Fountain pens - anyone write?

Oh and to the bass question, G&L L2000 into a Peavey Max100. Had a Fender Mexico Jazz for a while, but the neck is so much smaller that I couldn’t play it interchangeably with the L2000.
 
FWIW I have had two old Parkers reconditioned by the factory. I do not even know if they are in business now. They were good pens but the 51's had stiff nibs, the 41's less so. Nice writing instruments.
 
My KaweCo is an extra fine nib, so it writes thin and spidery - yet that also means the stainless steel nib has just enough flex. My medium KaweCo is brass, or at least brass plated, I should see if I can figure out which. It does seem to have an okay amount of flex for its size and width. Better than the Parker Jotter for flexibility.
 
Do you Americans that use fountain pens write in cursive at all ? I ask because I'm French but i lived in the U.S. between ages 2-7 and attended an American school where I was taught "block" letters. After returning to France at age 7 I went exclusively to French schools but the kids there had already learned to write - in cursive (the only method in France) - and so I never learned cursive. I wrote in "block" letters throughout my school years which made me stand out - some professors basically thought it was infantile and "wrong”. In schools in France we were asked to write with fountain pens and I've used them ever since but I wish a had a cursive handwriting to match.

Philippe
 
I was taught cursive writing in elementary school. By the time my children were in elementary school, penmanship and cursive writing were a distant memory, and they held their pencils/pens in whatever manner they wanted and wrote in block lettering. I think the pendulum has swung back somewhat and some states require that schools teach cursive writing to children. My penmanship, like most of my other positive attributes, has deteriorated over time, and no amount of fountain pens will bring it back.
 
lamefrog said:
Do you Americans that use fountain pens write in cursive at all ? I ask because I'm French but i lived in the U.S. between ages 2-7 and attended an American school where I was taught "block" letters. After returning to France at age 7 I went exclusively to French schools but the kids there had already learned to write - in cursive (the only method in France) - and so I never learned cursive. I wrote in "block" letters throughout my school years which made me stand out - some professors basically thought it was infantile and "wrong" and "American" (therefore crude) and deplored it and I always felt self-conscious about it. In schools in France we were asked to write with fountain pens and I've used them ever since but I wish a had a beautiful cursive handwriting to match.

Philippe
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I was taught cursive in primary school, then because of rapid note taking in secondary school I switched to a sloppy block printing. My cursive is pretty good now, using a Pilot Plumix stub-nib fountain pen, it really helps to smooth out my otherwise jittery hand.
 
I'm still writing daily with my Pilot fine point, purchased because of this thread.

I recently finished one notebook and started another, and I was amazed to see how much difference the paper makes. The new notebook paper is so porous that writing neither looks nor feels good. I switched to another notebook. I'm considering a pen upgrade but really enjoy the Metropolitan.

Regarding cursive, I was raised on it (50s and 60s), but there was a time when it was mostly abandoned. It is now coming back, fortunately. It's hard to imagine anything but cursive with a fountain pen.

John
 
Though I learned cursive in grade school, my preference has always been to write using block letters. I was turned on to fountain pens by the typewriter community and now own a couple that I often use to sign my letters and to add a P.S. when needed.

Overall I prefer writing with pencils (I dig mechanical pencils). I’m guessing that I would find the fountain pens more satisfying if I wrote in cursive, I just haven’t had the desire. Still, I do sometimes enjoy the different experience that they provide and the choices in available ink colors is pretty impressive.
 
I was taught cursive at a young age by nuns. Scary ones. Lol.

As I get older (early 50s) I find that I try to write too fast and that makes me tense up and my hand writing gets pretty bad. I think writing worse with age is pretty normal though. Never saw anyone write well when they were older except for maybe secretaries. My mother had really beautiful handwriting into her 80s.

Since my last post in this thread I picked up a couple of TWSBI ECO piston fillers. Nice pens. They hold tons of ink but they are a little bit large. Not too large though. I also picked up another Parket Sonnet from the early 90s with a solid gold nib that looks brand new. Score! I want that to use instead of my old Sonnet that I am rather sentimental about after owning it nearly 30 years.

I was introduced to fountain pens by a girlfriend in France way back in the day. I only mention that because the poster above reminded me of it. I am glad though since I enjoy using them, and always have.
 
Interesting, the French at work - as opposed to the mere French speakers - were all frightened of nuns because of their school days. Discipline seems to have been very strict and one young lady told me they had to put the accents over letters in from the top downwards with the pen. Do it the other way and you got slapped...

