2024 Philadelphia Pen Show Recap

(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!.)

I can’t believe it’s 2024 already and the first pen show of the year is in the books! Once again I was working at the Franklin-Christoph table (a very dangerous table, I might add) and that, coupled with my limited mobility due to a walking boot (possible stress fracture from running but I won’t know til I see a specialist next week), I didn’t get nearly as many pictures as I usually do, so maybe that means this will be a shorter article too? (Yeah, right.)

Last year due to chess tournaments and soccer coaches conventions, the show was in the Ballroom level. This year it was back on the Mezzanine level.

I was very confused where “ME” was until I saw this sign telling me that it was the Mezzanine.

The happy faces of Dan, Michael, Eric Orozco (co-show owner & organizer) and Cindy at the registration desk. (Eleanor was at the front desk a lot too, though MIA from this picture, lol.)

Weekend pass holders got a copy of Nibbage which had a map, vendor list, as well as a couple pages for folks to sign! That was so much fun!

Nibbage on January 13th for National Rubber Ducky Day!

This Toyo Steel x Esterbrook steel box was my first pen show purchase that happened the night before the show even opened, lol.

Always a pleasure to be working with Dustin, Scott and Audrey of Franklin-Christoph.

As co-owner of the Philly Pen Show, Franklin-Christoph always makes an ink to kick off the year as well as matching exclusive pens and accessories. This year’s color is Indigo and is a lovely blue-black with a hint of grey. (Pens top to bottom: 45 XL (extra long), 02, 40, and the recently released 03M Fiori di Christoph sterling silver overlay pen)

You know I’m a sucker for matchy match so I had to snap a picture of this perfect pen-to-outfit match! This customer didn’t even realize how perfect a match it was to her vest! And yes, she did buy the pen ;-)

View from the F-C table in the first ballroom. This was taken towards the end of the day on Saturday when we finally got some breathing room.

Looking into the second ballroom on Sunday morning. I like that both ballrooms had nice, wide aisles - plenty of room for browsing and maneuvering.

The show felt well-attended, though Friday seemed a little lighter than usual, possibly due to an Amtrak problem on the NYC to Philly tracks which delayed trains for several hours. Saturday was busy and Sunday, while not as busy as Saturday, felt busier than most Sundays. In fact, we were steadily busy until about an hour before close.

Side note: While not mandated, there was more masking at this show than I had seen in most of the shows in 2023. Covid is peaking again so it was a bit of a relief to see more and not less masking. Do what you need to do to be safe and continue to be respectful of others’ choices. Ok, enough of that. Back to pens and things.

Joe Crace (left) of The Gentleman Stationer hanging out out at the Hinze Pens tables with Francisco Lopez.

Greg Hardy of Hardy Penwrights was plumb tuckered out at the end of a busy Saturday and had no tucks left to give ;-) but he always has a smile!

Fountain Pen Hospital was doing a big vintage sale, including pens from the late Gary Lehrer’s collection.

Crystal and Kirk Speer of Pen Realm were our table neighbors and their tables were hoppin’ all weekend!

On the other side of us was nib worker row - Gena Salorino of Custom Nib Studio, Damien Alomar of All in the Nib (welcome back after the new baby!) and Josh Lax of JJ Lax Pen Company.

Daisy and Neil from Yoseka Stationery came to the show on Sunday! It was so nice to finally meet Neil!

Daisy was trying out all the different nibs at the F-C nib testing station.

New textured and anodized “unnamed” pens from Philadelphia’s own Schon Dsgn.

I didn’t know Schon Dsgn started making pens with matching ombré grip sections!

Jeremy Saumure and Jaime Perez from Flax Pen to Paper made the trek from Los Angeles to attend their first Philly Pen Show!

Of all the pens I saw, these super cute Pilot Kakunos were the ones I couldn’t get because they aren’t yet released in the US, but they will be really soon! Each of the nibs has a different smiley face!

Helen (right) from Helen’s Creations NJ makes kimono-style pen sleeves and wraps from Japanese fabrics. Also pictured are her son, Dom, and friend, Tiffany - both of whom are serious penablers, don’t ask me how I know!

Lest you think that pen shows only have pens, Bill Rhoda from Philly Typewriter was there with vintage typewriters too! It was fun to hear the clickety clack of the keys from across the aisle.

Pleasant Valley Textiles from Conshohocken, PA returned to the Philly Pen Show with their wool and other fabric creations!

Rare moment when Bert Oser (left) of Bertram’s Inkwell and helper pal weren’t busy talking with customers.

