Many people in the pen community, and in society in general, like to make a direct connection with each other. They want to personally get to know others with their interests. And this is especially true if they are considering sending off their valuable and sentimental pens! Some time ago, we made the choice to […]
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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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
