New York Times re-discovers fountain pens

[welch]

Of course, the Times once knew all about fountain pens, but here is an up-date:


Around 40 people had gathered on a recent weekday evening in SoHo at the Lamy store, a 600-square-foot ground-floor showcase of contemporary Germanic pen design. Packed around a table with notepads and test pens, the group, ethnically diverse but mostly men, lacked the slick appearance you expect of customers at a luxury boutique.

In fact, it quickly became clear that these were nerds. Twenty-first-century pen nerds.

And on...

Article mentions the Lamy store in New York, FPH, Goulet Pens, Sheaffer (in a passing way...did you know that Sylvia Plath used a Sheaffer?), Nathan Tardiff, and SBRE Brown.

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/12/26/style/fountain-pens.html?fbclid=IwAR1SMX-RmByWC2eXTRBC__4RvMDvHUtjXSmJLyXBOQy2j8yNlKlnaPQOD eY

[Spants]

I've just started reading the article and I like how the people on the fountain pens subreddit supposedly use "fps" for fountain pens. I've spent a good amount of time there and I don't know if I've ever noticed it there.

Sent from my XT1710-02 using Tapatalk

[Morgaine]

The thread about this on fpn has since vanished.

Edit - it was merged with others on the same subject.

[myu]

I created a new one on FPN, with images of the actual newspaper.

Let the Fountain Pens Flow! (https://www.nytimes.com/2018/12/26/style/fountain-pens.html)

"In this coldly pixelated age, old-fashioned writing implements make a small but meaningful comeback."


Click on thumbnails to enlarge

https://i.postimg.cc/DJLKVhg1/NYTimes-Ballpoints-Wont-Do-1.jpg (https://i.postimg.cc/HxPWys8v/NYTimes-Ballpoints-Wont-Do-1.jpg)

https://i.postimg.cc/qt9dZq8k/NYTimes-Ballpoints-Wont-Do-2.jpg (https://i.postimg.cc/RF0Vhnhn/NYTimes-Ballpoints-Wont-Do-2.jpg)

https://i.postimg.cc/K35Sz5Cz/NYTimes-Ballpoints-Wont-Do-3.jpg (https://i.postimg.cc/yxMVLQPF/NYTimes-Ballpoints-Wont-Do-3.jpg)

https://i.postimg.cc/64KxtPjg/NYTimes-Ballpoints-Wont-Do-4.jpg (https://i.postimg.cc/NF9s7q1s/NYTimes-Ballpoints-Wont-Do-4.jpg)

[Chrissy]

A friend of mine sent me this link (http://www.nytimes.com/2018/12/26/style/fountain-pens.html) overnight and I saw it this morning. :)

Brian Goulet was there as the guest of honor. I loved this bit: “He’s, like, a rock star in the world of pens,” said Steve Birkhold, the C.E.O. of Universal Luxury Brands, which own the American distribution rights to Lamy......

During his store appearance, he at first was standing by himself. As the evening drew on, and free champagne flowed, attendees edged closer to him, the way children may shyly creep toward a storyteller.

I felt envious that I wasn't there. :(

Was anyone from FPGeeks there?

[FredRydr]

... images of the actual newspaper....
Thank you! I have a NYT subscription to digital access and saved a PDF of the article, but it just isn't quite the same as the real newspaper.

[BlkWhiteFilmPix]

Perfect description.

Brian and Goulet Pens have done so much for the world of fountain pens, especially for those of us who don't have a brick and mortar store in our town.

[Empty_of_Clouds]

The NYT article, while not rigorously researched or particularly well-written, does at least raise awareness on the hobbyist aspect and use of fountain pens. It also highlighted that fountain pens seem to be have something of a resurgence of late, which is nice. There is a slightly interesting thread on Pentrace where one guy was bemoaning Brian Goulet's "rock star" epithet, for no real reason except perhaps a sense of his own (the poster's) self-appointed elitism. Elsewhere in that thread there were calls for greater communication between the (apparently shadowy) world of the older hobbyists and the new order - which is laudable - as well as statements by some who claim to do this (though this is not something I've personally witnessed, so I leave others to comment if they must).


However, even though I have only bought from Goulet once, it would be ridiculous to overlook the impact Brian and the company as a whole have had with regard to promoting our favourite writing tools, not just in the US but overseas too. Watching the company evolve has been both fun and informative - often more so than a forum such as this one.