ago, it was a disappointing after hours experience overall and really made me look forward to having some quality hangout time after the show and boy did I ever! Starting Thursday night (where I was the last one to leave the hotel bar) and going til Sunday night, I had a blast hanging out with all sorts of pen friends, new and old! Mental note to self, save the “last one to leave the hotel bar” for later in the week, and definitely don’t do that two nights in a row..
Having a lot of space at the restaurant/bar/outside meant that people could easily sit down for a break mid-show, or spend hours playing with other people’s pens. Lots of tables of varying sizes meant small and larger groups could get together and made it a little easier for new folks to walk up to empty spots and join in. The hotel staff seemed a little off their game this year (same folks as past years) - maybe a little slower, a little less attentive but overall, they were decent and still got us our food and drinks.
In addition to the casual, post-show hangouts, there was also the previously mentioned Meet the Maker Mixer, the Saturday night live music, and also “The Tokyo Stationery Pen Addict Inklings Cafe Pencast” event, which was held earlier on Saturday night. That was a Q&A panel/hang out event featuring CY of Tokyo Inklings, April Wu and Kelly Henick of The Stationery Cafe, B-rad Dowdy of The Pen Addict and Drew Brown from Goulet Pens. Here is the YouTube video from this packed event. Score - 9/10
Fellow Posse member and artist Jeffrey Beauchamp signed posters at the Meet the Maker Mixer - he uses fountain pens and inks to create his artwork!
The Pen Addict himself finally gets himself a “Hello my name is….and I am a Pen Addict” pin!!
Despite my best intentions, I was having too much fun to remember to take pictures during after hours. But I did get a late night picture at the firepit!
Other
The San Francisco Pen Show is one of two west coast shows and I think you all know how I feel about the other show in LA. People don’t just come to the SF show because it is the only other west coast show - they come because it is fun and because the show gets vendors that don’t go to any other US shows. If your pen and stationery tastes skew Eastern and you can’t make it to a pen show in Asia, this is the show for you. Atelier Musubi sold out of all but two of their beautiful hardbound notebooks. Takayuki Saito, Plotter’s Creative Director, came from Japan and assembled people’s custom Plotter binders, which were nearly sold out of some of their leather covers at my Friday morning appointment! There was always a crowd at the Traveler’s Company table as they brought their stamps for people to decorate their Traveler’s Notebooks. Taizo Yamamoto of Yamamoto Paper had an amazing display of a wide variety of paper for people to try. People bought Nagasawa’s Kobe ink in droves (especially when they lowered prices on Sunday so they wouldn’t have to ship them back to Japan).
April Wu of Plotter USA is bracing herself for the Friday crowd.
Takayuki-san is assembling my Plotter!
I stamped a bunch of paper to put into my Traveler’s Notebook.
Cosmo Air Light, Bank, Tomoe River Sanzen, and more, Yamamoto Papers is a must-stop-shop if you are a paper lover!
I really liked Yamamoto Papers’ “build your own” Paper Tasting Memo Box, especially the band around the box indicating it was for the 2022 SF Pen Show.
Aside from the presence of the overseas vendors, there were a lot of tables that had non-pen/ink/paper items, aka “stationery adjacent”, like InkyConverters, Enigma Blanks who had pen blanks, of course, but also fun washi, stickers, stationery sets, and Mary Ngai of Maksn also had really cool artwork and stickers created with fountain pens and inks. These offerings are wonderful for folks who aren’t into the pens as much, or maybe they are on a tighter budget, or want something for friends and kids (Sunday is a great day to bring them since it is usually much calmer).
Look at this amazing set of washi tape from Enigma Blanks! I can’t wait to play with mine!
Angela He of InkyConverters always has the most tempting stuff!
Stickersters had a lot of cute washi, notebook covers and of course, stickers!
People are probably familiar with the crab pen rests from Ahnitol, but did you know they had these adorable cat holders too?!?!
Speaking of which, Brad came to SF and left with crabs. Sorry, not sorry, I couldn’t resist!
