I use mechanical pencils - don't like the old-fashioned kind that have to be sharpened! LOL Usually I just use cheap disposable mech. pencils.

We have been going through my Mom's house, sorting stuff and getting ready to put it on the market. She made donations to many groups like Paralyzed Veterans and WWF and they all kept sending her note pads with her name printed on them. We've found dozens and dozens of them. Did she use them? Not much - mostly she would take flyers from the newspaper that were blank on the back and neatly cut them into quarters for note paper! Came from being a child of the depression, I guess.

Donna

I still have a pen that uses Schaffer ink cartridges (which now have to be ordered online). That is from my days of taking shorthand. The ink flows freely and never skips; neither does the point dull like a pencil. I have a collection of ballpoint pens. I carry one in my purse and use them around the house, but they do dry up by the time I finish a few.

I like nice stationery, too, although I don't write very many letters anymore. Today I sent a couple of birthday cards and thank you notes and had to use leftover Christmas stamps because I haven't been to the Post Office for so time.

Carolyn, that reminded me that my Mom had a stash of about 100 1-cent stamps, too!

Carolyn, stamps can be bought at your local food market the next time you shop. I, too, receive a lot of pads printed with my name and use them faithfully.

Guilty on all counts: love books and notebooks and pens. I have a small collection of fountain pens I bought over the years. Some more expensive (usually gifts) and others less so. My favorite for every day writing is the Pilot Retractable, very practical when I was on a plane for work 2 or more times a week. The cabin pressure sometimes caused leaks with the others, not so much with this one. I cannot pass by an interesting notebook or journal, though I am trying. A friend gifted me with several Moleskine notebooks that he bought and discovered he had too many, and I am waiting for inspiration to use them. The reaction when people see me write with a fountain pen is usually something along the lines of "That is fancy". To me, it just makes my less than great handwriting look better, and I love the way it feels and looks. I will be looking into the pens you mentioned. Last time I ordered refills for the Pilot my computer mouse somehow managed to add three Pilot Varsity disposable fountain pens in different colors, which I am enjoying.

Great minds think alike! :-)

I've always adored old fashioned fountain pens, pretty notecards, elegant monogrammed stationary, and nice journals. I even like the variety of postage stamps that we see nowadays. My favorite fountain pen I got in the early 70's which I loved because it wrote Italic. I still miss that and using the colored inks.

I truly regret that we now send e-mails or text rather than use old fashioned "snail" mail. I have a box of lovely cards that I wonder who would appreciate. I think something has been truly lost, with technology, etc. I still have a few friends with whom I exchange letters written by hand.

I write in a journal nightly but use felt tip pens because they seem to glide best across the paper, a second best to fountain pen ink.

I should add that I am also a writer....

My first thought is, "thank goodness I am not alone." It is getting harder and harder to find a good stationer's store these days. I fondly remember department stores that used to carry a selection (albeit small) of quality pens.

Wood, like you, and Carolyn, I also miss the days of writing and receiving letters. Something has been lost when all communication takes place via screen. And I find, even in cards, people add less and less of their own sentiments and usually just scribble a name or two at the bottom. I remember when my grandmother died, we found her stash of cards. She had kept every card she ever received throughout her life. I have no idea if she ever looked at them again or just could not bear to throw them out. But they had lovely thoughts and notes written inside of them and there seemed to be a REASON to hang onto them.

I have a bit of a heavier hand when writing and while fountain pens always glided well, felt tip pens got "stuck". I admire those who can make them glide as I am definitely not one of them. They do come in lovely colors these days.

And I confess, that much like katmarie's wayward mouse somehow ordering extra pens, I do find that pens from many shops and offices find their ways into my purse. Many times, I have no idea that I managed to take a pen. It is some sort of subconscious thing. Now I try to warn all receptionists... please keep an eye on me. I do tend to steal pens.

PAM

Pam, my mother saved many lovely cards from friends and relatives, which I enjoyed finding after her death. I seem to have inherited this trait. Over the years, I received so many artistic cards, some from Europe, that I could not bear to throw them away, although I did "weed out" many when I relocated.

I agree, it is hard to find nice stationary and artistic cards increasingly. And people just don't send cards to friends anymore, it seems, preferring to save money on postage and use a keyboard.

