August meet-up at the Vancouver Pen Shop! (photos - Part 2)

And now, some photos I took during our little soirée at the Vancouver Pen Shop, held on August 22nd! (Part 1 of our August meeting photos --those taken by Sherman-- were posted here)

(all photos by Maja ~ please click on images to enlarge)

The store stayed open during our meeting, so many of our members (like Colin above, being helped by Marlon) took advantage of this late-night shopping opportunity to buy some things...

Mohammad also bought something from the store that evening -- this gorgeous Montblanc Classique mechanical pencil!

(Cute dog who attended the meeting): "Did someone say "pencil"?? I thought this was a fountain pen club!!"

Yes -- "Pencils--any kind" was our meeting theme! It was actually suggested by Shannon, who brought one of the most interesting pencils I saw --this clarinet-shaped mechanical pencil! This eye-catching advertising pencil was made for the French company Selmer, makers of professional-grade musical instruments.

Vancouver Pen Shop staffer Sunshine brought his favourite pencils  (above) --a very nice mix of modern and vintage-- to the meeting, too.

Daryl's Monroe mechanical pencil advertising Black Top Cabs (above) is a handsome vintage example, but it's even more interesting when you turn it around....

...and see that it actually has cocktail recipes on its barrel! When you rotate the barrel to select a drink (w.g. a Manhattan), the drink's ingredients (and their proportions) appear in the barrel window. Not surpringly, this pencil's name was the Monroe "Cocktail Pencil".

That's David C. holding up two really nice vintage mechanical pencils---in his right hand is a Waterman '94' in the harder-to-find "Blue & Cream" colour, and in his other hand, a vintage Parker '51' cap-actuated mechanical pencil.

Asifa also brought a vintage Parker '51' pencil (top pen) to our meeting, and Phil brought a vintage Wahl mechanical pencil that belonged to his great-grandmother. The orange carpenter's pencil with advertising on it was a gift I got from Peter H. during the meeting (thanks again, Peter!).

 

Above: a vintage Autopoint mechanical pencil that belonged to Phil's grandfather with a "Property of the Canadian Bank of Commerce" imprint on it. Autopoint first began manufacturing mechanical pencils in Chicago in 1918 but, much later, developed financial troubles and was eventually sold to well-known vintage pencil expert Jonathan Veley in 2022.

The cool black and yellow mechanical pencil belonging to Renz is a modern pencil made by the Legendary Pencil Company (in Newark, Ohio) using New Old Stock parts from (guess who??) Autopoint, the company they acquired in 2022! Below Renz's pencil are two cute pencils that Asifa bought at a night market in Richmond :)

Above: Some nice modern pencils, including an OHTO Sharp Pencil 2.0 (with a 2mm lead), and a Uni Kuro Toga pencil belonging to Christina's husband. The Kuro Toga has a very interesting feature -- it has a mechanism that rotates the pencil lead every time you lift it (while writing), so the lead tip wears down evenly on all sides (side note: in the background of the photo, you can see one of the cool 3D-printed pen stands made by Amy H.)

Above: Part of Trevor's vast pencil collection!

The dark pink pencil in the center of the photo (which is shortened from use), is one that Trevor used in school (Wow! 😮).

I also brought some pencils, but mostly vintage:

(left side of case: a green unmarked vintage pencil and five Sheaffers; right side of case: a cream & black Diamond Medal pencil, two Eclipses, an unmarked vintage advertising pencil (for a poulterer's shop in Leicester, England), a vintage Pelikan 450 repeater pencil in "tortoiseshell" celluloid and a Parker '51' pencil; the pencil in the middle was made by Ketcham & McDougall of East Orange, New Jersey, and it's attached to a retractable chain and matching brooch that can be pinned onto clothing.

I brought some modern pencils, too:

(left to right): Pelikan 'Epoch', TWSBI 'Pagoda', Pentel 'Kerry', and a Faber-Castell 'e-motion' maple wood mechanical pencil.

Above: Me (in the middle), flanked by Vladan and Asifa. In the background, you can see Vancouver Pen Club members Peter H. (yellow cap) and Renz (standing in line behind Peter).

Our thanks to the good people at the Vancouver Pen Shop for being such gracious (and generous!) hosts! Another big "thank you" to everyone in our club who attended our August meeting; we had a huge turnout, so I didn't get a chance to photograph more people (and pencils lol), but thank you for your participation and support!

*** Info about our September meeting will be posted here on our website once the meeting venue has been confirmed. Until then, have a great week, and a great rest-of-August!

Best wishes,
~Maja