Older Folks and Vaping Back Porch - Part Three

[Kenna]

I am also a card carrying member of the Fountain Pen Club (FPC) .. I use a broad nib Schaeffer that I've had since as long as I can remember .. hell, I'd probably use a quill since back in the Revolutionary War days, that's what I trained on .. ..

There is nothing that will focus your writing better than a fountain pen .. and the longer you own one and get used to how the nib reacts, the better the pen becomes, IMO .. in a World chock full of Tech, the lowly fountain pen harkens back to a bygone era, when folks actually wrote ..

Sheaffer's have probably been around as long as Parker's. My handwriting style changed comepletely when I started using fountain pens waaaay back. Don't own one currently. I need to change that!

 

[Kenna]

A big YES for fountain pens! I used them all the time for years and years at work. Fine nibs, medium nibs, broad nibs - depending on my mood and what I was doing I'd use one or the other. My parents used fountain pens for all their 'serious' work like doing the filling out the financial ledger for the social club when the were the treasurer and secretary.

As a kid watching Dad filling in all the numbers I asked him what happens if you make a mistake. He said - 'you don't' make a mistake. I can still remember Dad taking me to center city Philadelphia and going to a combination jewelry / stationary store to pick out my first fountain pen. It was like a rite of passage, I was old enough to have my own.

I guess your doctor has better fountain pens then I had though, because the lettering that came out the end of mine sure could use improvement. My script writing always was 'not good' - so I printed all the time. Sometimes I'd just write nonsense or the alphabet over and over because it was fun writing w/ a fountain pen.

I think its like a rite of passage, also. I'm thinking about getting my Grandson a really good one. My Dad & his father always used Cross pens. I have a couple of sets of my Dad's.

 

[MattB101]

I too print. I used to be able to fumble through cursive writing but, now it seems I've lost that ability except for signing my name (making my "mark") but it's almost unreadable. My printing on the other hand is nearly perfect. My father was an architect and I did work for him while I was in high school. I also took drafting class in high school. Old Mr. Bates required us to practice regularly.

 

[DavidOck]

Still have a couple of Parker fountains, with the plunger refill mechanism. Although they've not seen use in many years... Carbon copies were, I think, one of the reasons for their decline. Hard to do carbons with a fountain...

 

[Debadoo]

Really good to see you posting Kenna!! Hope you're feeling better.

I do love the feel of a good ballpoint, but......you can never get the really good ones with a vibrant purple ink!! Lately I've been using sharpie clickable pens, and although I haven't found the purple ones for sale, when I contacted sharpie to find out where to get them, the lady was kind enough to send me two of them.

 

[MattB101]

I'm partial to gel pens these days. they write what appears to be as close to a drafting pen as you can get without using and actual drafting pen. Those on the other hand are a true pain in the .... to use. Especially with a triangle that is not specifically made for them. The ones made for them have a tiny rabbet on the edge so that the triangle or straight edge doesn't touch the ink and drag it on the vellum. With a regular straight edge or triangle the pen must be angled away from the edge and the edge drawn away slowly to prevent smearing.

 

[DavidOck]

I'm partial to gel pens these days. they write what appears to be as close to a drafting pen as you can get without using and actual drafting pen. Those on the other hand are a true pain in the .... to use. Especially with a triangle that is not specifically made for them. The ones made for them have a tiny rabbet on the edge so that the triangle or straight edge doesn't touch the ink and drag it on the vellum. With a regular straight edge or triangle the pen must be angled away from the edge and the edge drawn away slowly to prevent smearing.

Can you say "Rapidograph"? Still have one of those as well. And darn right about the proper straight edge for 'em!!

 

[MattB101]

Can you say "Rapidograph"? Still have one of those as well. And darn right about the proper straight edge for 'em!!

One , heck I've got a whole set of them but, I think about half of them have dried ink (Pelican India Ink) in them and I am not at all sure I could clean them even if I wanted to. My father on the other hand could have gotten them spotless in less than a day. Of course they don't sell carbon tetrachloride to the general public any longer.

 

[MikeE3]

I think its like a rite of passage, also. I'm thinking about getting my Grandson a really good one. My Dad & his father always used Cross pens. I have a couple of sets of my Dad's.

I just remembered this while reading your post. I think it was 3rd grade, we had to use fountain pens for our penmenship lessons. Oh my! And I've recently heard they're considering dropping teaching kids script writing.

I too print. I used to be able to fumble through cursive writing but, now it seems I've lost that ability except for signing my name (making my "mark") but it's almost unreadable. My printing on the other hand is nearly perfect. My father was an architect and I did work for him while I was in high school. I also took drafting class in high school. Old Mr. Bates required us to practice regularly.

Remember these? I still have mine.

