Calligraphy uses brushes, quills, and ink. At around the middle of the 19th century the modern fountain pens came into being. In the middle of last year I started to get into fountain pens. In the middle of last season, I realized it was time for me to start writing in “cursive” with a fountain pen. I thought I’d share my journey. At the bottom of this post – I will add some links to people and websites that know so much more than I do.

My fountain pen experience started years ago with finding an old inexpensive fountain pen around the house from a previous “dweller.” It was a cartridge pen that I cleaned, bought new cartridges for, and started to enjoy the ink and the variation of ink density. The pen worked, but started to leak. I tried to fix the leak, but it eventually disclosed its fatal injury. That pen died.

It was about this time that I realized that the cheap pens at work never would write when I grabbed them to make a work order for a new customer. I would throw them in the trash with energy. When I got a good pen brand, I would not only keep it close, but I even would buy refills – which often cost as much as the pen. Wasteful.