The Chicago Pen Show features this bright atrium - a huge plus for viewing pens.

Report from Chicago: Pen Show Highlights from Friday

October 2, 2021

This weekend marks the first time I’ve attended the Chicago Pen Show. As with San Francisco, I’ve taken the opportunity to visit yet another new show, all of which have their own personalities and quirks. Chicago is a traditional 3-day show (though some would argue the show starts with pre-show trading on Thursday night). The show opens to the public at noon on Friday, and as I’ve observed with other shows this year, the non-public days have been pretty slow due to a smaller number of people traveling in from out of town. I expect the public days - which attract more of a local crowd - to be busier and I’ll be sure to report back.

The main ballroom in Chicago (right after the show opened to weekend pass holders on Friday).

Due to rising Covid numbers, a lot of vendors had to pull out of Chicago at the last minute. Therefore, this year’s show feels a bit smaller and more local than usual, which isn’t a bad thing. Vendors I visited included Atlas Stationers, Papier Plume, Ryan Krusac, Good Made Better (Penwell), Desiderata Pens, Keith from Randomthinks, and more! Friday night featured an auction featuring 100 different lots, and some people walked away with very good deals. As for me, I’ve not purchased anything yet, since I came more to just socialize, but as always there are a couple of things I have my eye on. Stay tuned!

The Pencil Spiral: another Randomthinks creation!

A case full of vintage Waterman pens in exceptional condition.

Burl + Acrylic pens from Ironfeather Creative.

And, of course, since Chicago is one of the great American food towns, I can’t leave you without some culinary shots from the Chicago Pen Show, which has some of the best dining options within a 10 minute drive of any show on the circuit.

As I mentioned yesterday, since I’m on the road, all Curated Shop orders placed Thursday through Sunday will ship Monday upon my return. For today and tomorrow (the two days I’ll be walking the show!) take an extra 10% off orders of $50 and up using the coupon code “CHICAGO21” at checkout! While I don’t have a table at this year’s show, I might have a few of the T.G.S.-exclusive Sunderland Pens with me, as well as smaller fun items like the new enamel pins I received this week. If you want to say hi at the show, the easiest way to get in touch is via e-mail at joe@gentlemanstationer.mom, or just send me a DM via Instagram.

The T.G.S. Curated Shop discount code excludes TWSBI and Sunderland, per my agreements with those manufacturers.

Chicago Pen Show 2021: It's Pen Show Weekend!

October 1, 2021

As you may have seen on my social media accounts, I’m at the Chicago Pen Show this weekend! Look for show content, including pictures and videos of all the goings-on, as well as updates on new releases and show-exclusive products.

Since I’m on the road, all Curated Shop orders placed Thursday through Sunday will ship Monday upon my return. For today and tomorrow (the two days I’ll be walking the show!) take an extra 10% off orders of $50 and up using the coupon code “CHICAGO21” at checkout! While I don’t have a table at this year’s show, I might have a few of the T.G.S.-exclusive Sunderland Pens with me, as well as smaller fun items like the new enamel pins I received this week. If you want to say hi at the show, the easiest way to get in touch is via e-mail at joe@gentlemanstationer.mom, or just send me a DM via Instagram.

The T.G.S. Curated Shop discount code excludes TWSBI and Sunderland, per my agreements with those manufacturers.

Pen Show Vendor Swag, courtesy of Rickshaw Bags!

San Francisco Pen Show: The Big Weekend Recap

September 1, 2021

What a weekend! The only other pen show I have attended that I can compare to the San Francisco Pen Show is Baltimore, and that’s because the focus remains on ensuring people have a positive experience, as opposed to cramming in as many people and vendors as possible. I’ll certainly return to the San Francisco Show, and next year (fingers crossed) I plan to have my own table. I met so many readers and customers over the weekend, and it was wonderful to match names (and online handles) with faces!

A little Pen Shows After Dark on Saturday night.

Some General Observations from the Weekend and What I Loved about the San Francisco Pen Show

It’s Truly “The Fun Pen Show”! As I noted above, you can tell that the organizers focused on ensuring that everyone had a good time, with events organized most nights for vendors and weekend pass holders. Highlights included a vintage pen auction on Friday night (rare these days), and live music on Saturday. The Pullman San Francisco Bay is also one of the nicer pen show hotels on the circuit, with breakfast available in the morning, an espresso bar (key!), and a bar with good drinks and excellent food.

