As we all know, there are two sides to the pen hobby: those who want a good pen to write with, and those who collect. I’m part of the former. I have a drawer-full of great writers as evidence that this is so. They come from every decade and from all over the globe. If there is a preponderance of Swans that’s because they are the best writers of all, not because I’m collecting them.
In truth I don’t really understand collecting. That’s not said in any way to disparage those who do collect. They are the founts of all knowledge of vintage pens. Even in this blog alone I wouldn’t be able to count the number of times collectors have come up with the information and evidence that has clarified puzzling situations.
When I was a child the collector mindset applied to books. If I got a book I really liked I had to get hold of everything by that author. Is that collecting? The same thing happened with music. That’s a completist mindset, isn’t it?
When it came to fountain pens I knew that people collected them and it seemed the thing to do. I was still in America then and amassing a never-ending collection of Conway Stewarts (the original ones, not the later counterfeits) seemed like a worthy challenge. I pulled together quite a good representation of what the company had done over the years. It was very expensive, though, and I didn’t have a lot of money to throw at it.
We married and I – and my Conway Stewarts – moved to Scotland. My husband and I gradually fell into a pen restoration and sales business. It dawned on me that my real pleasure lay in seeing, handling and writing about every pen I could lay my hands on. Ownership of a collection didn’t satisfy me in the same way. I sold the Conway Stewarts.
This leaves me with another question. Is this blog with all its articles on the pens I found a collection in itself? With no glass cases of gleaming celluloid, am I still a collector?
Though it isn’t for me, I can see the pleasure and satisfaction that must come from having a historic collection of all the pens turned out by a manufacturer. Of course that’s more possible with some brands than others! Then there’s all the research which, for me, is a joy in itself. Each pen is a document which tells us much about the development of the brand. Changes between one pen and another may indicate that there was another pen in between, in the development of that model. Then the search is on again.
There are some very wealthy people who collect cars and motorbikes, something well outside my financial capability! But there are so many “small objects of desire” that catch the eye and attention. Writing accounts for many of those: pens, pencils, inkwells, even the more unusual things like quill cutters. And on the subject of cutting, old penknives and pocket knives with their varying mechanisms, blade shapes, different scales – a perfect area for the collector. Then there’s treen, Black Forest carved figurines, vintage thimbles (not those made to be collected modern ones), tools and a host of other things.
I confess that though I understand the area of collection I still don’t understand collection. Enlighten me!
Goodwriterspens's Blog 
It’s a touchy subject and rarely discussed in fountain pen forums. I’m glad you brought it about it.
Any act of “collecting”, can be considered a form of addiction, to compensate, self-sooth for trauma experienced as a child. We can give it noble names, collecting, investing etc, or to say, that it’s better than hard drugs, alcohol and what not. But without awareness, mindfulness practice, therapy, and especially self-compassion, we are just playing ostrich.
You can read more on the link below or watch Gabor Maté, and his many videos on Youtube.
https://www.mindhealth360.com/dr-gabor-mate-on-addiction/
The author himself, a doctor, was addicted to collecting classical music CDs, to the point of missing a medical procedure.
All very interesting, Bob, and exactly what I was looking for!
Gabor Mate is a wonderful person to bring up when talking about addiction/collecting. He’s a very good writer, which isn’t always the case for science writers.
Thank you, Reese.
Deb. Great subject !
Here’s a possible ‘third category’ ? I’ve been into writing with fountain pens since my boarding school days , and I’ve always had one or two kicking around.
After retiring, and pulling out a box of them which I’d kept since those days, I got savaged by the collecting bug and launched into a buying spree that is only now starting to wind down as the number of pens I have reaches ridiculous levels.
However, I try to use as many of them as possible.
I keep a daily journal, sometimes writing several pages a day, and like to have at least four or five different pens inked and in use each day !!
The journal isn’t about content as such, it’s all about actually writing with the pen
I’m addicted to watching the letters come off the nib and trying to make each one as perfect as I can .
I confess that I have an embarrassing number of pens, mostly very old ones, but no small number of later classics too, but I love writing with each and every one of them…and I maintain them in perfect condition so that they are always ready to be used ….
Hi , my name is Rob, and I haven’t bought a pen for …several days 🤣😩
Pen addicts anonymous.
I think you’re on the see-saw, Rob, with the collector on one side and the writer on the other. You have some wonderful pens and the taste and knowledge to acquire the best but in the end you come down on the writer side.
Absolutely I agree with you. Although I’ll not get rid of my pens they are all stored away. Every so often I take one and write with it. My taste of amassing them has disappeared. Shocking. The pens I use at the moment are Montblanc and one Swan. I love my Swans. Big hug. Rui
So good to hear from you! You seem not to be unhappy with your collection of pens though you are n longer adding to it. From memory you have a superb collection. Even if you never buy another pen you have some absolutely first class pens.
Hi, Deb. Paraphrasing Alexander Pope, my collecting urge has been “this long disease [of] my life”. I’ve been an inveterate collector all my life, and I cannot explain why. As a child I loved looking in the windows of fancy cake shops to see the regiments of Florentines, eclairs, jam doughnuts and the like arrayed in parade-ground fashion, feeling just a little disappointed when one of the trays was disfigured by a sale of said item.
Decimus shares this mania; however, he eats whatever he finds so his collection never amounts to much.
BTW, Conways are an ideal subject for a collector, and I really like the way they write. They may not surpass our beloved Swans and Onotos, but it’s hard to find a bad one. And, they’re pretty (not a BPS man, sorry.)
The interesting story about the cakes suggests that you would wish your pen collections to be complete – not an easy thing with Conways now – maybe even impossible. It’s true that Conways and Burnhams are by far the most colourful of the British pens. The old plum marbled 286 is a common pen but also a thing of great beauty as your eye plunges into the depth of the pattern.
Yes: I liked coins in those days (1960s), model soldiers, and loved making model aeroplanes, of the old Airfix ‘Tiger Moth’ variety, and model sailing ships. Of course, I had no idea that there were different types of fountain pens; they were just like pencils–all much of a muchness, and all the same price (other than my precious Derwents.) The pen collecting came very much later, long after the children had left home and produced grand-children.
Thank you, Michael. All these comments are helpful and I will have more to write about later.
In addition: did you or do you collect things other than pens?
I wish I could enlighten you about collecting but it’s some sort of subconscious compulsion built into my DNA that I can’t explain. I’ve collected all sorts of things starting with Star Wars cards in the late 1970’s, coins, antique cameras/bottles/trumpets, etc. I ended up collecting vintage fountain pens when I couldn’t find any modern ones that did what I want. I mainly care about the nib and filling mechanism. (I like fine/italic flex nibs and appreciate the simplicity of the lever filler). I’m trying to keep it at about 20-25 pens and half are Mabie Todds. My first was a Waterman 52 and my favorite is a flexy italic Mabie Todd Calligraph. About 85% of them are black. I wish they were all different colors, but I buy them for the little 14k thing at the end 🙂
That sounds like my own accumulation!
Haha excellent! I think I read somewhere else on this blog that you’re a Mabie Todd fan as well.
Oh, just a bit…
It’s god paper.
Late to the party, but. There are two kinds of collections: finite and infinite, according to Susan Stewart in On Longing. (I forget if the UK edition omits the collecting part). She puts the Collection opposite the Souvenir. Worth a read. I posit a third category, the Accumulation, to which I am more prone.
Seems I just won three Swans this morning. I’m not sure what I’ve just done.
I accumulate too. I haven’t read that book. Added to the reading list. Congratulations on your three Swans!