This topic reminds me of the present drive to do away with learning cursive handwriting in schools. I think that's a real loss, as well. I've saved old letters from my late grandfather, who had the most incredibly elegant cursive handwriting. I think it was called "Spencerian." His script inspired me to attempt self-taught calligraphy.

Pam, my mother saved many lovely cards from friends and relatives, which I enjoyed finding after her death. I seem to have inherited this trait. Over the years, I received so many artistic cards, some from Europe, that I could not bear to throw them away, although I did "weed out" many when I relocated.

I agree, it is hard to find nice stationary and artistic cards increasingly. And people just don't send cards to friends anymore, it seems, preferring to save money on postage and use a keyboard.

This topic reminds me of the present drive to do away with learning cursive handwriting in schools. I think that's a real loss, as well. I've saved old letters from my late grandfather, who had the most incredibly elegant cursive handwriting. I think it was called "Spencerian." His script inspired me to attempt self-taught calligraphy.

I enjoy using a red or green ink pen at Christmastime when writing notes on cards.

I apologize for the double post. I don't know how that happened.

Pink, I do the same.

Are any of the rest of you old enough to have had the perfectly formed capital and lower case letters on strips along the top of your schoolroom blackboards? At the time my mother went to a teachers' college, all students getting an elementary teaching degree had to take a penmanship course so that they could teach it to their students. She had that beautiful handwriting, and the course was still being offered as an elective when I went to the same college which had become a state university. I took it, too, and it improved my handwriting tremendously.

There is at least one shop I know of, fairly close to me, that still carries good stationery and pretty invitations, greeting cards, and gifts, as well as offering whatever printed invitations you want, i.e., wedding, etc.

I kept the most meaningful sympathy cards when my mother died. I regret now that I didn't keep them all.

Not teaching cursive in schools drives me up the wall. Aside from it being faster than manuscript, how will those poor people read old documents?

When I went to Hong Kong in 1986 I bought a Shaeffer White Dot pen from the duty free shop. I had always wanted one but they were a luxury! Once on the plane everyone tore wrappings off their duty free watches and other goodies and I eagerly wrote on a scrap of paper to use my pen. It was faulty! I did get a refund later but had to borrow a pen from the stewardess to fill out some paperwork needed on landing!

I still have the replacement pen and use it to make daily entries into a diary. I buy the same brand every year from a nearby newsagent and eagerly await the new arrivals to see what cover artwork is being featured.

They are always interesting. This year was Roses and Cherubs.

Carolyn, yes, I do remember the cursive letters placed on school blackboards. We were also given, in second grade, little books that informed us how to write Spencerian cursive handwriting. My teacher was very strict about this task!

Mary, little paperback long books with a few letters on each page? I remember those!

Exactly, Carolyn!

I still see those alphabet letter strips along the tops of elementary school classroom walls. Maybe now they're a tongue in cheek decoration. I remember cursive instruction, and we'd send our papers off to be graded by the company selling the curriculum to our school, and there'd be a monthly winner. Never me.

A good pen is a pleasure to use, as is a sharpened pencil. I think my own handwriting has deteriorated since we do so much on the computer and phone (love voice to text) so my focused writing is relegated to thank you notes. woodnymph, how does a pen write in italic?

Here in the UK, ballpoint pens were frowned on for use in school as they led to sloppy writing. I am so old I remember when we moved on from using just pencils (and yes, they must have a good sharp point) to using 'dip pens' with those steel nibs that required careful pressure or the two points of the nib bent and writing came out 'double'. The ink came in huge bottle and had to be transferred to small china inkwells that sat in a hole on the corner of each desk. Horrible boys used to dip the pig-tales of the girls in front into the inkwells.

To be chosen as 'ink monitor' was considered a very special privilage!

On reaching secondary school age we had to start learning italic script and buy those fountain pens with square ended nibs. As a result everyone had horrible hand writing as italic doesn't flow easily and it takes years to master the 'art'. I don't know for how long this fad lasted, but certainly many people have pretty shoddy handwrting these days.