And while not officially part of the show schedule, attending the Thursday morning meetup for The Stationery Cafe on Thursday was such a treat! As someone who just started journaling, it was a fun experience to be in a group where I was the newbie and didn’t know anyone, but was welcomed with open arms and tons of goodies! People like to make little bags/envelopes of extra ephemera, stickers, washi, etc and share them with others - they get to destash some of their items and get other items without having to spend a dime.
It was a treat to meet Takayuki Saito, Plotter’s Creative Director and see how he uses his personal Plotters.
The journaling community gathered on Thursday and brought loads of goodies to share and journal with.
Like any well-run show, the SF Pen Show has a group of volunteers to help out. The SF Pen Posse are always on the lookout to make sure vendors get help when needed or that folks get directed to whatever vendor they are looking for. Behind the scenes, they clean and fill up pens for the ink testing stations (I heard we had about 8 stations this year), help with the registration desk, etc. Having a large crew of local folks hanging out for all the days and nights helps with making the event fun too.
Posse member Greg Weddig is looking to buy pens - anyone know where he can find some?
2 of several ink testing stations positioned throughout the show.
This isn’t part of the score, but I would be remiss if I didn’t mention the level of masking at the show. There was no mask mandate in the state, county or city. I would say that about 75% of the folks were masked. Covid is definitely different now than it was last year when pen shows resumed, and even earlier this year when Omicron started taking hold. People seemed to respect each others’ decision to wear (or not wear) masks. Personally it was a bit of a relief for me to see more masks at a show and not fewer. Score - 9/10
Report Card
0-50 Oof, do not attend
51-70 Show is alright
70-80 Show is solid
80-90 Show is pretty darned good!
91-100 REALLY good show and not to be missed
The 2022 SF Pen Show scored 89/100, which was actually a touch lower than I expected, mostly because I have a hard time giving a 10 rating for some of the categories like Size, Overall Vibe, etc. It gets high marks for having lots of vendors, nib workers and being near a destination area. Vendors generally did anywhere from “pretty well” to “really well” to even beating 2019 numbers (that was an amazing year for a lot of vendors) this year, which is always great to hear. Friday sales numbers really made both vendors and attendees very happy and set the mood for the rest of the show. Like DC, this is a show that can do some damage to your wallet. I’ve certainly had fun at past DC (and other) shows, but nothing like SF. And yes, a large part of that is due to it being my home show and being able to do Pen Show Uber and have meals with my pen friends, but it is also just a really fun show. It really deserves a score in the 91-95 range because it is absolutely a show that shouldn’t be missed.
Show haul clockwise from upper left: Sinclair R and pen sleeves from Rickshaw Bagworks, crab speaker/crabs/cat things from Ahnitol, Folio notebooks from Musubi, Travelers Notebook inserts and clip, stickers from Rickshaw and Stickerster. In the middle: Franklin-Christoph 19 and Nagasawa exclusive 3776 demonstrator with rose gold.
Washi tape, Guitar Ink and exclusive Vinta Ink from Enigma Blanks, Paper and Memo Box from Yamamoto Paper, stickers from Maido, Kobe inks from Nagasawa, Bungubox ink, pen tray from Toyooka Craft, Plotter atop inserts from Yamamoto Paper, SF show notebooks from Curnow Bookbinding. Not pictured is the space-themed pack of washi from Enigma Blanks cuz I forgot, lol.
The San Francisco Pen Show has always been my favorite show and this year was no exception. Even though my pen show week started on the Tuesday before and ended the Tuesday after, it felt like it was over before I knew it. I had more time to walk around this time which I am grateful for. Because the show always comes two weeks before my birthday, it always does some heavy damage to the wallet (though I didn’t get as many pens as usual, lol). I always say that the wallet is a little lighter and the heart is always fuller after a pen show. This time, however, I echo that sentiment tenfold. I’m utterly exhausted but also insanely full of gratitude and love for my pen friends, this show and this community. Now to spend some time with my pen show haul and get ready for Dallas! Until then, stay safe and stay inky!
