To those who know, one of the great charms of the pen show experience is down time, those relaxed evening hours away from the sales room, when collectors unwind, dine, and even chill outdoors with good scotch and stogies. Conversation ranges from the big finds and sales of the day, to updates on personal lives, and even to some schmooze on the big issues of the day, often turning to politics, economics, etc. There is a long pen show tradition for those who have been involved at length to invite newer collectors to join. Pen Show seminars can channel that downtime.

Random Ruminations on Collecting Vintage Pens. HOSTS: Advanced collectors David Isaacson and Paul Erano.

Paul and David between them have more than 65 years of hobby involvement and have been active beyond just collecting and wheeling/dealing, investing as well in sharing knowledge of the old pens and in spreading their own appreciation for collecting. Paul has done best-seller pen books. David has done online articles and runs a 50,000-member pen discussion group at Facebook. Both have offered print articles. Both have retail websites. Paul runs the print magazine Fountain Pen Journal, now some eight years old. When the two of them get together to offer discussion and banter about vintage pens, the collecting energy crackles.

So, join them for this seminar. Topics no doubt will at least touch on: history of fountain pens, history of pen collecting, “secrets” of collecting well, choice of favorite pen, the pen show experience, and so forth.