 

[Iffy]

She spends a lot of time in the livingroom all by herself, which is sad, but works for me.

Ouch!

As a kid watching Dad filling in all the numbers I asked him what happens if you make a mistake. He said - 'you don't' make a mistake.

Yepper, I used a med nib Parker thru junior college; still have it <sum wheres>.

There a more than a few past heroes that I'd like to meet: i.e. da first human that ate da first oyster (luv 'em!) and whomever actually penned our DECLARATION of INDEPENDENCE...

Who wrote the Declaration of Independence?

Selection of Timothy Matlack’s handwriting, from a 1761 letter to Haydock Bowne. AHMC – Matlack, Timothy

It sounds like an easy question, right? Well, Thomas Jefferson certainly wrote it — in terms of authorship. But do you know whose hand it was that literally produced the famous handwritten copy? If you’re not sure, don’t worry, historians aren’t completely certain either. That said, there is consensus that it was “probably” Timothy Matlack, of Pennsylvania. Matlack had been appointed clerk to the secretary of the Second Continental Congress, Charles Thomson, a little over a year before the Declaration. Incidentally, he also wrote George Washington’s 1775 commission.

 

[sushigirl]

I'm partial to gel pens these days. they write what appears to be as close to a drafting pen as you can get without using and actual drafting pen. Those on the other hand are a true pain in the .... to use. Especially with a triangle that is not specifically made for them. The ones made for them have a tiny rabbet on the edge so that the triangle or straight edge doesn't touch the ink and drag it on the vellum. With a regular straight edge or triangle the pen must be angled away from the edge and the edge drawn away slowly to prevent smearing.

I remember those pens from my drafting days. What a pain! I wonder if they've gotten any better. I enjoy printing with a good pen! I can't believe they don't even teach writing in cursive anymore.

 

[MattB101]

I just remembered this while reading your post. I think it was 3rd grade, we had to use fountain pens for our penmenship lessons. Oh my! And I've recently heard they're considering dropping teaching kids script writing.



Remember these? I still have mine.

I think I have one, upstairs in the closet but, I'm not sure. I know I have half a dozen of the mechanical pencils and leads for them.

 

[MattB101]

I remember those pens from my drafting days. What a pain! I wonder if they've gotten any better. I enjoy printing with a good pen! I can't believe they don't even teach writing in cursive anymore.

Hell girl. They hardly teach math and spelling these days. You actually believe that they could get the young heathens to do rote practice in cursive? Not hardly, might interfere with "teaching the test." As you can tell I am not real happy with modern education.

 

[MattB101]

Reference if they still make rapidograph pens anymore. Absolutely, went to the drafting supply place about a month ago to buy some vellum and he had them in the display case. Just as expensive as they've always been too.

 

[Iffy]

Those on the other hand are a true pain in the .... to use. Especially with a triangle that is not specifically made for them. The ones made for them have a tiny rabbet on the edge so that the triangle or straight edge doesn't touch the ink and drag it on the vellum. With a regular straight edge or triangle the pen must be angled away from the edge and the edge drawn away slowly to prevent smearing.

Yepper, there was an expensive 'brand name' line that was specialized to avoid the smears. Remember tediously sanding da edge of some el cheapo templates.

 

[Debadoo]

whose hand it was that literally produced the famous handwritten copy?

jup I love some of those scripts

 

[MikeE3]

Ok - I'm on a roll ... how about these ... yep ... I've got a couple of these in my desk drawer.

 

[Kenna]

Really good to see you posting Kenna!! Hope you're feeling better.

I do love the feel of a good ballpoint, but......you can never get the really good ones with a vibrant purple ink!! Lately I've been using sharpie clickable pens, and although I haven't found the purple ones for sale, when I contacted sharpie to find out where to get them, the lady was kind enough to send me two of them.

Thanks Deb, today has been pretty good all day, but I'm running out of go.

That's so cool that she sent you pens!

 

[clnire]

I remember those pens from my drafting days. What a pain! I wonder if they've gotten any better. I enjoy printing with a good pen! I can't believe they don't even teach writing in cursive anymore.

Yea, and what is going to happen to signatures? Everyone will just sign with a big X. I have several friends who are teachers and they are about fed up with not being able to TEACH. They have to teach how to take tests, not how to learn. Shame, shame, shame.

 

[Debadoo]

You blinked on the bluebonnets.

Newp, just was stuck in the house and didn't get out to go anywhere.

So, like I've said before, I appreciate the shoulders, the understanding and most of all, the stories of others that have had to come to grips, since those stories remind me I am not alone ..

Newp, you're not alone at all, and I'm so glad that you now come share with us more, rather than totally disappearing. You still disappear a lil, but not as long.