Cross fountain pens--May meeting

(click on photo to enlarge)

Many thanks to everyone who came to our meeting last night; we had 18 members in attendance, including one new member (Tony). I was a bit distracted by the Sheaffer Centennial celebration earlier that day (see blog post below)), having won a nifty Sheaffer "VFM" in the Strobe Silver colour, and almost forgot to snap some photos at our pen club meeting. The group shot I did take (see above), however, represents a nice cross-section (no pun intended!) of Cross' "early modern" fountain pens (from L-R)- my burgundy Cross Century Classic (aka Century I) & green Cross Metropolis, Dexter's white Cross Solo, my green Cross Solo (which is a darker green in real life) & black Cross Radiance, and Graham's chrome Cross Townsend Medalist (of which he wrote about here). I neglected to take photos of them, but we also saw nice examples of these Cross fountain pens:

• Century I ladies' model
• Century II
• Verve
• ATX
• Affinity
• Apogee
• Aventura
• Penatia "Lexington" (a Cross sub-brand)
• Paul Smith fountain pen (made by Cross for the fashion designer's line of writing instruments)

Our next meeting will be held at Perks on Thursday June 20 and will feature fountain pens that came in more than one size---e.g the Parker 51 (made in a standard size & Demi size), Visconti Van Gogh (made in the Maxi, Midi & Mini sizes). You don't have to bring examples of *all* the sizes made for a pen model---one is enough! There are no RSVPs necessary for meetings held at Perks pen store. Hope you can make it to our June meeting!

Late edit: We will be having our twice-yearly INK SWAP at the June meeting as well. It's strictly voluntary and you can bring in partially-filled bottles of ink and/or ink cartridges (those must be full ;) too.

Happy 100th birthday, Sheaffer!

Ok, it's a day early as the official Centennial Anniversary isn't until tomorrow, but there is a special Sheaffer event happening at the Vancouver Pen Shop that I wanted to mention. The store will be having a one-day celebration on Thursday May 16 (9:30am - 5:30pm) to mark the occasion. According to Shannon, there will be cake, prizes and a special discount of 20% on all Sheaffer writing instruments in the store... but just on that one day. The Vancouver Pen Shop is located at 512 West Hastings Street, here in Vancouver, B.C. (additional info I discovered late May 16th---the Sheaffer sale at the store continues with a 15% discount on all Sheaffers during the month of May at the Van. Pen Shop!)

From Sheaffer's official website here

The year 2013 represents a significant milestone for Sheaffer Pen: its one hundredth anniversary in the fine writing industry and its birth in Fort Madison, Iowa. On May 16, 1913 the W.A. Sheaffer Pen Company was incorporated in Fort Madison, Iowa for $35,000. Its founder and President was Walter A. Sheaffer, the humble gentleman who formed an idea, tested it, staked his life savings, and against all odds created one of the most highly respected and honored organizations around the world. It was the invention of the lever-fill fountain pen in 1907 that ignited a dream and gave the W.A. Sheaffer Pen Company its favored position in the industry. Little did Walter know, his namesake company would become a worldwide symbol of quality, craftsmanship, and innovation over the next 100 years. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Don't forget our pen club meeting also on Thursday May 16! It's at the usual place (Perks pen store at 5844 Cambie Street) and time (6:30pm-8:30pm). Our meeting theme for May will be "Cross Fountain Pens". Hope to see you there!