The 'old fashioned' style of writing is known as copper-plate over here (from the time when it was used by engravers). When done properly it is truly a work of art.

bookmom I think it must have been woodnymph's hand that caused the pen to perform in italic ;-)

bookmom, there was a special sort of pen made in the late 60's- early 70's that had a tip especially so it would write Italic script. I was introduced to it by an artist. I've forgotten the name -- will try to look it up. It used the old fashioned sort of ink. I've never loved a pen since.

I am very fussy about pencils: they must have a sharp tip and have to be at least a No. 2. I can't abide faint pencil writings.

Well, call me dense but I don't get it. How is italic writing different from just writing cursive? I've googled to see images (admittedly on my phone so the results are tiny) and can't see what differentiates the two. Is italic like printing but slanted? And would you print like you normally would but it would come out slanted thanks to the nib? This is kind of fascinating.

Adding: re ink. It is almost imossible to buy regular bottles of ink these days. Artists ink is still available from specialist supply shops but at enormous expense. And even ink for the computer printer is, drop for drop, much more expensive than vintage champagne.

Our house used to have one room facing onto the village street that was used as the Post Office. When we moved in much of the old paraphernalia was still here (no Penny Blacks though) and I have before me a now empty bottle of 'Post Orrice' ink labelled On Her Majesty's Service Aylburton 27 - 6 - 62. I wonder how many forms, all in triplicate, the village Post Master had to fill in to claim his new bottle of ink.

BTW Post Offices over here were notorious for having terrible 'dip' pens with broken and bent nibs, almost impossible to use when filling in a telegram, or similar, form.

Perhaps I am a reincarnated version of the staving writer in the garret, but I find myself wanting to learn that italic script, Vee, with dip pen, and bottle of ink, and hours of time to practice without the confines of home, job, dog, bills, cooking, shopping, laundry, etc. Thank you for sharing the details. I see calligraphy sets for sale in craft supply stores like Michael's or Hobby Lobby here in the USA. I am sure there must be a square nib enclosed in the kit.

Vee, there is a catalog available that sells the most beautiful pens and also bottles of ink. It is called Fahrney's. They have a free catalog available on their website.The link to Fahrney's Pens in Washington, D.C.

Add me to the list of RP-ers who remember cursive lessons. It was an honor to be chosen to start learning cursive in first grade. Those with sloppy printing had to wait until the second grade to begin their cursive journey. I will age myself and say that first grade for me was 1972. My teacher had chalk holders that held three pieces of chalk so she could create the same cursive lines on the chalkboard as on our (mint green) lined paper. I loved cursive then, and I love it now. I have journals for every topic and have just become enamored with the "bullet journal" concept as an additional cursive/penmenship/creative outlet.

And how will today's non-cursive-writing youth buy a house or a car? Sign a check? It has shadows of The Handmaid's Tale and I like it NOT one bit.

I think we should start a movement to bring back hand-written communication.

PAM

msmeow, I saw your post about the 100 1-cent stamps and wanted to share a funny story. When my little sister was in college, I used to try to make her mail interesting. I would fill out and return all of the little cards for free travel info so she got brochures from around the world, I would slide paper into a typewriter diagonally (I collect old typewriters...they take up lots of space...haha) and write a single-spaced diagonal letter (she needed a ruler to read it), or double space it and write top to bottom, then reverse it and type the other way around. But once, I sent her a letter using all one-cent stamps. The "lady" in the post office actually yelled at me. I told her it was akin to buying something with pennies... she may not LIKE it, but it was still legal. But I admit, she intimidated me and for years, I would travel out of my way to go to a post office in a different town so I didn't run into her.

PAM

LOL, what a funny story! At my previous job I occasionally had to take large mailings to the post office and there was one guy there that I dreaded. :)

I suppose the 1 cent stamps are still legal, but postage is so high now you'd have to cover the whole envelope with them!

Donna

PAM many years ago, probably when you were in Kindergarten, I was vsiting Washington DC and noticed a small shop selling and repairing fountain pens. I had with me a very old Waterman pen that had belonged to my US Grandfather which was in need of a new 'inner tube'. I was leaving to travel back to the UK the following day so didn't take the pen in. I still have the pen but can only use it when 'dipped' into ink. It has a beautiful smooth gold nib.