Folks from the Philadelphia Calligraphers’ Society wrote people’s names in various styles of calligraphy.

You never know what is going to happen at the bar during Pen Shows After Dark. In this case, there was balloon animal making (that is a bear, and yes, I made that, unless you think it’s ugly in which case I didn’t make that). And only one of those pens is mine.

Yeah, the picture is a little fuzzy to protect the not-really-innocent, but there were pens, friends, balloon animals, and beverages - can’t ask for a better way to spend an evening!

Always a good time when I get to hang out with pen friends old and new - Rick (whose last name I forgot), with first time Philly vendor, Chris Henline from Truphae, along with the Luxury Brands of America crew.

Despite the bum foot, I had a great time at this show. It is always wonderful to kick off pen show season at Philly and 2024 was no exception. It has a good combination of vintage and modern vendors without being too large or too small. I was bummed that I missed out on the panel about vintage pens that Josh Lax moderated (it was on Friday night and I thought it was on Saturday) and would love to see more panels like this. I would also love to see a meetup where folks can try each other’s pens in a more “organized” fashion - this applies to shows besides this one - because it can be difficult and overwhelming for folks to approach and make new pen friends.

My Philly haul included a cute stationery cat pin and washi and stickers from Sugar Turtle Studio, F-C Ink ‘24, Schon Dsgn faceted Pocket 6 (nibless), F-C 45XL in Indigo Blue, the latest set of pen cleaning tools from Schon Dsgn (for Platinum, Lamy and Bock nibs), just a few sticker sheets from Flax Pen to Paper, as well as the aforementioned Toyo Steel box from Esterbrook and Raven blotter paper.

The real haul, though, are the memories that are represented in my copy of Nibbage.

I’m excited for the next shows, which will be the upcoming California Pen Show in a few weeks and the Baltimore Pen Show shortly after that. I hope to see you there! Until then, stay warm, stay safe, and stay inky!

It’s a Conference not a Show - 2023 Chicago Planner Conference

(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!.)

When I decided to make the trip out to Chicago for Fountain Pen Day, I had no idea that, at the same time, the Chicago Planner Conference was also taking place. I knew about the conference, but since it was long sold out (I think it was sold out in a day!), I hadn’t really given it much thought. At the FPD event at Atlas Stationers, I ran into Francisco Lopez from Hinze Pens who asked if I would be interested in helping him teach a Fountain Pens 101 or 201 class at the Chicago Planner Conference (CPC), and of course, I jumped at the opportunity!

Hello, Chicago Planner Conference!

The lobby was a popular gathering spot.

Unlike a pen show, planner conferences (or “plannercons”) are less about selling products (though there was a marketplace for shopping too) and more about the planning community coming together to meet each other, listen to speakers, attend workshops and even exercise their creative muscles at “Make & Take” events. All of those events and workshops are included in the $375 CPC ticket price, which is quite a bit more than for a pen show, where an average weekend pass runs $40-$60. I had a bit of sticker shock initially, but once I saw the list of classes that were available, it totally made sense. Pen show classes typically cost around $75 per class and if you were to fill your weekend with multiple classes, it could definitely approach or surpass that number. Some of the conference’s topics included “Inbox/Outbox: Organizational Planning”, “Rock your digital planner”, Surviving the Hustle: Entrepreneurial Panel” and of course, “Fountain Pens 101”, and this is where I come in 🙂

Francisco and I spent an hour talking about fountain pens with a group of 50 attendees. Most of them weren’t fountain pen users; in fact, some had never touched one before, while others may have used one when they were kids, or were told that they couldn’t use them either because they were lefties or had a weird grip - that made me sad and angry because that can’t be further from the truth!

Francisco kicking off the class with a brief history of fountain pens.

Without boring everyone with too many details, we covered why fountain pens are great (no need to dip, writes without added pressure, ink options galore), parts of the FP/nib/feed, what is a converter and how to use it, how to write with a FP (which side is up, both tines should touch the paper, etc.) and then we inked up the fountain pens provided by Retro 51 and put pen to paper! It was great to have Francisco there because we could both walk around the room to answer questions and demonstrate things at the tables.

Francisco walked around and did demos for half the class, while I taught and demo’d for the other half.

Someone asked “So what do you do if you want to have more than one color to write with?” and this was my response: “ink up more than one pen!” 😃 60 minutes flew by and I wish we had at least another 30 minutes because we barely had time to answer questions. Everyone seemed to be excited to have learned and tried something new and had a new writing tool to play with.

