Hi everybody, I had a great time at the pen show and wanted to share some photos. First thing, I got to see the Diamond Building from Adventures in Babysitting, which made me remember that movie, and since have watched it with my kids. What a great movie.
We sold 38 notebooks and received a few donations for the scholarship fund. Thanks everybody! We’re way above the $6,000 that we’ve raised the last couple of years. We’re about to make announcements for who gets scholarships this year, too.
The show was amazing – sold a bunch of pens and met lots of great people. Will definitely be back next year.
Here’s a quick run through of the show, starting in the front room at the entrance. There’s quite a bit more than is shown on this short video…
I bought a 1920s Wahl desk set from one of the vendors. He left before Sunday so I missed it at the show, and I definitely was kicking myself over that one. I went around and found a really nice little beater pen with a great nib on it for cheap, and a cool Parker base from the inimitable Stephen Mandell, to sort of make up for it. But I was able to get in touch with the guy who had the Wahl pen and he mailed it to me. The base isn’t a Wahl piece, but it’s still pretty cool. And the pen is fantastic.
Anywho- driving in and out of Chicago is nuts, but I’m glad we made it in. I’m also really glad we don’t live there. 🙂
The drive saw flooding and roadblocks – but thankfully easy coming and going. Lots of fun to see the country on the road. We had to take some crazy way off the beaten path roads to get home. A levy had breached and most of the highways were 3 feet under water. Lunch on the way home? ‘El Indio Mexican Restaurant‘. It was easily the best food we had all weekend.
And I can’t forget to mention my new pen! I’m calling this one the Quapaw, after the beautiful Quapaw Bathhouse downtown, on Bathhouse Row in Hot Springs. The Quapaw is a faceted, 8 sided pen, that tapers down towards the ends. This one takes more time than the other sculpted pens, and the price reflects that, with this one starting at $475. You can see more photos here.