Travelling with a complement of vintage pens & mechanical pencils

(~Blog post & photos courtesy of Christopher~)

"Every year my wife, Chris and I spend time at our condo in Hawaii. Admittedly, I have found that it is hard, if not impossible, to be without at least some of the vintage pens which have become a major part of my daily life. Still, travelling with pen and ink can be a problem. So, over the years I have developed a safe and satisfying pen and ink travelling case and outfitted it to keep me happy.

I started with a designer sunglasses case. A case that was big enough to contain all of the following elements, essential to being able to enjoy my vintage pens when out and about:

1. Parker Demi Jotter ballpoint. 2. Parker Vacumatic Slender, Circa 1936 3. Parker Vacuum Filler, ‘Stubby’, Circa 1932 4. Bottle of Diamine Meadow ink, small. 5. Salz Bros, Peter Pan, Gold Overlay, tiny. 6. Aikin Lambert 14k retractable, Circa 1882 7. Crystal x20 open magnifying loupe. 8. Needle nose fine point tweezers. 9. Three surface triangular metal file. 10. Plastic straw, short. 11. Linen cleaning cloth, soft. 12. Bottle of polishing liquid, small. 13. Sheet of 8000 Micro mesh polishing cloth 14. Polishing brush, two different ends. 15. Polishing cloths, 2 different types . 16. Buffing cloth, coarse weave.

 (~click on images to enlarge~)

For a number of years, this traveling pen case was enough but, in the years that followed, I found that I needed more support items! To this end, I secured a medium sized lady’s two sided cloth and clear plastic cosmetic bag, just perfect for all of the additional items! I outfitted it with the smaller pen travelling case kit plus the following:

1. A set of disposable Bic fountain pens. 2. A handful of Q tips. 3. A jar of Brasso polish, small. 4. Visconti inkpot full of Waterman purple ink 5. Lady’s Wahl pen/pencil set Circa 1928. 6. Eversharp Bantam Circa 1933. 7. Bottle of Diamine Cherry Black, small. 8. Folding glasses in small case. 9. Designer 14k Gold & Cream thin ballpoint. 10. Parker Vacumatic Standard Circa 1952. 11. Parker Vacumatic Debutante Circa 1945. 12. Parker 51 Vacumatic Deb. Circa 1947. 13. Vasoline, miniature bottle. 14. Linen napkin, soft. 15. The Illustrated Guide to Antique Writing Instruments, softcover book 16. Miller Guide to Pens, Softcover book.

I suppose any vintage pen collector would comment “What next, the kitchen sink?” (editor's note: did you notice the sink in the top photo? ;) and sure, if you are only traveling for four or five days, the smaller pen traveling kit would be just fine. But on the other hand, if your vacation is more like weeks or even a month, then the larger package is more realistic . Face it --and especially when it comes to vintage pens-- variety is the spice of life."

 Our thanks to Christopher for sharing his "travelling companions" with us!