General Chat

My mum was left handed, had to use a fountain pen, and won prizes for her handwriting!!
She held her pen so her hand was underneath her writing.

Have to admit to being a bit strict when I was a LSA, on left handers who 'crabbed' their wrist so their hand was above the line they were writing on, at what looked like a very uncomfortable angle.
This took a lot of effort, for not much difference in their writing.

One of my daughters is left handed, the other right. The left hander writes much more neatly than the right hander, and she loved using a cartridge pen!
She, of course, was encouraged from the start, to hold her hand below the line!!

:-D :-D

DC ............

I do know the pen you mean, only it wasn't sold under the name No Nonsense here.


It was a cheap, well made pen.

I haven't looked for one for about 10 years, so have no idea whether they are still available here

Sylvie

If you Google Sheaffer No Nonsense Pens, you will see the type of pen I am talking about.

Very good design for those like me who are left handed. Always use mine with a medium refill.

Have even bought for a neice and nephew who are also left handed, they too find them very easy to use.

But as they are no longer made they are getting harder to get hold of here in the UK.

Sorry to pull this forward again but I was out yesterday and couldn't reply to everyone...

Phyll...........I think it is a good thing that children are taught the importance of having to produce neat and tidy work :-)
Sylvia.........Since reading your post I have Googled Fountain Pen Clubs and was amazed at what I found - lots of intrest! I must admit I was thinking of everyday users when I made this post but am impressed by the enthusiasts. Very sad that you lost the gift from your father in such a way!! The boys in my school used bits of blotting paper in our ink wells!!
MC.............Perhaps you could get your Mont Blanc overhauled if you think it is worth it and providing the cost is suitable :-)
Maggie........I think your Grand daughter made a good choice :-)
Namelessone.... I can sympathise - I used to love the embroidery part of needlework lessons but once we had to make a garment (and unpick said garment) I lost a load of interest in the subject.
Rollo...........You seem to have a nice variety - I had never heard of Cross, so I looked it up! It really surprises me just how many 'names' are out there.
DC..............As I mentioned earlier, it seems I found a method that worked for me - but all things do not work for all people and I am glad you found something which suited you - perhaps it might be possible to get your No Nonsense Pens over the internet if you do ever need more?
MG.............Nothing wrong with old fashioned and you 'was dragged up proper' :-D ;-)
Paula.........Perhaps it is the way in which a fountain pen is held - I don't know, but I have the same problem :-S

I hope I haven't missed anyone out!

Thank you all for responding :-) :-) :-)

DC

I had forgotten those Sheaffer pens!

We didn't call them No Nonsense ........................ but I had 2 of them when I was working.

The white one always had a black ink cartridge, and the yellow always had red ink.


I still have the white one, but the yellow one seems to have disappeared.




My father gave me a Lady Sheaffer White Dot set (fountain pen and pencil) way way back in the 1960s. It had a red-maroon barrel and silver cap

I used the fountain pen a lot .................... but it was stolen during an office move in the mid-1980s.

I have the pencil, but how I miss that fountain pen! It was so beautifully balanced

When my son qualified as a solicitor/barrister we brought him a Mont Blanc fountain pen. For his 40th birthday I brought him another one, he uses them daily. He has beautiful handwriting, but not so good when he writes in ballpoint. :-S :-S

I must be really old fashioned, Solrosen.

I still write Thank You cards.

My husband works for a lady who travels extensively, but always bring me back something from her travels. Usually something small, but personal.

She always says 'I dont expect a Thank You note from Maddie' but I always send her one, and I think she is secretly pleased.

It is only good manners, and the way I was dragged up!

;-)

Being left handed I had major problems with real ink pens (be it Fountain or Dip)

At school it got to the point that my work was so messy, I had to use a pencil and print!

Thank god for Biros, posh ones or otherwise.... Me I used to love a good old Bic (Yellow casings the best).

Now I use (and own about 10) Sheaffer No Nonsense Pens. They are great. Sadly no longer sold in the UK. But as I have so many I will never run out!!!

I have a solid silver Parker75 which I use often but not as much as I used to. There is no problem getting ink and it does not leak. It has a matching ballpen. I have other pens from other times eg Duofold, Cross, Shaeffer but this is the one I use.

I am not sure when the practice of printing out computer source code and annotating it for errors by hand stopped but I guess it must have been some years back. Funny how things change and are barely noticed at the time. Goodbye Mr Green Pen.

Like Gwyn I also had to do Italic writing sessions. I hated it and I reckon it ruined my handwriting.

The best at writing in the Italic style were the artists !!!!!!!!!!!!

My 12 year old grand daughter - goes to local comprehensive - uses a cartridge pen out of choice.

My youngest daughter bought me a pen set, that consists of a biro and a fountain pen. I don't use them, they form part of my weird/inappropriate/naff collection of religious artefacts/gifts.
The biro is Mary, the fountain pen, Jesus.

I will say no more....... :-D

I do love a good fountain pen, some years ago some friends bought me a vintage Mont Blanc pen for a "big birthday" - looks beautiful (silver, a bit art deco looking). What a disappointment when I used it, it's quite leaky and blobby. Not as nice as my old Shaeffer.

I used to mix the violet and turquoise inks to create my own colour.

the boys at the junior school I went to, delighted in filling the ink wells with torn up scraps of paper


they stuck to the pen nibs, and made horrible splattering messes on the paper as you tried to write


this was in addition to dipping the ends of plaits into the ink

I still have a couple fo fountain pens around, although I haven't used them for many years ................ I did use them at work in the 80s, so the most recent are cartridge pens.


My 40 year old daughter loves fountain pens, and has collected them for many years .................... I bought her one as her graduation present from university about 15 years ago, and several more as birthday presents.

She buys her ink in small bottles, either on the web or from small local shops


............... or there is still the Vancouver Pen Shop which has been around for almost 30 years, and is still the "try before you buy, however many pens you wish to try"!

There is even a Vancouver Pen Club .... where members talk about and show their pens

My grandchildren go to private school and are not allowed to use anything other than a fountain pen from the age of 7.

That last sentence made me chuckle :-D :-D :-D :-D :-D

Hi Solrosen,,
Yes most older pens can be re-furbished, but I doubt if I would use it and would only perish again,,yes it has a 18ct nib,,,,,,,,there is also a propelling pencil that matches it,sadly no box,

It was a thing I had some years ago,,pen collecting,amongest others collections, :-D,I have some vulcanised fountain pens,,,,,,boy,they are big old clumsy things and a nib as thick as a piece of 2x4.,they must have been terrible to write with,...... :-D

Hi Kay,

Oh, I see... I read that some of the Watermans pens have 18ct nibs also.
When I think about it, I had a Schaeffer also, and I think that was just a stainless nib.
Can't you get a replacement filler from Waterman's?
It is obviously a very treasured item for you - together with its own very significant history.
<3

I don't remember Powers Samas but this might have been the fore-runner to the NCR machine - and I DO know what one of those is!! :-D :-D

Having been on Wikipedia it would seem possible that you could have used a ballpoint pen as they have been around for quite a while!!! ...and you probably had carbon paper, so the 2nd & 3rd copies should have been legible, even writing with a sharp pencil. :-)

But I really do wonder how they coped with duplicate/triplicate copies before all these inventions??? :-S

Solrosen ,

Not all Parker nibs are 14ct,mainly the older types 51's etc, and presentaton ones,,,,,,,,,the more modern ones which still ink fill and cartridge are S/Steel.

I have an old Watermans but the filler has perished overtime,but still a nice looking pen,

It was my dads and was used to fill in his flying log in ww2.