Happy International Fountain Pen Day!

The pen pal I met through the letter writers alliance sent me a vintage Parker Fountain pen, I was thrilled! It is my favorite colour, teal. I have filled it with the same colour of ink!

My first pen was a matte black EF Lamy safari. I love the feedback on the black nibs (not scratchy, but pencil-like) but alas, I left it on a grassy field one day. Returned 2 hours later to look for it but it was gone.

My first fountain pen was a LAMY Safari which was a hand me down from my husband. Funny enough…he purchased it from Wonderpens :)

My first fountain pen was in Grade six (many years ago now) when our teacher required everyone in the class to purchase a fountain pen and extra cartridges (blue ink only). We had to use the fountain pen for every subject except math. In particular, we used the pen for learning handwriting and we filled notebook after notebook with letter practice. I fell in love with writing and pens at that time and have never lost that love. I don’t recall what kind of pen it was, but I remember the ink splotches all over my hands. Today, I am collecting a range of pens from a montblanc that was my uncles, my kaweco Liliput fireblue (from Wonderpens) to my latest purchase for a new job (like I really need an excuse), a platinum 3776 lavande. Every time I write with these pens, it brings me back to Grade six :)

I love this story. I’m sure many of us were reading and going yup, right there with you… Though you’re living the dream of being surrounded with inks and pens and palomino pencils every day.
Back when I was a girl, I thought most fountain pens were Mont-Blanc – like it was a style of pen. Ball, felt, montblanc..
I bought my first Lamy in your shop and bought many since then for friends graduating or “PhD”ing or just for dear friends.
Nowadays, I purchase a new pen for a new project and cherish each one. Your shop has allowed me to explore without going broke, which can be an issue…
I’m happy, so happy that your shop is doing well. It’s my obligatory stop when I’m in Toronto.
Thank you! MJ

Happy Fountain Pen Day!

I first got into fountain pens when I spent my allowance on a calligraphy set in the fifth grade. Now with kids of my own that age, I’ve gotten my oldest started with a Kakuno and Metropolitan of her own, trying to encourage the joy of fountain pens in the next generation.

I’ve always been fascinated by calligraphy and pen and ink drawings, so I’d occasionally picked up some of the fountain pens that craft supply stores sell. But they’re not very good quality and I never enjoyed using them. A couple years back, however, I ran across a fountain pen forum on the internet, thought “maybe I’ll give this a go again,” and got myself a Lamy Safari. I know it’s nothing fancy, but I love that I can keep on using it instead of tossing it, and it’s so lovely to write with, and the nib is fine enough for my tiny writing. :)

I’m pretty new to the whole fountain pen culture. I picked up a nice one on a Kickstarter as I liked the material that went into more than the pen. I landed up visiting your store several times and use that pen and my novice Pilot. I love the inks and the most basic concept of this art. Still learning though!

What a great story of how you began the business. My first fountain pen was a Lamy Safari I purchased in Frankfurt in 1982 and it still works like a dream. My most elaborate purchase was the Platinum 3776 Kumpoo. I’m still getting used to the soft medium nib but with practice I will get there.
Thank you for carrying such a great supply of products!!

I had no idea Nov 2nd was International Fountain Pen day. My wife’s birthday is also Nov 2nd, and now I have a great way to remember her birthday.

Happy Fountain Pen Day! Believe it or not, I got hooked into this wonderful hobby after stumbling upon your blog shortly after moving to Toronto! And I’m so glad there are so many brick-and-mortar stores (and Scriptus!) here in the city that make the hobby more accessible. :)

Just curious, what was the fountain pen that Jon gave you?

My friends know i have a fountain pen ‘thing’. Once on a visit to Toronto a friend complained about my desire to visit a pen store. Why, i asked. Because i can’t stand watching you drool over the displays. Well i have to admit it was a fair comment. Can’t imagine how he’ll handle a visit to Wonder Pens!

Hello … my first fountain pen was bought 3 months ago … a Lamy Al Star. I’ve since purchased 4 more (2 from you!), and I’ve inherited 4. Inks, pen roll, etc etc. So much fun. Looking forward to seeing your newest shop!

My favorite fountain pen is my TWSBI Diamond 580 with fine nib. I use it everyday for my note taking at work. It is currently inked with Diamine 150th Special Edition Burgundy Royale. It makes it look like it’s filled with blood, which I find kind of funny! Love it. It’s perfect for every day use as it has a pretty big reservoir, and I love the twist cap that ensures cap is staying on. It lasts so much longer than my Lamy Safari’s between refills.

My first fountain pen was something pretty archaic in elementary school. I love it though and tried all kinds of inks. Would love to re-live that experience with a new pen! Thanks guys!!