All smiles with their new Retro 51 fountain pens!

After the class, one of the attendees gave me this awesome cookie!

Unlike pen shows which are open during show hours, CPC closes down the marketplace during the various sessions/workshops. Vendors get to take a break as well as attending or leading sessions too. I had maybe 10 minutes in the marketplace before the class,, but I made sure to take some pictures!

Jenny Galfi (IG:extrafinepennerd) watched the Hinze Pens table while Francisco Lopez was teaching the classes. Their table was in the hallway right outside the ballroom.

There were a few other vendors in the hallways. There were also some cute picture booth setups with props too. None of my hallway pictures turned out well, oops.

This is the entry to the ballroom.

View of the right side.

View of the rest of the ballroom.

As you can see from the pictures above, it is not a particularly large ballroom and there are wide aisles and lots of space. I would guess that there were roughly 30 vendors. I was in the marketplace very briefly before the class and I think that many of the attendees had already made their way to the second floor to head to their classes, which was why the aisles weren’t jam packed.

Cheryl Ball was representing Rickshaw Bagworks at CPC. They made special pouches and pen sleeves for the event. (PC:Marty Henderson.)

Marty and Kimberly Henderson (and their 3 daughters) were showcasing Retro 51 pens. It was great to see some familiar faces!

Coralie (right) with one of her helpers at the CoraCreaCrafts table.

OMG, look at all these awesome cat stickers from An Actor Plans. They are based on Mabel, the cat!

The actor behind “An Actor Plans” is Melissa M. Crabtree (not pictured, but her helper is!) makes Broadway-themed stickers, washi and other goodies.

JoJo of JoJo’s Pretty Paper Shop sells stickers, cards and notebooks - all made from her own original art.

Raspberyl Designs had all sorts of fun sticker sheets for decorating your Hobonichis, journals and planners.

I want to thank Francisco Lopez for giving me the opportunity to share my love of fountain pens with 50 enthusiastic planner folks. I had an absolute blast and wished I could have spent more time talking with folks, getting to know how they use their planners and answering any FP questions they may have. And of course, to do some shopping too, lol.

Thanks for having me, CPC!

It was a whirlwind but a great way to close out the year. This is it for pen travel for 2023, so until next time, stay safe and stay inky!

2023 Dallas Pen Show Recap

After my last recap, which was my longest article ever, I wanted to make sure this one didn’t follow in the same footsteps :-) And because I wrote a recap on the 2022 Dallas Pen Show, it should be pretty short. Why? Because it was very similar to last year. Which was a nice change of pace, since both the DC and SF shows were significantly different from 2022. Read on to see what I’m talking about.

Like last year’s Dallas show, I worked behind the Franklin-Christoph table. Both days were fairly busy with Friday traffic a bit lighter so I was able to walk around a little bit.

Always a pleasure to work with Dustin and Audrey from the Franklin-Christoph crew and spread the F-C love.

Many of last year’s vendors were in attendance again this year and maybe a few more (66 listed on the website this year vs 58 last year.) It was nice to see familiar faces from other shows, but also folks that only go to this show were back again. Once again, Dromgoole’s (from Houston, TX) took residence in the whole back corner of the main ballroom. Many of the distributors were on hand - Coles of London, Kenro, Pilot - as well as vintage pen dealers, modern makers and more.

This is one of the few two day shows on the US pen show circuit (Friday and Saturday;) most shows are Fri-Sun, with a few starting Thursday afternoon. Friday hours were from 10am-8pm and Saturday hours were 9am - 5pm. I was definitely happy to head home on Sunday given the long day on Friday. This year, it felt a little slower to me than last year, but not by too much, with Friday being less crowded than Saturday. This allowed me to check out some of the other tables during the show.

Once again, the Dallas Pen Show was held at the DoubleTree Hotel Dallas, Galleria, in two adjoining ballrooms, with the silent auction, Pen World and show registration desk outside.

I did not bid on this Retro 51 at the auction but I wanted to!

A view of the small ballroom from the corner of Franklin-Christoph (right) and Karas Kustoms (left.)

Our pen show neighbor, Karas Kustoms, had special pens made for the Dallas Pen Show, like this one, which have special box covers for each show!

Our neighbor to the right was Vanness Pens and they had exclusive pens from Nagasawa! I have always preferred the flat topped Pro Gear and Pro Gear Slim, but that blue 1911S is calling my name…

The main ballroom is an odd upside down L- shaped room with Dromgooles in the far back left corner and lots of vendors spread out in this room.

