What color ink do I need?

[shortbow]

Gracias a todos. Miss N, I went with your recommendation and ordered some Pecan. The Pendemonium website says it might not qualify for air burst nuclear event proof, but close enough for the girls I go with.

And DM, thanks for the info. None of my pens have a true flexible nib, and there's the rub. The last one I had was a Vacumatic that I gave away a few years ago. Guess I need another one. Any ideas for a modern pen that will fill that bill? I have gotten a couple of pens off the bay and was not overwhelmed with satisfaction; would hate to lay out the big bucks and get something that would disappoint, otherwise vintage would be a treat.

 

[DeaconKC]

Larry Van Dyke on the 'bay does a WONDERFUL job restoring vintage pens. Also look for a Pelikan 150 or 200, great values and superb writers. If you want American made, the Cross ATX is a very smooth writer and can still be found reasonably.

 

[John in Covina]

1) never use India or drawing inks in a fountain pen, use only clearly marked fountain pen inks.

2) Black / blue / blue-black inks were the most common early 1900-1920's, some other colors did work into the scheme, greens and reds.

3) Use what you like unless you are doing some type of re-enactment.


Most big penmakers have their own brand so you may be able to select the specific brand of pen you own and get their ink.

Noodlers is pretty good and Private Reserve has a multitude of colors plus a blending kit so you can combine to make your own personal color. I always seem to make a green of some sort.


Noodler's bulletproof and eternal inks are good f you are looking to do writing for posterity.

I love Namiki's blue and Levenger's Cobalt Blue, but the Levenger's seems to need distilled water added to make it less smudgey,

Have fun with it

 

[shortbow]

Thanks much, Gentlemen.

 

[Bill Taylor]

When I started to school in 1937. we were required to use pen staffs and the ink color required was blue-black. Nothing else was acceptable. And definitely, a blotter. Pencils were used for arithmetic only. In later grades, fountain pens were acceptable (blue black ink only), but for the first few years of school only a pen staff could be used. Many a bottle of (Skip, I think was the brand name) blue black ink was spilled on desk tops. We had the old (and noisy), oak and fancy cast iron desks. The writing surface lid raised up (with much noise) for storage underneath. There was a round hole in each side for the bottle of ink and depressions in the middle for penstaff and pencils. There were also depressions space for extra (nibs??). As I remember, different widths were used for types of writing, from broad to very narrow. Many hours were spent in perfecting the proper "written" shapes and slant of letters. For example, all of the letters within a word had to be connected, including a beginning capital letter (connected to the following little letter). And yeah, the pigtails or curls of the little girl in the next front desk did occasionally get dipped into the open bottle of ink. It's not an urban legend.

The primary school I attended, which was the only one in town, was built in about 1897, I think, therefore, the building and desks were already pretty old by the thirties. The high school was a little newer (also the only one in town) dating to about 1917. My mother was in the first graduating senior class in that then new building (class of 1917).

Also, starting to school was a big event. In the golden era, primary school was not a place to park your kids to get them out of the house. It was expected when a student arrived for their first day of school, they knew how to read, write, the alphabet, simple arithmetic and the multiplication tables. It was the responsibility of the parents to provide those learning tools. Arriving at school that first day without those skills often resulted in being sent back home until they were prepared for school. Expectations in those times were much higher than those of today.

Bill Taylor

 

[Joe_Frances]

I really think Manhattan Blue by Noodler's is a classic looking blue/gray ink that looks close to Legal Blue, which is very traditional permanent ink that never, ever washes out, so I didn't buy the "Legal" but went with the Manhattan.

 

[David Conwill]

This thread has me intrigued - right now I'm writing exclusively with Private Reserve Lake Placid Blue (which I like a lot) and Sheaffer Blue-Black (which I like sometimes and sometimes I detest). I may have to try out some brown ink, however, I've always liked it on old documents but had also assumed that it was simply faded blue or black ink.

-Dave

 

[Randy]

My favorite ink is Waterman Havana Brown. I've tried a handful of inks and just never found anything that I like better. It flows evenly, dries quickly, starts quickly, and never gums up my pens (neither modern nor vintage) The only drawback is that it is not waterproof, but since that's never caused me any grief I have no complaints I just love the way it looks in my gold fiber journal, and I'm quite over black and blue inks so this works out wonderfully. When I first started writing with it I thought it would be an interesting occasional ink, but after about two loads in my favorite pen I put all the blue and black away and have not gotten them back out again.

- Randy

 

[shortbow]

Just for an update: I got hold of some Noodler's Kiowa Pecan a while back, and really liked the color, but found it wrote very wet and tended to smudge out of several of my pens. I was going to toss it, then just for the heck of it tried thinning it with water. At a ratio of about 4 to 1, I found it writes nice and dry now, no longer smudges, and while not wp, it is quite decently durable. It also toned down the darkness to a nice coffee or "pecan" color. My favourite ink now.

 

[St.Ignatz]

I also like the Kiowa Pecan but it is a deep sepia with a special niche. Maybe my pen is a little stingy with the ink as I have not had a problems with it. I picked up a bottle of Bay State Blue from noodlers and really like the stuff. Watch out if you buy because there is a warning about mixing with other colors.

 

[shortbow]

Thanks, St. I, been thinking of trying some of that.

 

[Marc Chevalier]

In the late 19th century, gentlemen used purple ink to write to the ladies they wooed. I have purple-inked love letters from my great-grandfather to my great-grandmother (1899).


I suspect that this is where the expression "purple prose" comes from.

.

 

[Randy]

Very interesting bit of trivia there. Thanks for sharing it!

- Randy

 

[DerMann]

In the late 19th century, gentlemen used purple ink to write to the ladies they wooed. I have purple-inked love letters from my great-grandfather to my great-grandmother (1899).


I suspect that this is where the expression "purple prose" comes from.

.

Haha!

I inadvertently chose purple (at the time, La Coleur Royale from Noodler's) to write a few things for a girl I was 'courting' senior year of high school.

Coincidence?

 

[John in Covina]

LA Pen Show this Sunday 2/15/09
See the info in the events section!

 

[David Conwill]

My brother recently sent me a large bottle of Montblanc Irish Green as a birthday gift (he has been traveling in Ireland for a number of months). I like it, but try to limit it to signatures and not-for-the-public notetaking, lest I be branded a member of the "green-ink brigade"!

-Dave

 

[Tango Yankee]

...lest I be branded a member of the "green-ink brigade"!

I've never heard that term before; had to look it up since I often write with different shades of green (and a variety of other colors, as well). Well, since I hardly ever write threatening or abusive letters to anyone, let alone those in the public eye, I don't fit the full criteria. I do find it somewhat odd that writers of "threatening or abusive letters" are equated to "eccentric". But if I understand the meaning fully you'd be considered a member of "the green ink brigade" if you wrote with any color outside of blue or black.

Cheers,
Tom