Three Vanness-exclusive Robert Oster inks: Blue River, Hemp, and Hickory Aflame. (Charred Hickory, the non-shimmer version of Hickory Aflame, sold out quickly).

A Diverse Array of Vendors. The best pen shows, like San Francisco and Baltimore, feature a balance of large and small retailers, independent penmakers, vintage traders, non-pen artists and craftspeople, and even national brands. San Francisco mixed everyone together well, and the show was organized in a way that encouraged you to walk the entire layout. Vendors I saw at San Francisco who I’ve not seen at other shows included Curnow Bookbinding & Leatherwork (creators of the “Backpocket Journal”), Peyton Street Pens (from whom I acquired two custom pens with vintage nibs), Japanese stationery specialists Maido/Kinokuniya, Rickshaw Bagworks, and international brands Pilot, Traveler’s Company and Plotter (more on them below). You can view the full list of exhibitors here.

J.C. Ament was grinding away on Sunday morning!

LOTS of Options for Nib Work. If you came to the San Francisco Pen Show looking to get a nib ground, you were in luck. Mike Masuyama, Gena Salorino (Custom Nib Studio), Kirk Speer (Pen Realm), and J.C. Ament (The Nib Tailor, in his first show as a full-time nib grinder) were all present, and most had walk-up availability.

My Plotter planner and Curnow Coptic-Bound journal with a stork pattern.

Less Crowding. While I suspect traffic was down from prior years due to a combination of circumstances (pandemic, fires, etc.), a lot of people still came through the door, Pen shows with wider aisles and vendors spread out over multiple ballrooms are more pleasant to walk (not to mention to work). Not only do you not get pushed and shoved by the crowds when you’re trying to look at a pen at someone’s table (L.A., anyone?) but it’s even more important today when everyone is already a bit less comfortable due to the ongoing pandemic and the fact that masking and other precautions are required to ensure these events can happen safely.

OK, So What Was the Coolest Stuff I Saw This Weekend?

In addition to my two custom pens from Teri at Peyton Street Pens, I picked up a pair of Ultem Fountain Pens from Schon DSGN, a Galen Leather 12-pen hardshell leather pen case from Vanness, a Parker 51 for an exceptional price from vintage dealer John Strother, a couple bottles of Kiwi Inks, and some handmade coptic-bound journals from Curnow Bookbinding & Leatherworks, which I brought home as gifts. Perhaps the most interesting, for me personally, was a planner set I was offered by Plotter USA as part of a pilot program they are running to test their planner system prior to a U.S. release later this year. Plotter is owned by DesignPhil, the same company that brought us Midori MD and Traveler’s Notebook, and the brand accordingly features a similar aesthetic, but uses a ring binding system with the same six-hole layout as Filofax and other brands (so your hole punches and other accessories should work). I received the “Narrow” size, which is approximately the same dimensions as a Kokuyo Sketch Book - a size below my lovely B6 slim Cafe Note. I’ll be providing Plotter with feedback on the system over the next few months, and of course posting photos here.

Not technically a pen show picture, but the Platinum Preppy Wa’s are awesome and worth a look!

Otherwise, I enjoyed visiting with friends new and old, from the team at Kenro where I saw the Pininfarina PF2 for the first time, to the crew at Luxury Brands, who are helping to promote the launch of the latest from Platinum, the limited edition Platinum Preppy Wa (that’s right - a limited edition Preppy), which is really cool and as you would hope, priced in a way that should be accessible to most everyone. I also got to meet with the new owners of Retro 51, and I’m excited to see what they have in store for the future. Despite a somewhat rocky start (exacerbated by the pandemic and accompanying economic uncertainty), the new team seems enthusiastic and excited to make Retro more visible to the at-large community of pen enthusiasts, including attending more pen shows.

The Plotter (“Narrow”) compared against the Nanami Paper Cafe Note in B6 Slim (left).

Plotter is a brand that I think I’m going to enjoy exploring - it’s quite customizable with different inserts and accessories. Shown here are paper folders that can be used to organize notes by topic.

In short, San Francisco has made my list of “must-attend” pen shows, and I really want to spend more time with West Coast pen friends! If you missed my Friday/Day One Recap, you can check it out here.