Re Post Office clerks (we pronounce the word as 'Clark' don't know why).

In the days when UK Post Offices were very busy . .. not only could you buy stamps, post letters, parcels etc but buy dog/fishing licences, buy Postal Orders, send telegrams and several other things I can no longer remember. There was always a queue/s to the counter and everyone claimed that after waiting 20 minutes and eventually reaching the front of the line the clerk would stare hard at you and put up the sign 'Postion Closed' forcing you to go to the back of another queue. We always felt they took sadisitc pleasure in doing this.

In the very small Post Office that was part of this property apparently the old boy that ran it would put fear into the heart of children (and some older folk) if they went into purchase a Postal Order. Even if the amount was for about three shillings and sixpence he acted as though it was his own money and much sucking of teeth and heavy breathing went on as he decided whether or not to issue it.

He also had a sideline in boot laces which we still have, some of them several feet long, going back to the time when men (and women's) boots were laced halfway to the knees!

These are a couple of websites dedicated to pens of all kinds and colored inks galore:

www.gouletpens.com

www.jetpens.com

Reading the reviews (Jet Pens has the reviews underneath the products), you realize there are still people out there that love fine writing instruments. A friend of mine, who uses her fountain pen(s) every day, is a fan of both companies.

This is such an interesting thread! I do still write letters to one dear friend, but I confess to typing them (word processing them?) as my handwriting has deteriorated to a scrawl, probably from lack of use.

I am also a fan of cursive and am still dismayed that it's become something the schools barely teach anymore. Both my college-age kids had one year of very slap-dash cursive instruction in third grade and that was it. I can remember in 5th or 6th grade having points taken off papers if my cursive was sloppy. How will these kids read/decipher old documents, family letters, anything in cursive at all if they can't write it themselves?

My mother was an elementary school teacher back in the early 1960s and her handwriting is lovely; perfectly spaced, consistent, and classic cursive I cannot even hope to emulate. *sigh*

I've become a fan of the special stamps issued by the post office from time to time. I use the "fancy" stamps for cards and letters and the regular-issue flag stamps for bills and whatnot. Last year they issued Harry Potter stamps which I thought were fabulous.

bookmom, as Vee's example shows, there are special nibs for Italic writing. I looked in my desk and found the old booklets and info. on the special pens I was using for this in the late 60's early 70's. One was made in England (Osmiroid). It had several nibs with pens for Italic writing, even one for those who are left-handed!

A second pen was the Platignum Pen from Pentalic Corp. based in NYC. Again, this pen was sold with various nibs according to thickness or thinness desired.

Lastly, Parker 45 was a nice fountain pen that I used in the 70's with the old fashioned ink. Eventually the pen broke and I was never able to replace it. And the inks became more costly and harder to find.

As a cheap choice, felt tipped "Italic" pens were produced but these were a poor substitute for the purists like me.

Thanks for the info. on Faherty's, etc.

I first became an admirer of Italic handwriting during the year I lived in Europe and studied old manuscripts.

By "Italic" do y'all mean calligraphy? Like names are written on diplomas? I tried to do calligraphy way back when but could never get the hang of it...I suspect it had a lot to do with being left handed.

Donna

Italic is what you get if you click on the capital I just below your post on this site.

I once took a penmanship class where we learned to write with a broad pen and Higgins Eternal black ink in a script that looked like the Old English font style on present-day computers. It also required a broad split pen point. The teacher warned us to be careful because the ink really was eternal, and I found out it was nearly so when I got some of it in a small puncture wound in one of my fingers. It was there for years and years, but when I looked while reading this post, it is no longer visible. Alas, my days are numbered.

SheriZ (or anyone else), I have three volumes of my mother's beloved stamp collection. We would like to sell them but haven't found an interested buyer. She told us once not to keep them for sentimental reasons but to just use them for postage if we wanted to, but she loved them so we can't bear to do it. The oldest ones are cancelled stamps, of course, but there are pages and pages of unused single stamps and plate blocks up to 1998 when her eyesight became so poor that she couldn't see the detail anymore.

