Fountain Pens: Who uses them, and why?

[Kifaru]

When I moved my family from the US to the UK and enrolled my boys in the local school the had to have fountain pens for school. They moaned at first but it did improve thier writing dramatically.

I have one I use at my home desk. I do not keep one at work as it would probably accidentaly "grow legs" (not on purpose, it would just mistakenly get picked up and used and slipped into a pocket absentmindedly). I used to travel with one but I had issues with losing ink. I have taken up the idea of just disposing of the catridge before I fly and putting a new one in before I need it. Wastefull perhaps, but at least I would have my trusty pen on hand.

 

[Shangas]

Hahahaha!! Mike I shouldn't call nuclear waste something that's in good working condition in 100 years!

I've always maintained that bottled ink is cheaper than cartridge ink, and ever since the age of 13 (when I proved to my parents that I could write with a fountain pen without turning the carpet a nice shade of Parker Quink blue/black), they allowed me to use my first bottle-fed fountain pen. Never looked back. It's fun to refill your pens the "old-fashioned" way, with buttons and levers and squeezy-sacs...

 

[MarkL]

Always a fountain pen!

Shangas,

All of my education was in the Catholic school system, from elementary school through my Masters degree. In elementary school, we only were allowed to use fountain pens. In fact, even our math papers had to be turned into the nuns written in ink!!! We always first did our math in pencil, but the finished product was done in ink...and with a fountain pen! Pretty amazing, when I look back at that.

Mark

I've heard stuff like that a lot. In older times, you weren't allowed to use a fountain pen in school. And then later, you weren't allowed to use a ballpoint.

Why is that?

 

[bburtner@moran]

Fountain Pens

Who uses them?People who do not do a lot of writing all day!

 

[Cigarband]

He said he taught handwriting, not cursive.

What other kind of handwriting is there? Printing is printing, cursive is handwriting. Now many schools are not teaching anything except printing, and typing. In not so many years only experts will be able to read hand written documents, and another link with our past will disappear.

 

[Shangas]

If printing wasn't done by hand, I'd agree with you.

 

[High Pockets]

I would love to know how to write with cursive handwriting! My writing is neat, and much more distinctive when I'm using a fountain pen, but still, cursive is just so elegant.

Shangas, the Harmonie pen looks lovely, thank you!

All of a sudden I feel so old..........

Are you guys serious? Cursive isn't being taught in schools today?
What a shame.......It's not like it takes very long to learn.

Miss Molly there are examples of Cursive alphabets and instruction on how to write the letters online, it's pretty easy to learn....although the pages I've seen are not quite the same as the ones that we were taught back in the '60's.

 

[Shangas]

Hi HP,

I regret to say that yes, cursive is no-longer taught in schools. Or if it is, it won't be for much longer. I went to school in the early 1990s and graduated in 2005. I think I was the last generation of Australian schoolboys to be taught cursive. I've certainly not met anyone younger than 21 who knows how to write it. That's why I become rather skeptical when I hear someone say they teach handwriting. These days, "handwriting" generally means printing block-letters, not the flowing, curly, relaxed script that you and I remember from our childhood.

 

[ThesFlishThngs]

Wow. Who'd have thought that the cursive chart we used to see posted above the blackboard would even become obsolete?

All is not lost quite yet, though; my 17 year old daughter learned cursive in school, and uses it on a regular basis.

 

[Foofoogal]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZAjFgfCpo7k
Just picked up this set for 2 people. I know they are not vintage but looks good for a Christmas present.
$19.99 at Walgreens. Any comments?

 

[Miss Neecerie]

All of a sudden I feel so old..........

Are you guys serious? Cursive isn't being taught in schools today?
What a shame.......It's not like it takes very long to learn.

Miss Molly there are examples of Cursive alphabets and instruction on how to write the letters online, it's pretty easy to learn....although the pages I've seen are not quite the same as the ones that we were taught back in the '60's.

If one does not actually know how to write in cursive, this site, while geared for kids...starts at the very beginning, a very good place to start.

http://www.donnayoung.org/penmanship/cursive.htm

http://www.donnayoung.org/penmanship/cursive-den.htm is where the worksheets are hiding


However this is the -modern- style....which was simplified out of what came before....

Before that style was the Palmer Method....

and before that was Spencerian.


The Palmer is much simpler and yet still very unusual for today's kids to learn.

