Man. This year was a whirlwind of a show in Raleigh. The wife and I were there for pretty much the whole show, and I didn't even take any pictures until Sunday afternoon. On Friday I put the picture-taking off until Saturday. It was pretty slow on Saturday, but the lights went out for a couple of hours in the afternoon (apparently a car hit a transformer or something), and that wasn't great for the attendance or the photography. So, Sunday it is!
I was helping the Andersons with their table part of the day on Friday and most of Saturday. It helps them out, and it gives me an excuse to talk to people about fountain pens instead of spending money. I met a bunch of people on Saturday, and that's always awesome. The best thing about pen shows is that it's a place where we can all be excited about pens and stuff.
What follows will be a bunch of pictures from the show. I mostly took pictures of the people at the show. There are some pens, too, but mostly people.
Above and Below: Jim working on nibs. One of the great things about getting a Franklin-Christoph pen at a show is that Jim will make the nib work just as you like it. He does a really solid job, too. Audrey has a needlepoint that even I can write with. That's a feat.
Audrey was working the Franklin-Christoph table most of this weekend. I hear that she helped a lot of people find just the right nibs for them. Good job, Audrey! Also, a rare picture of Scott Franklin looking almost like he's smiling. Caught ya!
Some pen people I know.
Liz, David, and Tom (seated in the green shirt).
Jimmy and Suzanne Dolive Two of the sweetest people at any show. I've known Jimmy for years, but I've only just met his daughter Suzanne in Atlanta a couple of months ago. They're a hoot.
So, a couple of pens from Montblanc. Above: the Urban Speed. It's like a sleeker Starwaker. I always admire them, but the price point is a little high for me right now. Maybe I'll find one eventually.
Below: the Montblanc Warhol pen. The cap is huge and covered with soup. I think it's neat, but it's a divisive pen.
Star Wars pens. The price is high, so I'm glad that only the C-3PO was a fountain. That stormtrooper pen would have been more tempting.
I love this Pelikan statue. That burnt orange pen ain't too shabby, either.
Deb and Lisa Caught Conspiring I don't know what they were talking about, but they were having fun.
Federalist Pens and PaperThis is a new retailer that has been around for almost a year now. Really nice guys, and they had some interesting stuff at their table.
Indy-pen-dance Mike and Linda are cool, and happen to have the same names as my parents. They were just across from us, so of course I turned around every time someone said "Hey, Mike!"
Not Everything is a PenCarl & Bert
Carl is a vintage-guy who is a little quiet, but totally willing to teach you about pens if you speak up. He had a nice spot when the lights went out, as one of the emergency lights was right over his table of pens, and they were perfectly lit.
Bert is the dude behind
Bertram's Inkwell. His table has a wall of refills and a bunch of limited editions and such. You never know what you'll find there, and it's worth stoping by just to chat with Bert. That guy has stories.
He's also the show-runner for the
Miami Pen Show, coming up July 15-17.
Liz and her Tiny PenShe doesn't know what this adorable little eye-dropper pen is, but she had to have it because it was so adorable. It's a pen for ants, I tell ya. ANTS. (Liz writes
No Pen Intended, though she's been absent for a while.)
Lee Daniel Lee is a pleasure to talk to. Always a fresh story when I stop by that table.
Lee mostly brings Esterbrooks of one kind or another.
Gerry Berg Gerry is a Sheaffer Vac guy, and he's great at restoring those pens. I've had him do a couple for me that were my grandmother's, and they're good as new. I ended up getting a pen from him on Sunday,
Brian (whose last name I've forgotten)
I met Brian on Thursday night, and he sold me on a neat little Sheaffer dolphin-nose pen. It's got an interesting (and sort of flexible) stub on it, but I haven't had a chance to try it out yet.
This is Carl's table that had the great lighting when the power was out. This must have been pretty early on in the day on Sunday, as there aren't very many people in the shot who aren't vendors.
Syd was there with a bunch of Wahl-Eversharp pens. He was also a sponsor of the show, I think, and he's always a neat guy to talk to.
Diplomat PensThat's Larry. He's the President of Points of Distinction, the US distributor of Diplomat pens. They've hooked me up with a Diplomat Aero in the new black color scheme, so you'll see that on the blog soon.
The Aero is their most distinctive pen, and the one I took home is the one on the right of that stand of pens.
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Some more Diplomat pens of various sorts.
BexleyHoward was there at the show, but I didn't manage to get a picture of him. He makes some pretty pens, though. The one in my hand was a special run of pens for an Ohio Pen Show. It's a much different design than his usual sort of pen.
That's Ross. I bought a really neat. older Franklin-Christoph from him. He has some really tempting pens of all sorts, but I didn't get any of them.
That's John. He's usually at shows with Susan Wirth. I got to go out to dinner with Susan, John, Deb Basal (whose picture I could have sworn I took, but apparently didn't), and Jim from Franklin-Christoph. That BBQ joint didn't know what hit them.
Audrey took the rest of these. She took a couple of the ones above, too but I don't know which ones.
These pens are by
Ryan Krusak.The pen below is made of naturally-shed moose antler, and finished off with turquoise.
One of these came home with me. It was too awesome to leave on the stand.
These scrimshaw pens are always great. The detail on these pens...
We hadn't seen these pens before, and it's hard to photograph the depth of color without more natural light. It glows, I tell ya. Glows.
Whose Chocolates Are These?
Chef Brandon's. That's who. This is Chef Brandon looking thoughtful. I ate lots of his chocolate over the weekend, and it's all awesome. Get some.
He was right at the entrance to the show, and his chocolate is awesome. There's a Thai chili chocolate that is super-good.
And, last, a photo of Chef Brandon looking fancy. Audrey just said, "Strike a pose." He did.
Later: The stuff I went home with.