Vee, I heard a probably apocryphal story about an impatient American man who finally reached the postal clerk and rather rudely asked how much it cost to mail a letter to the U.S. The clerk replied nicely with the price and added ". . . the same as to the rest of the colonies." BTW, your pronunciation of clerk most likely stems from the same reasoning as that of derby.

This really is an interesting thread.

I have a collection of fountain pens, including a bunch of old Esterbrooks and a Mont Blanc that I actually use from time to time. I think it is a carry-over from my folks, especially my dad. They were both British and fountain pens were a way of life with them. My dad was a chartered accountant (the UK equivalent of a CPA) and he had the most amazing penmanship of anyone I've ever encountered!! I've even saved one of his check registers as it is pristine in its notations and was always, ALWAYS filled in with a fountain pen.....can you even imagine??

I am a designer myself and writing implements fascinate me - I am often at the art supply store checking out what's new or what I don't have and I must admit to having a vast collection of all manner of writing utensils, from Prismacolor markers to drafting pencils/lead holders to colored pencils to Rapidograph drafting pens and plain ole Sharpies!! I will say that my writing implement of choice most of the time is a well-sharpened #2 Ticonderoga pencil :-)

I have also done calligraphy but it is very time consuming so don't do much any more. One of my most favorite keepsakes is a series of letters from an erstwhile boyfriend from back in my college days. We were both architectural students and when he moved across state he would keep in touch with these works of art that included detailed, full color drawings of various characters and carefully crafted calligraphic messages - they are kind of a more modern day equivalent of the medieval manuscripts crafted by the monks. Some 40 years later, I still treasure them and bring them out to admire his skills!

There is something very satisfying about applying pen (or pencil) to paper and to do it with some finesse. Kinda beats typing on a keyboard or texting on a phone all to heck!!

Thank you for the italic handwriting explanations and examples. It is beautiful. I didn't realize it was a handwriting or calligraphy alphabet. Carolyn nailed my thinking when she said use the I function. Between "italicizing" using HTML and Word being able to turn any typeface/font style into "italics," I thought italic was just slanty.

I guess typeface excites me more than italics. Nerdy as this is, Mr. Penumbra's 24 Hour Bookstore drew my attention to the history of different typefaces and I now pay attention when a book includes its typeface name. That is one drawback to reading on my kindle--it all looks alike.

Mary, Osmiroid pens were the ones we had to buy for italic /training' way back in the mid 50's. They had changeable nibs . . . not easy to do when they were full of ink. A very cheap pen and not much fun to use but in those far off days we had to do as we were told!

bookmom, my DH is interested in 'fonts' and 'typeface' and has a couple of new books in which you might be interested.

Know Your Onions by Drew de Soto

Why Fonts Matter by Sarah Hyndman

Gardengal, as you say calligraphy, once the skill is mastered is still very time consuming. No wonder it took the medieval monks all day to draw and decorate just one letter of the alphabet, and a life-time to copy out some ancient text, especially when you add the time it must have taken to grind up the bits of rock and stone for all the various inks and colours they would need each day. To say nothing of catching a goose or swan for some quills to sharpen into pens!

Carolyn, stamp collecting can be Big Business these days especially now when interest rates at so low and we are advised that we may soon be paying banks interest to borrow our money rather than the other way round.

My late brother had a large stamp collection, started by the simple method of stealing all the stamps from MY album and adding them to his own. As he got older (and hopefully more honest) he specialised in stamps from the USA, GB and the British Empire/Commonwealth. Many of the pre-War ones came from letters sent by my US grandfather who had travelled world-wide as the 'representitive' of the US firm of Burroughs (the 'adding' machine' people)

My youngest brother now has all the old albums and had checked to see how much they might be worth, but found often one stamp was missing from a particulat set, or the condition was not tip-top thus reducing the price considerably.

I used to collect stamps from foreign countries. I had pen pals in Australia and in Europe. I still have some stamps from Russia and other foreign nations. Can anyone tell me if cancelled stamps have any value? Or must the stamps be unused?

Gardengal, you and I obviously share the same feelings about putting pen to paper. There is no substitute for that satisfaction. I used to do calligraphy on gift cards I made for friends. Yes, it is time consuming, but for me it is just one more way of being creative.