 

[ThesFlishThngs]

Walgreens, you say? Good for them. Too bad you can't just get the fountain, without all the other bits included.
A few weeks ago I got a Scribe extra fine nib pen from Hobby Lobby; the second one shown.
http://www.scribblers.co.uk/acatalog/Manuscript_Scribe_Series.html

 

[St.Ignatz]

FP's every day. The ink selection alone makes it worth the effort. I look forward to running out of ink in my everyday (L'etalon) of 20+ years just to be able to fill with a different ink. I keep my Vanishing Point filled with Bay State Blue. Each has it's own smell, flow, hue and dry time. They change the whole feel of the process. Ok, a little excessive but we all have a room filled with hats. Some differences are not apparent to most but WE KNOW.
Tom D.

 

[tortswon]

I'm with you, Tom! I have 16 fountain pens on my desk and I use a different one every day. Each has their own ink. Writing with each of them feels different. Best, Sam

 

[Shangas]

Aaah. I'm often in the same predicament. Which pen to use!?

Today I'm going to the Roaring Twenties. I'm heading out to a reunion with friends before one of our old schools is torn down, and all the pens I'm bringing are solidly from the 1920s. Even the watch in my pocket is.

Do most of the people here use modern, or vintage fountain pens? My pens are mostly vintage.

 

[Miss Molly]

Miss Molly there are examples of Cursive alphabets and instruction on how to write the letters online, it's pretty easy to learn....although the pages I've seen are not quite the same as the ones that we were taught back in the '60's.

I'll have a look, perhaps this will be my new project!

 

[Widebrim]

If one does not actually know how to write in cursive, this site, while geared for kids...starts at the very beginning, a very good place to start.

http://www.donnayoung.org/penmanship/cursive.htm

http://www.donnayoung.org/penmanship/cursive-den.htm is where the worksheets are hiding


However this is the -modern- style....which was simplified out of what came before....

Before that style was the Palmer Method....

and before that was Spencerian.


The Palmer is much simpler and yet still very unusual for today's kids to learn.

In Los Angeles and Glendale schools, we officially use the Zaner-Bloser cursive chart, although the cursive alphabet that I post in the classroom is many years old.

 

[Widebrim]

All of a sudden I feel so old..........

Are you guys serious? Cursive isn't being taught in schools today?
What a shame.......It's not like it takes very long to learn.

Miss Molly there are examples of Cursive alphabets and instruction on how to write the letters online, it's pretty easy to learn....although the pages I've seen are not quite the same as the ones that we were taught back in the '60's.

I don't know about other parts of the country, but cursive is taught in 3rd grade in the Los Angeles area (probably the rest of CA, too). As I posted previously, my students use Sheaffer fountain pens for handwriting, and I allow no ballpoint or roller pens in our classroom.

 

[High Pockets]

Outstanding!!

I'm glad there are still teachers like you, Widebrim! We need a million more like you, perhaps a few of your students will grow up with a fondness for great pens and nice handwriting.

 

[John in Covina]

Why use a fine writing instrument and why use a fountain pen?

A fine pen, whether a fountain pen, rollerball, gel ink or ballpoint is a refillable pen, and is environmentally sound by having a non-disposable body that utilizes a refill of some sort. Much like the choice of wristwatch, a fine pen may be a work horse pen, plain and unassuming or a form of working jewelry to help accessorize ones personal appearance. As such it makes a statement about ones values and sensibilities, from stoic to extravagant. At the top levels of cost, a fine pen is art of the most uncommon sort, from hand painted Japanese lacquer, cloisonné enamel, formed precious metals and stones or using even more esoteric materials. The beauty of such pens reveals the spirit of handcraftsmanship that old world cultures bring to art or presents new designs with exciting uses of color and new materials. The use of a fine pen as a gift or as a presentation item is a time honored tradition in both the personal or corporate setting.

Why use a fountain pen? Fountain pens are seen as link back to a time of elegance and sophistication. Even today, fountain pens are still considered to be a superior writing instrument. They remain a singular, uncommon luxury employed by writers the world over to consign their thoughts and emotions to paper. Many writers that have returned to a fountain pen, while many are using them for the first time. Often the comment is that the writer feels a different connection to penning their thoughts. Many note that their thoughts seem to be more clearly and deeply expressed when writing with a fountain pen.

A fountain pen writes and handles differently than most pens. Each writer has their own valid reasons for the selection they favor of ballpoints, rollerball, or gel pens. The important physical property of ballpoint is the ink has the consistency of a paste that must be pressed onto the paper. It is all this pressing that leads to writer’s cramp and real hand fatigue. Both rollerball and gel ink pens take much less pressure to write, they flow even better than a ballpoint, and so gives the writer a smoother writing experience along with better control. A fountain pen that is well made will have the smoothest of all writing feel and needs no pressing to write. If the nib touches the paper it should make a mark so the writer need only guide the pen. For long term writing, journaling, or note taking, the fountain pen remains, even today, the best choice in writing instruments.