The fountain pen that started me down the rabbit hole, after coming back to stationary in my twenties, was a Lamy Safari. The charcoal one with a nice broad nib. The sensation of gliding while writing was fantastic!

I bought my first fountain pen in Germany, I was 13 and had no idea what they were, I was just attracted to it. It was a black Kaweco sport. I bought a bunch of cartridges and then forgot about it for a while, after using it in high school for a bit. I found it a few years ago and it has been a downward spiral from there!

My first pen was a Pilot Kakuno, easy to use and who can resist that lil smiley face? Plus, budget friendly as I was overwhelmed with all the options in Japan.

My first real fountain pen was also a Lamy Safari in Charcoal and it remains my favourite.

My very first fountain pen was an old Waterman from my grandfather. It was gorgeous and wrote with line variation that I wish was still produced today.

My first fountain pen was a Lamy accent, a graduation gift from my pen loving dad. Now we share the same hobby, and it’s a treasured link between us now that I live across the country.

Thank you for giving me this chance to remember this experience. I’d been pining for a fountain pen for awhile but couldn’t permit myself the expense of the pen …PLUS shipping. My husband took me to Paris for a birthday but alas I was very ill for the duration. Next morning after he sang Happy Birthday, he dropped a parcel on my lap.

I actually gasped. It was a LAMY 2000 SET. Followed by a notebook, handmade by a famous book binder on Rue de Bac. On the green fabric cover were embossed PARIS and the year. Pens, paper and Paris. I can finally shout this aloud on your blog….I love pens and paper! And how wonderful to discover my peeps out there….

I had in school at times, Sheaffer colored transparent barrel and silver cap. In the late 1970’s was smitten by a female and proceeded to make a quilted stationary holder, sort of notebook style, and I bought a Sheaffer fountain pen to include in the gift presentation. Looking back now the pen was probably the weak link. Not the best choice of writing instrument. I am not sure why I choose that gift to express my affection.

One of my favorite pens, (there’s no way to pick one favorite;)) is the FC model 20 in your exclusive bronze color. The pen itself is great but it was the overall experience of visiting my friend in Toronto and her driving me to your shop. Enjoying the wonderful atmosphere you all have created and the excellent service of your staff. Thank you for creating my favorite writing shop in the world.

She’s a beauty this pen.

Hello! Fellow Canadian here! Can’t wait to order from you guys ❤️

I just got into fountain pens and received my first one two weeks ago to test the waters. I got a cheap one from eBay, a Wing Sung 6359. I like and can’t wait to test new pens.

A friend stoked my interest in fountain pens two years ago and I haven’t gone back to ballpoint pens since. I have two TWSBIs and enjoy changing up the ink colours. Maybe it’s time for a third pen!

Bought my first fountain pen from your store.

My first pen was a Lamy Safari in black, sorry charcoal. I walked into WonderPens to learn a bit more about FPs and the rest is history.

My favorite fountain pen is my mint ef Kaweco sport! I also have started to love hooded nibs and want to try more. I like pens with smaller nibs because they fit my grip better!

Happy Fountain Pen Day to you and yours too!

It’s funny, I always loved stationery but never considered a fountain pen until two years ago when my boyfriend recommended that I try one to ease the pain of writing with tendinitis. I just gave him a long, blank stare at first and finally asked what sort of antique shops we would have to go to in order to find such a thing. He laughed at me and said that there were modern fountain pens. I was dumbstruck. I even asked him, “People still make these things?”

Well here I am two years later fresh from Scriptus with one of your Franklin Christoph M20s and a bottle of Kobe 48.

Here’s to many more FPDs in the years to come!

My favourite fountain pen is a little $20 jobby I got online. It’s thin with a fine point and has this lovely ruby-red gloss finish. I’ve currently got it loaded up with some slick purple Kaweco ink that my husband ordered from you a little while ago. I’m still trying to figure out what my next pen will be…but I still just love this one so much an upgrade isn’t really a super high priority. I would love to upgrade to refillables and bottled ink…I just have to figure out what that involves :D

How wonderful! -and very generous!
My first fountain pen was —IS- a Parker 51 which I received, age 12 for a very special occasion. I must reveal that 1) I used it a lot during my long University years and 2) it is still working perfectly and it remains my favorite. So a looong (60 + years) love story and I was thrilled to discover all the amazing inks you have for us, the happy clients. My beloved pen loves them.

I think my first fountain pen was a Pilot Metropolitan. It was either that or a Lamy Safari. It’s been a long couple of years since then!