Years ago, those who could do calligraphy used to be paid to hand write wedding invitations, etc. I like that personal touch. Very enjoyable and an easy way to make a little money.

Mary, below is a link to some useful information on stamp collecting. Scroll down for 'franking'.

Stamp Collecting

Thanks, Vee. ;-)

Another enjoyable book on typefaces/fonts is Just My Type by Simon Garfield. I found it both informative and entertaining. A little more serious but still quite approachable is 50 Typefaces That Changed the World by John L Walters.

Vee, I will look for the two you mentioned.

Hello, my name is Netla and I have a paper fetish. It extends
to printed books, notebooks, sketchbooks, watercolor paper, origami paper, scrapbook
paper, stationery, stickers, postcards, etc. I can disappear into a stationery
shop or a bookstore and not emerge for hours.

Just about the only things I hand-write these days are
memos, birthday- and Xmas cards, and my journal when I‘m travelling. Favourite
pens for everyday writing are Uni-Ball pens, but since they tend to spring
leaks when I try to take them with me on flights (resulting in an unholy mess when I uncap them), I usually write my journals
with fade-proof markers or ball-point pens.

I use calligraphy pens for writing cards. I have long since
stopped using fountain pens for calligraphy and just buy Artline calligraphy
markers. I still do have a set of calligraphy fountain pens and a couple of dip-pens with different size nibs.

My favourite pens are Marvy Uchida drawing pens because
while I don‘t write much, I do draw a lot. They‘re light-fast, waterproof and
archival and come in sizes down to .005 – perfect for very fine work. I also have an uncounted number of pencils, pens, markers and crayons I use for drawing and colouring.

I abandoned cursive writing the first chance I got, because
my handwriting was pretty much illegible when I used it. I can still read it
and enjoy deciphering old letters.

I took a calligraphy
class many years ago in order to try to make my handwriting more legible, but all I got from it was the ability to to write beautifully in italic script, which is too time-consuming to use as for everyday writing. I use it for writing Christmas- and birthday
cards. On really special occasions I use Gothic or Celtic script.

Netla, I see a group of us here have a "paper fetish." That describes it well.

Have you found that your Icelandic culture has influenced your interest in writing and calligraphy?

By the way, what is "Celtic script"?

> Have you found that your Icelandic culture has influenced your interest in writing and calligraphy?

Not really. I originally took calligraphy classes to try to improve my regular handwriting. I also love to draw and calligraphy has just as much in common with drawing as it does writing.

Celtic script is also called "Insular", "Gaelic" or "Unical" script. It's the script (or family of scripts) used in old Irish manuscripts. It's less angular than the Gothic and Old English scripts that were in use at the same time. The upper-case letters lend themselves well to decorating and illumination.

The Book of Kells was written in one type of Insular script. About Insular script on Wikipedia.

Netla, thanks. In looking up the various scripts, I find the uncial very graceful. I did not know that calligraphy has so much in common with drawing. I do the former, but not the latter.

I'm with you all with fountain pens. I don't use one any more, but as a student I used a fairly cheap Parker throughout my school and university years. A complete workhorse - survived everything I could throw at it. Did nothing for my handwriting, unfortunately, which was, and still is, dire. But I love the feel of a fountain pen.

For notes at work, though - I used pencils - the sort you have to sharpen. Heaven knows why....

You'll all be delighted to hear that my daughter turned 18 last year and we bought her, at her own request, a very nice Parker which she uses all the time. So there is still hope !

My dad used to pick up fountain pens at yard sales and the like. Most often, they weren't working; I think he probably planned to repair the guts of the pens someday. I have a handful of them now. With their interesting colors and some that look marbleized (as you'd see on some books' fancy end papers), they really are beautiful specimens of art. When I see them, I think of my dad.

Also, if any of you should happen to find yourself in New York City, you might want to check out the "Fountain Pen Hospital" -- I recall that being a frequent advertiser in a specialty fountain pen magazine my dad I subscribed to at one time. In addition to pen sales, they do repairs.

Strangely enough, my go-to pen is an inexpensive Staples or grocery store find: It's by Zebra, is a fine point, has a stainless steel barrel with a black non-slip grip toward the point and flows like a dream. It's marketed as "the Original F-301."