​​ Husband, Father, Pastor

These two rollerball pens (gold from 1994, the sterling silver from 2015) are examples of the most commonly issued official presidential pens since the 1970's. These are large pens with precious metals while the presidential pens were typically black lacquer. 

The Cross Century II pens are a nice change from their typical very slim Cross pens. The first one is a black lacquer fountain pen with an 18K gold nib, in the center is a chrome Century II with a chrome nib and the pen on the right is a black laquer rollerball. 

These two are identical. I love these! They are Cross Classic Century pens.  They are quite inexpensive ($35). They write smooth and seldom skip.  

A red Aventura, a vintage Cross 1980's, a womens 14K gold ballpoint and a 14K gold Century pen.  So classic.

These bring back memories. This chrome pen and pencil set is from the 1970's. This inexpensive style pen has been carried in a lot of pockets over the years. They tend to be slippery, but they are always ready to work for you. This set is a part of the Classic Century line of pens that were first introduced in 1946.  

Sheaffer NoNonsense fountain pens were made from the late 70's. These are only worth between 10-20 dollars a piece these days, but becoming more difficult to find. I'm not real sure how I ended up with these, but they are kind of nice to have.

Sheaffer cartridge pens were popular school pens in the 1960’s-70's. The four on the left are my favorite models and are the same shape as the original Snorkel pen. They are all becoming more collectable and their cost continues to rise. 

The brown pen is a strange little thing, a 1940's Tuckaway vacuum filler. The other two are nearly identical Sheaffer Balance pens from the 1930's. One Balance is a bit longer than the other. The reason? I have no idea.

The striped pen is a 1940's Sheaffer Balance grey striated pen with a lever filler. Also pictured is a Sheaffer Targa 2005, 23K gold. electroplate with a 14K gold inlaid nib.  

In 1952 Sheaffer introduced the Snorkel pen line, which is recognized today as one of the most complex filling mechanisms ever made. They are both genius and too difficult to use.

The black pen is a 1920's necklace pen made of hard rubber (before plastics) and a beautiful Lady Sheaffer X Skripsert fountain pen -- 1959 Ivory Gold Tulle. Mmm.

This 1915, 18k gold nib, sterling silver filigree pen is special.  It has 452 stamped into the hard rubber at the bottom of the pen (4-sterling, 5- body size, 2- gold nib). It was given to me by one of my past administrative assistants, Scarlett Kray. This pen was owned by her grandfather, James Larue Butler, who passed away in 1948. It writes perfect and is in excellent condition. 

All Ranga pens are handmade in India.  They are beautiful pens and extremely well manufactured. This pen is 6 inches long and is always ready to write. You can find them online for under $100 and the selection is outrageous! You can piece one together by color, size, clip or clipless. All pen lovers need a Ranga or two in their collection. 

Not to be confused with Waterman that filed an FTC complaint (and prevailed) against Waterson for use of a misleading name.  Waterson is a middle to low end pen yet this one remains a favorite of mine. It has a 14k gold plated nib and has a gold filled repousse pattern on the barrel and cap. It is an eyedropper from around 1900. It writes well and is a desk pen (no clip).

This is a late 1890's Parker pen with gold plated bands and a gold nib. The black is hard rubber, pre-plastic. Lucky Curve is an ink supply system, designed to draw ink even when the pen was not in use, which was invented and patented by George Safford Parker in 1894.

Every pen collector has one of these in their collection. In the early 1900's Roy Conklin’s great innovation was his distinctive crescent-filler. This Ohio pen company was in business from 1898-1948, then back in business in 2000.   

This is a limited edition Italian made pen from 2005. You can spend as little as $300-400 for a Krone pen and up to $10,000. Even though this pen is at the lower end of cost, it is strangely very difficult to find. If you find one, buy it. I just love this Krone pen and will someday have the other two colors in the set.

Duofold (Latin for diploma), sold for twice the acceptable price ($7) for a pen during the 1920's when it was introduced. Arthur Doyle wrote the Sherlock Homes stories with one. This is a Lucky Curve, Christmas tree feed.  The filler is hidden under the blind cap at the very bottom of the pen. It is in perfect condition and writes beautifully.

This Italian made, sterling silver pen is Sarah's favorite. It is the usual pen in my pocket for funerals. As a simple clicker ballpoint pen it is always reliable. One could spend thousands on a Aurora but you can also have a nice writing instrument like this one for just over  $100.This was a gift in the late 1990's and is in regular use around our house.

I love Pelikan pens. This is a marbled green, piston fill pen with a gold binderized italic medium nib. Officemax was ending their line of pens. I bought nearly a dozen fountain, ballpoint and rollerballs. I also have the matching ballpoint to this one.  

New on the scene, since 1993, this Ohio fine pen company has built an impressive following. These two pens are Equipoise, in sierra sand. The twist ball point on the left is a limited edition Cigar Aficionado pen.

Here are three of my 5-6 Sheaffer Balance pens. The dark blue one from the 1990's has a matching rollerball that my son has absconded. The green and the black are from the 1950's.  I think if I had to limit myself to only one type of pen... it would be the sheaffer Balance.

Sheaffer Pen Corporation is an American manufacturing company of writing instruments, particularly luxury fountain pens. The company was founded by Walter A. Sheaffer in Fort Madison, Iowa, and incorporated in 1913 to exploit his invention of a lever-filling fountain pen (wiki)

The 1940's produced the distinctive looking pen, the Eversharp Skyline. They can be picked up these days for as low as 40 dollars.  The pen on the right is manufactured in China.  It is a Charlie Chaplin pen called Duke.

Esterbrook was at one time the largest pen manufacturer in the United States, having reached a record of producing 216,000,000 pens a year. Esterbrook was founded in 1859 and went out of business in 1971, then back again in 2014. These pens were very popular in schools and as desk pens.  The white Esterbrook Peanuts pen is fairly new, inexpensive and a limited edition. 

Mont Blanc is probably the most recognized fine pen brand. It is named for the impressive Mont Blanc on the border of France and Italy. Pictured is a SkyWalker, two Bohemes, a Greta Garbo, and a few Miesterstuck Classiuqes.  The pen on the far left is my favorite, a miesterstuck classique fountain #149 with a #4810 nib (height of Mont blanc in meters) with a 14k gold nib.

Why do I like these so much? These are from the 1930's- 1940's. They never caught on for the simple reason that they hold only a small amount of ink due to the space needed for the mechanical pencil. I carry them periodically and use only the pencil. 

Parker pens are originally from Madison Wisconsin, from the late 1800's. They are still recognized by an arrow clip.  

The center gold fountain pen is a Parker 75 cisele in vermielle, 1968. On the far right is a 1950's classic Parker 51 Flighter pen, stainless steel.

Pelikan pens date back to the mid/late 1800's in Germany. They always show up on the list of pen collectors most prized pens.  These are actually low end M200 and M205's. The fountains have gold nibs and range in price from 100-200 a piece. I like the way they sit low in the pocket and are always ready to write.  

These are all from the 1970's advertising campaign for the remaking of the old famous "Big Red" pen. The pens (three in the picture) are inexpensive rollerball pens and the garbage cans and glasses are ... well... they are on my list of things that will go to a nursing home with me someday.