November meeting photos!

Our November 2023 meeting was held on the 16th at a brand-new venue for our club -- the Renfrew branch of the Vancouver Public Library, in Vancouver's north-east.

Our meeting theme was supposed to be "Fountain Pens Marketed to Specific Genders", but the meeting wound up being a lot more unstructured lol (we had a very large turnout and I was really late in arriving). From the feedback I got, though, it sounds like most everyone had a great time just chatting about pens and showing each other their newest acquisitions & current favourites.

I snapped some photos during the meeting and Sherman sent me the ones he took, so without further ado, here they are!

(photos 1-13 & 20 from Maja; photos 14-19 courtesy of Sherman ~ click on images to enlarge)

It was great to see both of our club's co-founders at the meeting! 😃 That's me (Maja) between Tim Conklin (on the left) and Bill Kempton. Tim and Bill co-founded our club back in 2006 -- time flies!

Bill remembered to bring something for our meeting topic--this lovely swirly dark pink vintage lever-filler by the British company Onoto. Bill said he acquired the pen in Australia and that it came with its original box & paperwork, as well as a note indicating the name of its original owner, a Miss/Mrs. Mountbatten.

Bill also brought a couple of modern fountain pens to the meeting-- a Blue-Striped Pelikan 'M215' and a glossy Conklin 'Cresecent-Filler" in chased black plastic and rose gold trim, both gifts from our mutual friend Glenn G. in Australia  (and no-- our co-founder Tim Conklin is not related to the Conklin Pen Company lol). I love Bill's classy monogrammed leather journal cover...

 

I also brought something for our meeting's primary theme--a black Sheaffer 'Pen For Men' (PFM I) and a Wearever 'Lady Fair'--two vintage pens definitely marketed to specific genders.

Many thanks to my fellow VPC member, Nathan, for the wonderful 6-pen case--which he personalized for me himself (love it!)-- in the photo above. His excellent pen review YouTube channel "Doodlebud" is highly-recommended if you enjoy intelligent, concise pen reviews done in an engaging style by someone with a good sense of humour and an engineering point-of-view.

Stuart (who suggested our November theme) brought in this stunning vintage Sheaffer desk set (which fellow VPCer Karen rightly called a "showstopper")...

The fine bone china base was made by the famous American manufacturer Lenox, makers of tableware for several U.S. Presidents.

I love the base's subtly scalloped, delicately-upturned edges.....

(photo above) From the sticker affixed to the bottom of the base, we can see that this Sheaffer desk set is model 2710L, the "Lenox China Writing Set" and that its original price was $27.50 (most likely in the late 1950s). This would be close to $300 USD in today's dollars, a not insignificant amount. The desk pen accompanying the base is a lovely Lady Sheaffer fountain pen in the gold "Moire" pattern.

Another wonderful vintage desk set made by an American company---Karen's Parker 51 double desk set with a white & brown veined marble base...

The desk set was acquired by Karen from an antique store in southern Manitoba. Karen joined our club during the early part of the pandemic, and attended her first in-person meeting this month!

Dana --who we hadn't seen in ages (welcome back, Dana!)-- also acquired something from a far-flung part of Canada, the lovely modern fountain pen that's second from the right in the photo above - a Franklin-Christoph Model 46 "Stars on Sapphire Lakes" special edition made for Gourmet Pens, a well-known Canadian "penfluencer".

The pen's resin material (specially made for this LE pen by Stormwinds Creations) was inspired by the West Kootenay hiking trails in British Columbia --from Gourmet Pens' website: "The upper and lower lakes boast shimmering turquoise waters, waterfalls, exquisite flora, and breathtaking views. When night falls and the sky is clear and glowing, the reflection of the stars in the crisp water is a peek into another world right here on our planet."

Dana bought the pen in person at Scriptus, the annual one-day pen show held in Toronto each October. She also acquired another Franklin-Christoph special edition at the pen show (not shown), a Model 20 fountain pen made for Canadian retailer Wonder Pens. The other pens in the case are: (L-R) Dana's Pelikan 'M805' Transparent English Etchings, Pelikan 'M805' Blue Dunes, Pilot 'Custom 823', a green-striped Pelikan 'M800' (with a fantastic reground nib), and a Leonardo 'Momento Magico'.

Keen vintage pen collector Grant also brought a recent acquisition to show -- a handsome vintage Parker 'Duofold' Senior (a/k/a "Big Red") with a very crisp barrel imprint --and a sentimental pen, his great-grandfather's vintage Waterman fountain pen (unknown model) with a "Made in Canada" imprint and accommodation clip.

It was brand-new member David's first Vancouver Pen Club meeting, but he brought a bevy of very nice vintage fountain pens to show. In the photo above, there are several by Parker (left to right:a black & pearl 'Duofold' flat top, four Vacumatics, a '51', a Striped Duofold, and a '45'), as well as a black vintage Waterman '94' and a Wahl-Eversharp 'Skyline' (far right of photo)-- a great sampling of classic vintage models!

And speaking of new members, that's Sherman taking a selfie with (left to right) newcomers Nicole, Maria and Rumi! (longtime members Sabrina and Jerred --far right--can be seen in the background)

Skye (waving) had a huge pen & ink sale going on during the meeting! This downsizing-sale-prior-to-a-big-move benefited many of our members, who got some amazing inks and high-quality fountain pens for rock-bottom prices 😁,

Sherman took home a couple of nice bargains himself -- a bottle of Montblanc ink and a pen by Leonardo Officina Italiana.

(Above) Sherman's new Leoanrdo 'Momento Zero' in Turqoise Green/Black Pen Chalet special edition, made for the well-known American online retailer. The pen was an even better deal because the nib suffered a tragic accident while Skye owned it. Hopefully, Sherman can get the nib fixed (or acquire a replacement nib) to get this Italian beauty up & running!

Sherman's new ink--a bottle of Montblanc 'Modena Red'...

Many other members acquired new pens and/or inks during Skye's sale, like Amy who acquired one of her "grail pens":

...this gorgeous Pelikan M600 'Violet-White' fountain pen! (yay, Amy :).

Many thanks to Sherman for sharing the photos he took during our November meeting, the Vancouver Public Library's Renfrew branch for allowing us the use of their Branch Meeting Room, and to everyone who came to the meeting!
~December meeting info will be posted here by the end of November~

(~Blog post by Maja~)