The blog since 2013
262 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."
December 14, 2015 · Pen News
Last-minute shoppers are running out of time to get those orders arriving before Christmas, as this USPS poster indicates. Be forewarned that Friday looks to be our last day to ship merchandise to reasonably expect it to arrive for Christmas when using first class mail. If you use Priority Mail, insurance is included, and you…
November 30, 2015 · Pen News
November has been a crazy-busy month. First, I turned 40 near the start of the month. Friends flew in from Montana, and others locally joined in for much mirth and madness. Here are three trays of new fountain pens for this website. Most of them are already fully restored! The following weekend saw me in…
October 14, 2015 · Famous People & Pens
I have reached a state of predictability. While out on a date with my girlfriend to see “The Intern,” a pen-and-pencil set flashed across the screen. Without missing a beat, she turned to me with a whispered question, “So, what type of pens were those?” “Cross Centuries, my dear.” For those who aren’t familiar with…
October 9, 2015 · Pen News
Due to clever internet criminals figuring out a loop hole in transaction policies, we are forced to change the way we ship overseas. For more than 7 years we proudly offered $15 uninsured global shipping. Everybody knew there was some small risk that the pen would go missing, but it wasn’t a problem. We have…
August 18, 2015 · Pen News
Witness more than 300 vintage and modern fountain pens and writing instruments we have recently acquired for the website! If anything catches your eye, ask and we’ll tell you all about it. It has been a while since we updated these pages, but we’ve been extremely busy putting together 3 huge acquisitions of vintage and…
July 30, 2015 · Notes from the Work Bench
Once in a rare while, I find that the section of a pen has lost its nipple to attach an ink sac. Sometimes, an old nipple is just too heavily damaged to patch together or seat a bladder. On the vintage Wahl fountain pen below from the 1920s, the nipple actually was still attached to…
July 21, 2015 · Famous People & Pens
Back in October of 2013 I discussed General MacArthur’s Big Red Parker Duofold and General Eisenhower’s Parker 51s used to sign the surrender treaties at the end of World War II because I had seen one of them in Paris’ Museum of the Army. The plot thickened when the museum responded with no knowledge of…
July 5, 2015 · Pen News
Fireworks glow softly just out of focus on the Fourth of July. Congratulations to our winner of the First Ever Lamy Lottery. Congratulations to Dacia N! She won the brand new Lamy AL-Star fountain pen and ink! We had more than 30 entries from between June 4 and July 4. Thank you to everybody who…
June 27, 2015 · The History of Pens
This week Drippy Musings’ reader Cheryl B. wrote to us with a special request. Can you help identify and date these dip nibs for fellow reader Cheryl B? She is in the process of restoring the steamer trunk that supposedly belonged to the great grandmother of the trunk’s previous owner. The trunk is said to…
June 11, 2015 · Notes from the Work Bench
If you have been following these Drippy Musings for some time now, you know that the Sheaffer Snorkel fountain pen has been the bane of my existence for the past decade. I love these pens in all of their complicated filling mechanism glory, but I could never tame those very filling systems. Here are the…
June 4, 2015 · Pen News
We like you. We really, really like you! We will especially really, really like one of you on the 4th of July! With every purchase of a pen or pencil from ThePenMarket.com between June 4 and July 4 (at 6 p.m.) you will be given a chance to win this great aluminum Lamy Al-Star and…
June 1, 2015 · Famous People & Pens
It isn’t uncommon for folks to write in asking what type of pen they have. I look at it as a fun challenge to i.d. the pen. Unless it is an old Victorian era pen, I usually do okay figuring out who made it. For a brief period in the 1970s, Mont Blanc changed its…
