Friday, June 24, 2011

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ Engraved Pens ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Thanks to all who brought examples of pens with names or initials engraved to our last meeting on June 16th. Our next meeting will be held on July 21st at the Vancouver Public Library's Oakridge branch (please see previous blog post for details).

I took a couple of quick shots of a few of the engraved pens I brought with me and wanted to share them with you (click on photos to enlarge). Normally my photographs don't turn out this good, but I had some lovely late afternoon light to help me.



The top photograph shows three vintage Sheaffers (from top to bottom: a carmine-striped Sheaffer Balance, a black Sheaffer Touchdown 'Autograph' and a marine green Sheaffer Balance 'Autograph', with their previous owners' names engraved on them.




The second photo shows two modern ballpoints (a lovely Parker Classic ballpoint in the Milleraies pattern with the name of our brother-in-law's late uncle engraved on it, and a Sheaffer '300' ballpoint with my own name engraved ---a 2010 Christmas gift from myself to myself :)

There is an excellent article on PenHero.com about the Sheaffer 'Autograph' and 'Signature' pens here . After purchasing one of these pen models from a Sheaffer dealer, the buyer signed a card with his/her signature on it, and then the dealer sent the pen & card to the Sheaffer pen company to be engraved by their specially-trained personnel. The result was a signature as close to the original as possible. I have a large Sheaffer flat-top with an 'Autograph' band, but its former owner chose not to have his signature engraved on it, opting for his name to be embossed on the barrel. To each his own, I guess! I personally love the look of an engraved signature (or nicely engraved initials) on a vintage fountain pen.

Sunday, June 19, 2011

July meeting info (including new venue details)

Our July meeting will be held at the VPL's Oakridge branch. Please note: this is *not* a permanent venue change; we just needed a venue with air-conditioning for this hot summer month :)

Time: Thursday July 21, 2011
Place: Community Room (Meeting Room) at the Vancouver Public Library's Oakridge branch -- #191 - 650 West 41st Avenue, Vancouver, B.C. (behind the Oakridge Mall, by Kin's Market).
Time: 6:15pm to 8:30pm
Theme: "Made in Canada"----writing instruments made in Canada, plus INK SWAP!
As always, "New Acquisitions" is our secondary topic.

By popular demand, we will be doing another INK SWAP at the July meeting. Please bring any inks you don't want with you to the meeting and trade them with a fellow VPC member for ink/inks that you *will* use! No obligation to bring any inks if you love and use *all* your inks, of course :) Bottles and cartridges for trade are both fine for the Ink Swap.

Everyone welcome to attend & no admittance fees! We are a very casual club with no membership dues, so please drop by if you are interested in joining.
Any questions? Please contact us at vancouverpenclub@gmail.com


VPC meetings are held monthly, on the third Thursday of each month, *except for* December. Check this website for schedule changes/updates.

Thursday, June 2, 2011

What's in a Name?? (June meeting details)

Here are the details about our next meeting....

Time: Thursday June 16, 2011
Place: Perks pen store, 5844 Cambie Street (@ 42nd Avenue), Vancouver, BC (tel# 604-266-3911)
Time: 6:00-6:30pm "Meet & Greet"..... 6:30pm-8:30pm Meeting.
Theme: Pens with Names or Initials Engraved.
I have several old fountain pens with names engraved and I tracked down some info on (what I think were) their previous owners, so I will bring it (and the pens) to the meeting. Please feel free to do the same.

As always, "New Acquisitions" are our secondary topic.

Hope to see a good turnout! (and Go Canucks Go! :)


Late addition: Here's a photo (taken by Richard) at the June meeting....
~~Click on photo to enlarge~~Pictured (clockwise from center): Glenn M.(center-with glasses), David S., Glenn C., Maja, Louise, Norm, Bill K., Bruce R., Karlo and Hillary.