The blog since 2013
261 posts since September 2013 by Nathaniel Cerf: how to start collecting, what happens at the repair bench, inks under the sun, fake Montblancs, and the pens of presidents and writers. "It is a space dedicated to pen lovers old and new."
Hello to the members of The Black Pen Society. I hope this year’s pin is as cool as last year’s! This is the thrilling weekend of the D.C. Pen Show, one of the biggest vintage pen shows in the country. Sadly, we couldn’t be there this weekend, but all of our best goes out to…
Today, essentially, marks the 100th anniversary of the start of World War I. It is still one of the most savage wars the world has ever known. It left nearly 2% of the world’s population dead: 23 million. There is a good reason those who fought it were called the Lost Generation. Sealed button-filling pens…
WARNING: The following repair advice can easily mess up your favorite nib if you aren’t careful and experienced. You think you’ve found the perfect pen at a show, estate sale or antique store. The color is good. The filling system still works. And then you try to write with it. Although the nib looks good,…
Some inkwells are too beautiful for words. How can they do a better job detailing the beauty of this art nouveau masterpiece. For too long we neglected our commitment to finding really nice inkwells and blotters for our customers. It was trickier than we thought it would be to find good ones when we first…
Every wonder what we use on our classic shipping labels? You are looking at our beloved 1915 Underwood portable typewriter. This machine is as dedicated a writer as any of our vintage pens. Several customers have noticed our shipping labels are always typed up on an “old skool” typewriter and have asked after it. In…
For the longest time, dead people were the sole focus of our “Famous People & Pens” series. Then I got it through my thick skull that many of our living customers are actual working writers, and…HEY!…why not profile them and their work?! There is a reason I was never hired as a rocket scientist by…
Journals come in all shapes and sizes. The trick is to find one you like and just keep plugging away at it. Before you know it, you will have preserved many incredible memories and events. Looking for a great new use for your vintage pens or luxury writers? Have you ever tried keeping a journal…
A friend and reader of “Drippy Musings” named Harv S. from Palatine, IL, reached out to me this past May to thank me for last November’s piece about making your own J-springs (pressure bars) at home. Not only did he find the article helpful, he shared with me his own modification to duplicate the action…
If you troll the antique stores of America searching for great deals on vintage pens, you cannot help but come upon those seemingly ubiquitous small pressed glass ink bottles by Sanford. They have myriad colored caps. Maybe you run into the Sanford Pen It inkwells and towers. The Sanford Ink Company is one of the oldest…
This is just a small selection of the incredible swag we picked up for you at The Atlanta Pen Show. We will post it as soon as we can repair and photograph it. Keep checking back with us. Just look at me table of booty from the Atlanta Pen Show! First, it was great meeting…
The Esterbrook pen company made myriad nib sizes and styles to customize each of the pens they made to the needs of their users. Best of all, they did it with an easy twist out nib assembly anybody could manipulate. Although every fountain pen manufacturer for the past 100 years has made specialized nibs for…
