What prompts you to purchase yet another pen? That’s a legitimate question that I examined recently as my online wanderings took me into learning about a line of pens about which I knew nothing. For a few hours, it seemed that a new pen was in my immediate future. Eventually, it struck me as it has many times before, that I did not need another pen. There are pens in my collection that I love but purchases that have thrilled me have been rare. Hey, I can only write with one at a time so why have a hundred of them and want even more?
I grew up in the home of collectors who loved the thrill of the hunt and the satisfaction of bagging anything from fine paintings to tchotchkes. With the exception of a dozen art books, I did not own multiples of anything until I discovered the ease with which a collection could be amassed buying stuff on eBay. From then on, I was doomed.
Using a fountain pen daily prompted me to upgrade from an uninspired modern pen to a vintage Parker ’51’ aerometric with a medium-fine nib. After that I was hooked. When at work, an Esterbrook in a pen holder on my desk was my weapon of choice. When writing for pleasure, either the ’51’ or an even older Vacumatic helped me fill page after page in journals. But why acquire a hundred more? I’ve sold at least fifty to get down to that hundred and that is crazy. True, many were gifts or the spoils from writing reviews. Thus my investment is nowhere near what it could have been. However, storage space is at a premium here and yet my collection grows.
Are you a collector? What makes fountain pens such an easy target of affection?
An Inkophile's Blog 