Speaking of Dromgooles, this corner was like its own store, with more products than some shops! It was pretty busy the whole time.

Dromgoole’s newly released Retro 51 Giddy Up set and matching pen sleeves from Rickshaw Bagworks. True story - Marty Henderson collaborated with Retro 51 on the design of this exclusive!

Adam Velker and Karen Langley from Retro 51 and the Giddy Up guy (whom I affectionately call Larry) - Michael Dromgoole, please get your dad a shirt like this!

You can’t say Retro 51 and not think of Marty and Kimberly Henderson standing in front of a table full of Retros! They also had some products from Rickshaw Bagworks, and you can also see Jesi Coles working at the Dromgoole’s Ink Wall.

Shu-Jen Lin (left) and Kelly Henick were busy at the Taccia tables all weekend - with their gorgeous array of pens, that’s not a surprise!

Like last year, there were four seminars, all held on Saturday - Flourishing with a Fountain Pen, Sketching with Fountain Pens, Basic Fountain Pen Repairs, and Pens for Kids. It would be great to have some classes on Friday as well.

I love that the Pen Collectors of America (PCA) runs the Scavenger Hunt for kids and holds a seminar that teaches kids how to use and take care of fountain pens!

Danny Fudge of The Write Pen is well-known and respected in the vintage restoration world.

A customer is testing out their nib after Matthew Chen worked on it.

Because Friday is such a long day, peaks and lulls are expected. There was the morning rush when the show opened and for a couple of hours until folks leave for lunch or take a break. Then it picks up again in the mid-afternoon, and then there’s another lull until the after-work crowd comes. This year, it felt a bit slower on Friday than Saturday, though not all the vendors felt this way.

This is the “right” side of the main ballroom, looking back from the other end of the room.

I’m always happy to see Shawn Newton at a pen show and I finally remembered to pass along some pens for his scholarship foundation.

It’s not every day you get to hear knives getting sharpened! Stephen Howell of The Sharpest Edge was busy working on all sorts of knives and pointy objects and making them nice and sharp!

I was so excited to see these acrylic seam rippers that I forgot to note which vendor made them. My dad was a tailor and these reminded me of him. Just goes to show that you never know what cool things you’ll find at a pen show!

I was SO tempted to get this hat! It reads “Handwriting Police, Vigilance for those who correspond by hand”, except no vigilance is needed if you’re corresponding by hand! Just don’t use a ballpoint or pencil - KIDDING!

Folks from the local calligraphy guild, Kaligrafos were writing people’s names in calligraphy and selling items made by guild members.

I love shows that are dog-friendly. They always brighten up the room and it’s funny to hear folks’ voices go up a few octaves when talking to dogs. “Who’s a good dog, yes, you! You’re a good dog! The best dog!”

Look at this adorable doggo in the arms of Audrey Matteson of Franklin-Christoph! There was much squealing since this cutie was such a soft and sweet pup!

Last year after the long Friday show day, people gathered at the bar area until well past midnight but there was a lot less of that this year. It was definitely a long and tiring day. There is always more post-show hanging out on Saturday night because everyone was finished with the show! They had already packed up their tables, had their dinners and were ready to relax, catch up with friends and play with pens.

If I had to give this show a report card, it would have a similar score as last year because it was an overall solid show and the schedule and vibe remain the same. I had a good time, as did many of the vendors and attendees that I talked with. A few folks liked the longer but fewer days, and while I would’ve preferred three shorter days, it was nice to be able to head home on Sunday for a change. The attendees didn’t seem to really notice or mind the long Friday, but it may have impacted their after-hours experience since the vendors were usually exhausted afterwards.

In the end, despite having a bit more time to roam around the show, I didn’t take as many pictures as I intended to. That’s often because I get wrapped up while catching up with friends or doing my own shopping (it’s still my birthday month, right?).

My haul included an awesome undated calendar filled with calligraphy exemplars by the Kaligrafos calligraphy guild, the latest Visconti Rembrandt-S Lavender, a denim Girologio 12 pen case, a beautiful swirly Franklin-Christoph 46L, and a Nagasawa exclusive Kobe Affection Kyomachi Legend Blue 1911S from Vanness Pens (so much for being on #teamflattops, lol.)

And the perfect bookmark to commemorate this show, written by Saah from the Kaligrafos guild.

Thank you, Dallas Pen Show, for your southern hospitality! I think this is my last show for the year (but never say never!). I’ve finally caught up on sleep, which means it’s time to write some pens dry. Until next time, stay safe and stay inky!