Pelikan Pens
Favorite Fountain Pens: Lapis Blue Pelikan 101
By null — Like most collectors, those of us who pursue pens have a Holy Grail that we burn for, even while recognizing that we may never find it. For me that pen was the lapis blue Pelikan 101. The 101 model was made in five different colors and two different configurations in very small numbers from 1935 until 1938. Before I found my lapis 101, I had about five of the 10 possible variants (see photo above for the current state of my 101 collection), at least one in each color except the blue. Few...
The Pinnacle of Pens: Author Barry Gabay on Writing in Style and the Montblanc 149
By Maribeth Keane and Brad Quinn — In 1908, three guys in Hamburg, Germany, founded what would become Montblanc. In the beginning it was known as the Simplo Filler Pen Company—“filler” because their pen featured a filling mechanism that set it apart from desk-dip pens, which was what most of the world used at that time. It wasn’t until 1910 that the firm released a pen with the Montblanc name on it—in 1924, Montblanc was added to the company’s name. Mont Blanc, of course, is a mountain in France, on the French-Italian...
Pelikan Pen Collector Rick Propas: An Interview with Collectors Weekly
By Maribeth Keane and Bonnie Monte (Copyright Collectors Weekly 2010) — It was back in 1997 that I first got interested in Pelikans. That was in the early days of Internet boards and discussion groups, and there was this big buzz about the modern Pelikan 800. I was really curious about them. At the time, I collected American pens almost exclusively. I was about to turn 50 and I was going on and on about these new Pelikan pens. Finally my wife said, “Well, why don't you just shut up and buy one?” So I went ahead and bought a Pelikan M800, and I liked it a...
Vintage Sheaffer, Parker, Wahl, and Waterman Fountain Pens
By Maribeth Keane — When I got my first job out of college, I did what a lot of people do: I ran out and bought myself a Montblanc pen and fountain pen set. I kept that pen for years, but in the mid-’90s, I lost the ballpoint at a business meeting. I gave it to somebody to use, and they didn’t give it back, which is the common way people lose pens. It wasn’t like the Montblancs you see today, with the twist cap that everybody has in their pocket. It was actually a special one made out of metal, a push...