Archive | History RSS feed for this section

Book Review: Estonian Knitting 2: Socks & Stockings

Anu Pink Estonian Knitting 2: Socks & Stockings Saara Publishing House (2018, Türi, Estonia) 36.80€; isbn: 978-9949-7268-2-0 384 pages, illustrations, photos, diagrams; hardcover. With the huge popularity of knitting, hundreds of books are published on the subject each year. Many of them are similar, and our eyes begin to glaze over just looking at them […]

Leave a comment Continue Reading →

Solved: Who Made the Pens of Birks Jewellers?

Like most Canadian jewellers at the turn of the twentieth century, Henry Birks & Sons, of Montréal, sold pens. While they don’t often turn up today, occasionally we have one cross our repair bench. While a Birks pen is usually not of the highest quality, they are good, solid pens, usually with the nice flexible […]

Leave a comment Continue Reading →

Free Victorian Pen Catalogue Online

Information is gold; sometimes more than figuratively. We came across a lovely Victorian pen catalogue in our favourite collection, archive.org. Titled, in fine Victorian fashion, History of the invention and illustrated process of making Foley’s diamond pointed gold pens with complete illustrated catalogue[…] The first half of the book is an excellent catalogue of Foley’s […]

Leave a comment Continue Reading →

What We Can Learn From a Copper Pearl Frankenpen

We came across an interesting pen the other day, “in the wild”, which is to say in an antiques mall. Not exactly a beautiful pen: not in great condition, nor very valuable, in terms of dollar value. But a pen which is important for a couple of reasons. Some Background: the Parkette Deluxe The Parker […]

Leave a comment Continue Reading →

Ink Lecture & Workshop in Toronto

We are happy to share with you an upcoming ink lecture & workshop, taking place this coming weekend (February 27 & 28, 2016) at the Aga Khan Museum in Toronto (click on image for PDF download):

Leave a comment Continue Reading →

Hardtmuth Koh-i-noor Pencil Display Case

One thing we love about attending good antique shows is the possibility of finding a treasure. Of course, we often find pens in all states, some of which are lovely, and these are treasures. But a real treasure is something else entirely. A real treasure is something that is beautiful, useful, and that has an […]

Leave a comment Continue Reading →