Recent content by yachtsilverswan

During the mid-20th Century, ladies often wore gloves indoors when dressed for Tea, or for Church, or Cocktails, or Evening. Would etiquette require a lady to remove one or both gloves when using a fountain pen? Would she remove one or both gloves for taking tea? For a receiving line?

Most important factor - do not press down into the paper. Fountains pens put ink on the page by capillary action - no force is required. With a ballpoint, the writer must press hard enough to overcome the inertial friction of the ball mechanism. So no pressure. Here is a website...

Top Ten Fountain Pens: 1. Montblanc Meisterstuck 149 2. Montblanc Meusterstuck 146 3. Pelikan M-800 4. Pelikan M-1000 5. Graf von Faber Castell's Porsche Design TecFlex P3110 6. Waterman Edson Black Diamond 7. David Oscarson Valhalla in Thor trim 8. Michel Perchin Blue Serpent...

Venlo makes nicely finished display cases for pens, very similar to the glass topped box posted by Highlander. I have a couple of their triple burlwood finished cases. I think their quality is on par with the British Hillwood humidors and dresser valets. www.venlocompany.com They make...

A step-by-step tutorial on removing the Vanishing Point's clip is posted on Nibmeister Richard Binder's website blog: http://web.me.com/richardspens/PenBlog/Sweepings_from_the_Studio/Entries/2008/12/11_Making_another_one_work.html The VP is just so convenient for quick stop and start...

My carry for today was a Visconti Divina Proporzione LE (the sterling version) with a medium nib regound by Nibmeister Richard Binder into a smooth cursive italic. The CI nib produces the line width variation that I like - wider on the vertical strokes, much narrower on the horizontal strokes...

Well, for footwear, the classic summer shoe for seersucker is the White Buck, worn without socks if you live below the Mason Dixon Line. LL Bean used to make a great version of this shoe, but they discontinued it (Bean does still make a light khaki version - great for a khaki suit - and a brown...

Nothing should go in the outside suit pocket except possibly a handkerchief. But I understand the desire to show off a nice pen. Because I often remove my suit jacket at work, I keep my pen clipped diagonally between the second and third button of my dress shirt. The top of the pen's cap...

Evening David - Fountain pens are such amazing tools. They completely and instantly eliminate writers' cramp. Being non-disposable, they're good for the environment - keeping all those half-full toxic Bic sticks out of the landfills. And they can be had in everything from...

My New Mont Blanc "Pope Julius II" 888 edition Fellow Pen Nuts - I'm pleased to announce the newest addition to my Fountain Pen wardrobe - Mont Blanc's "Pope Julius II" in the 888 edition. I had wanted a new dress pen for special occasions, and went shopping in Atlanta both at ArtLite...

For Miss Daisy - the Greta Garbo Special Edition Miss Daisy - I share your passion for the Mont Blanc Limited Editions (though the Greta Garbo is of course a bit feminine for my tastes). The Greta Garbo Special Edition has indeed stopped production, but it will be available in Mont Blanc...

Captain Benjamin Merrell - Steve's famous ancestor Being a Tarheel born and a Tarheel bred, I have heard of Steve's Revolutionary ancestor and his brutal execution. Details of Captain Merrell's final days are found here: http://www.tamu.edu/ccbn/dewitt/mckstmerreg.htm [/URL][/IMG]...

Hemingway Jones' Gladstone Bag Evening Mr. Jones - You and Miss Daisy have found handsome functional versions of this classic bag. I think the principal feature of the Gladstone Bag is the hinged opening mechanism. When opened, the mouth of the bag remains open so that items can be packed...

Direct questions deserve direct answers. Pardon my prior pontification. As a first born male in the South, I could do no wrong in my family's eyes, and was given wide latitude as long as my parents knew where I was. I was allowed to one-on-one date at age 14 in the early 1970s. My dad would...

Of course, the best plan accounts for the strength of character of your growing children - are they self-confident or do they fall prey easily to peer pressure? Another very important consideration is that at age 18 your children may be off to college - out of town and on their own. Many...