This post does not contain affiliate links. The Gentleman Stationer is supported by purchases from the T.G.S. Curated Shop and reader donations. If you would like to support us even further, please consider checking out the T.G.S. Patreon Program, which offers access to online meetups, exclusive discounts and pre-orders, and more.

San Francisco Pen Show: Day 1 Recap

August 28, 2021

This week marked my first ever trip to the San Francisco Pen Show, which the show organizers affectionately dub “The Fun Pen Show”! There’s a reason too - the San Francisco show is set up in much more vendor and user-friendly way than many other larger shows such as D.C. and L.A., in addition to having some great after-hours events. The aisles are spaced widely, allowing for better browsing and a less crowded experience, which is especially important these days.

Get to the Schon DSGN table early - that way you get a chance at things like the “Black Ultem” on the right. (I swapped sections with the standard Amber Ultem to get the two-tone look.)

As with most larger shows, Friday is the “trader pass” day, which means that until 1pm, the show is only open to weekend pass holders and not the general public. For vendors, this can be a mixed bag, as it typically involves less foot traffic in the morning, but for attendees who purchase the three-day pass it can provide an opportunity to interact with vendors before they’re swamped with potential customers, as well as the chance to pick up limited or small quantity items before they sell out. (Since many vendors fly to the San Francisco Pen Show, they have to bring less stock than they would carry to a “driving show,” so I’d highly recommend springing for the trader pass.) Foot traffic yesterday definitely seemed a bit slower, similar to what I witnessed in D.C., and I suspect it’s due to the fact that in a normal year, many of the weekend trader passes are comprised of people who travel in from out-of-town. Unsurprisingly, with fewer people flying, you see slower Fridays, yet Saturdays and Sundays remain busy as locals and those with driving distance visit the show.

The Vanness-Vinta exclusive collaboration. Limited quantities available, and only at the show until next week, when it will go on sale on the Vanness website.

Once again, I’m behind the table with my friends from Vanness Pens, who brought with them from Little Rock a huge assortment of ink from Ferris Wheel Press, Pennonia, Robert Oster, Pilot Iroshizuku, and Vinta, including the Vanness exclusive, “Sodalite”! We also have a selection of pens from Scribo, Pilot, TWSBI, and more, in addition to new products from Galen Leather. While Kanilea Pen Co. and Ryan Krusac Studios are not attending this year, many others are, including Franklin-Christoph, Dromgoole’s, Luxury Brands, Schon DSGN, and more.

The inks available at the Kiwi Inks table. Kiwi is a brand I haven’t used before, and I picked up bottles of Nebula Space Kitty and Hyacinth Macaw.

I made several purchases on Friday, mainly of lower-stock items that I wanted to grab before they sold out. In addition to two Ultem Pens from Schon DSGN, I grabbed two handmade pens fitted with vintage Cartier and Eversharp nibs from Peyton Street Pens, as well as two bottles of Kiwi Inks. Since I was worried they would sell out by the end of the show, I also picked up this magnetic closure, hardshell leather case from Galen Leather. We still have a few remaining at the Vanness table, but these won’t last through the end of the weekend, so if you want one come by early.

Stay tuned for more updates from Saturday and Sunday at the San Francisco Show! Also, don’t forget that through tomorrow night, you can get 10% off any purchases in the T.G.S. Curated Shop by using the coupon code “SFPENSHOW” at checkout. All orders placed during a pen show weekend ship the following week, once I’m back in town.

San Francisco might not be quite as big as D.C. (shown here), but it’s known as “the Fun Pen Show” due to all the after hours events and entertainment.

This Weekend: Come Visit at the San Francisco Pen Show!

August 26, 2021

It’s that time again! I’ll be behind the Vanness Pens table at the 2021 San Francisco Pen Show, which runs from Friday through Sunday (August 27-29). As I’ve mentioned before, I’m not bringing the T.G.S. Curated Shop with me to shows this year, but for those weekends when I do attend Pen Shows, I typically run the equivalent of “Pen Show Pricing” on the site. Today through Sunday, take 10% off your Curated Shop orders (excluding TWSBI and Sunderland) using the coupon code “SFPENSHOW” at checkout!

Please stop by the Vanness table and say hello! I may have some some stickers and other small items available as well….

Please note that due to my travel schedule, all orders placed between Thursday, August 26 and Sunday, August 29 will ship starting Monday, August 30. Many thanks for your support!