Talking to others in France who said that people were frightened to write letters because they were terrified of getting it wrong and it was only when WP's appeared with spelling checkers that they started writing instead of phoning. Seems nuns have a lot to answer for.

Regards, David
 
boojum said:
FWIW I have had two old Parkers reconditioned by the factory. I do not even know if they are in business now. They were good pens but the 51's had stiff nibs, the 41's less so. Nice writing instruments.
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The word I would use about my 51's nib is scratchy and I tried to get it sorted out but when I took it back all they could suggest was a wider nib. OTOH, the really cheap one I found on the floor somewhere is a lovely thing to write with, the words just flow.

Regards, David
 
I went to parochial school also with the Sisters of St. Joseph and learned cursive in grade school. Kind of sad but over time, I lost my ability to write in cursive as well. I'm not sure when it happened, but I have been working in hi-tech and on the computer keyboard since the late-80's. I think that may have something to do with it. I print well though :).

I have an old Parker run of the mill fountain pen around here somewhere but can't find it at the moment. (Found it: Parker 21 1970's vintage)
 
Monz said:

Nakaya fat cigar, Aka Tamenuri
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Looking at all those accoutrements may give an indication why most people use a ballpoint pen. Some people like accoutrements and ritual though. Really, the only time I use handwriting is to scribble a message on a post-it note or sign a credit card receipt at a restaurant, so a fountain pen is a little overkill for me. Not that I am not tempted by that leather carrying case.
 
I'm 71 years old (okay, not legally until next Saturday) and I have liked fountain pens since I was a boy. I have a few of them now (and I covet Monz's Nakaya!).

In my day, we learned printing in the first grade and cursive in the third. I used cursive for the next few years, but at some point I reverted to printing. From there, my handwriting developed into a semi-cursive, which I still use today.

Fountain pens don't incline me to write more cursively than I would otherwise. In fact, I may lift the point of a fountain pen more often because it gives me a tapered line to finish the letter. I may also lift more because I now have a tremor in my hands and a long string of cursive letters can be problematic.

- Murray

PS. Thinking back about why I might have reverted to printing, I remember that there were different "schools" or forms of cursive.

My mother started out with the Palmer method, then, a couple of years later, the schools changed to the Rice method of cursive writing. So, she wrote something in between the two.

When we were taught cursive in my class, it was something new and different again. I modeled my cursive after writing I observed by adults I knew, and that led to problems.

I remember being docked in a spelling test in the seventh grade for the way I rendered a "t" at the end of a word. It was a correct form from my parents' generation, but my teacher refused to recognize it. At that point, I may well have decided that I was less likely to be misinterpreted if I went back to printing.
 
CMur12 said:
PS. Thinking back about why I might have reverted to printing, I remember that there were different "schools" or forms of cursive.

My mother started out with the Palmer method, then, a couple of years later, the schools changed to the Rice method of cursive writing. So, she wrote something in between the two.

When we were taught cursive in my class, it was something new and different again. I modeled my cursive after writing I observed by adults I knew, and that led to problems.

I remember being docked in a spelling test in the seventh grade for the way I rendered a "t" at the end of a word. It was a correct form from my parents' generation, but my teacher refused to recognize it. At that point, I may well have decided that I was less likely to be misinterpreted if I went back to printing.
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This brings up a weird experience/memory I encountered from a hi-tech job interview in the early 90's.

They had me participate in a hand-writing analysis (graphology). It was difficult to write as I was out of practice but I completed it. One of their conclusions was way off (my resume countered their claims) but, they wanted to continue the process and in the next phase and have me speak with a psychologist friend of the CEO for further screening at his house. At that point I said "no thanks" and ended the process. Freakin' weird. And this was not a high-level management position I was interviewing for.

That was the only company in my experience that applied a graphology (pseudo-science) screening during the interview process. I have encountered some weird corporate cultures (almost cult-like) in my career but this was a doozy.
 
Since the pandemic began, I've noticed more books on calligraphy and hand-lettering in general. I watched a video or two and was struck not just by the beauty of the works, but also by how slow the process can be!
 
I used to have a few, I gave my Mont Blanc to my artist daughter. I have a Lamy i never use, & a Pelikan, I bought years ago....It fits my hand and my writing style. Like a musical instrument, it's a perfect match for me.
 
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