Originally Posted by
linkoiram
Originally Posted by
silverlifter
The reality is that those of thus that grew up using fountain pens, and being exposed to them, are dying off. Why would someone born in 2000 care about a PFM? It has no cultural significance for them (other than a potentially offensive name).
The other factor is that much of the social media engagement around pens is really more about shopping that it is about pens per se. Scrolling through reddit and instagram is mostly like turning on the shopping channel on TV: it's just post after post of a variation on "Ooh, shiny!".
As for the price of vintage. I completely agree. But scarcity drives price and there aren't all that many PFM IVs left. Sadly.
As someone born in 1999 I care about a PFM. Although I am sure I'm the exception rather than the rule. Many younger pen enthusiasts seem to be all about collecting special editions of modern pens (at least in my experience) although I don't see the allure in a special color that I know would be difficult to replace in the case the pen disappears.
I care about the PFM too, as someone born in 1997, but I care about it as a piece of design history, which is probably a fringe reason to care about fountain pens generally. (I actually think its bold clip and cap rings are reminiscent of the modern style we see today with brands like TWSBI etc.)
It is unfortunate that people my age largely neglect vintage pens, but I don't really blame them. They are easily pigeon-holed: many look thoroughly antiquey, with their trim worn, their celluloid patterns out of style, their usability highly dependent on their restoration, their bladders or diaphragms sensitive to some inks. Those that are full-size in the modern sense command a premium, especially when they are from a top-tier brand. The more affordable ones are often lesser-known, with their exact performance and feel a question mark. As someone who's been trying to pull my own espresso for the last 6 months, I can sympathize with being overwhelmed and letting that breed a single-minded want for a highly-reviewed, brand-new product that other people insist is just the thing you'll need.
And yet, as people often neglect to mention, the performance of fountain pens hasn't improved since the heyday of the '50s. These are not cars, where whole new technologies render them vastly more reliable, efficient, and comfortable than was imaginable 60 years ago. A good number of vintage pens write in ways that no modern pen can replicate, with a more refined style than is offered today, and with specific ergonomics--in part from materials like celluloid and hard rubber--scarcely available from current production pens. A good number of these are no less reliable in normal use than the average modern one. All this is to say that neglecting vintage pens outright doesn't make logical
or sentimental sense--unless, of course, the sentiment is, as Jon would cynically seem to put it, the aspiration of new things primarily for social display. In that context, the fuel is the release cycle, the surface-level dynamism it implies. Vintage pens,
ipso facto, cannot replicate the excitement of new releases that might fuel youthful internet community consumerism. I just hope that maybe some of these social consumers grow to truly love using FPs for their own grace, outside of any social medium, wise up, and try out some vintage pens.
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