First fountain was the TWSBI Mini…

Thank you for opening your shop, I bought my first pen a lammy from you. Now own a metropolis and diamond 580 and live the blog

My first fountain pen, years ago, was a Pilot Metropolitan, black, with a black grip. It was my solo pen for some time, but now I always keep it in my nock case, always inked with Noodler’s Black. It’s the only pen I don’t rotate on a regular basis.

My first fountain pen, of course, was in a Calligraphy set. Oh my gosh, did I have fun, with different nib sizes and all those colours. Like you, I was caught and have never looked back. Another interesting thing I experience was buying fountain pens at garage sale, or flea markets. Because they ended up being “from a bygone era” I would get amazing pens for next to nothing. So when I travel I always look for a stationery store, along with a fabric store and a needlework shop. Ah, too many hobbies, Joanne

My first fountain pen was a good old Sheaffer No Nonsense from a calligraphy set I bought when I was 19. I may even still have it somewhere. I knew nothing about pens and would swap cartridges and write til the colour changed. I had it almost 20 years when I finally learned I should clean it haha. So while this was my first fountain pen, I usually end up saying my first REAL FP was a red Lamy safari I got 4 or 5 years ago when I really stepped into the rabbit hole. That one didn’t have to spend 20 years without being cleanedand has been used far more consistently.

My first self-bought fountain pen was a Pelikan amber demonstrator. I fell in love with the translucent barrel and still love the piston filling mechanism. Next was a white tortoise Pelikan which is sort of translucent too and recently, I bought a mint Kaweco sport with a tiny, weeny piston converter.

My first fountain pen was a beautiful, cobalt blue Lamy Safari. I have always been entranced by stationery, and then a friend of mine recommended that I try WonderPens. I wandered shyly around the shop, and a kind assistant talked me out of spending a fortune on something fancy for my very first pen, and just getting a nice sturdy starter. Now I come to letter writing club every month, and I write to many friends who I have sucked into the stationery world with me!

Happiness!

I’m hooked on TWSBI pens and J Herbin inks. I’d walked away from fountain pens for years, but they’re like an old friend. You just need them in your life.

My first fountain pen was a gift from my father who was also a fountain pen lover. That was about 30 years ago now. It was a Waterman but I don’t know the model. I still use it regularly, and it’s inked up with Kyo No Oto Kokeiro at the moment.

My first fountain pen was a Speedball with a 1.1mm Stub nib, bought with no prior research from a Curry’s. I thought it would help me deal with being abruptly discarded by someone very important, as it had been an activity she had also once partaken of and let go for some reason. It was not long before I decided that if I were to continue doing this, I was going to want to get a nicer pen, and research led me to the city’s specialty store. Since my first Metropolitan, I have been brand-hopping, experiencing as much as I can, allocating just a bit more of my budget to this passion each time. I’ve even convinced four friends to follow me along the journey.

Thank you to Wonder Pens for helping fuel something which has gotten me through an enduring rough patch of my life! Happy International Fountain Pen Day!

Liz – what a lovely post! I started getting serious about fountain pens about 4 or 5 years ago. I have always loved using pens but my love of fountain pens really started in grade 6 when a girl named Lisa came to my school after moving to Toronto from Huntsville. Lisa had a blue Sheaffer school fountain pen. I was completely fascinated by this pen and Lisa’s beautiful handwriting. Lisa and I became close friends and she eventually gave me my own Sheaffer school fountain pen as a gift. I was in heaven! I remember how the pen felt in my hands and how the blue ink flowed wet out of the nib onto the paper. Back then I knew nothing of beautiful Japanese paper, different nib sizes, the wild array of ink colours, using bottled inks and different makes of fountain pens. The Wonder Pens store on Carlaw (and Sarah – thanks Sarah!!) had a lot to do with me discovering the wonderful world of fountain pens beyond that simple Sheaffer school fountain pen of my youth and I willingly went along for the journey of discovery. These days using fountain pens gives me such great joy each and every day whether it’s using an an inexpensive Platimnum preppy or my coveted Sailor 1911 gold nib. Thanks, Liz, to you and Jon and all the staff (especially Sarah) at Wonder Pens who have patiently helped me on this wonderful journey down the rabbit hole. Happy Fountain Pen Day!!!

Thanks for sponsoring the giveaway! My favorite fountain pen discovery is Frankenpens! I enjoy collecting Parker Big Reds from the 1970s. They’re ballpoints or felt tips, but there are certain nib assemblies (Sheaffer school pens, Pilot Metropolitans, and some Jinhaos) that can just screw in, and convert the Big Reds to fountain pens. So they’re almost like the classic Parker Duofolds from the 1920s.

My Dad gave me his Parker 51. I love it so much and I miss him.