======================================================================== Nib Noise Volume 2 Number 7 ======================================================================== Welcome to Nib Noise. This newsletter is a joint effort of Richard Binder and Don Fluckinger. We hope you'll enjoy reading this month's issue. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ *** Is It Christmas Yet? *** by Richard Binder ------------------------------------------------------------------------ It's October. If you're like me, you don't want to think about this yet, but the "Christmas season" (could be Chanuka, could be Kwanzaa, could be just a good time to be nice) is just around the corner. And that means it's time to think about shopping for the pen lovers you love. I can help. In addition to my vintage pens and customized Pelikan nibs, I have a few accessories to brighten a pen lover's days. What day is today? Umm, well, let me look at the calendar. The 2003 Richard Binder Fountain Pens calendar was so popular that I'm doing it again. My new 2004 calendar, featuring 12 different Sheaffer pens, is now available. I've added some writing-related quotations to make the calendar even more interesting and useful. Anybody who's at all interested in the inside of a pen will appreciate my fountain pen anatomy posters. Set 1 features a typical lever filler and the Parker Vacumatic, and Set 2 shows Sheaffer's Snorkel and the Parker "51" (aerometric version). These posters are 8-1/2"x11", commercially printed on high-gloss heavy Kromekote paper, and they're great for framing. To write home while you're sunning yourself in Cancun or Aruba, consider using my handmade fountain pen post cards. These unique cards feature six different pens, each sharing space with a person, place, thing, or event related to it. Hand made, printed on heavy stock and sealed with a moisture protectant, these cards look as good framed on your wall as they do in your friends' mailboxes. I've opened a CafePress store with a few pen-related accessories such as coffee mugs (to keep you company while you're snailing), a mousepad (to remind you what desks are really for), and more. I'll be adding additional items based on my ability to do so and on what you might like. (If there's a particular pen image from my wallpaper collection you'd like to see on a coffee mug or a mousepad, for example, let me know. I'll keep a list, and I'll try to make the most popular ones available first.) Follow the link below to my Accessories page to get an idea of what's up, then go from there to my CafePress store. Most of my items will make great holiday gifts, but you're allowed to buy them for yourself, too. http://www.richardspens.com/?page=acc_txt.htm ------------------------------------------------------------------------ "Broad Strokes" by Richard Binder ------------------------------------------------------------------------ One of the most popular pens of all time -- still collected with enthu- siasm, and rightly so -- is the Esterbrook Model J. One of these years I hope to put together an Esterbrook timeline; until then, my profile of the J family will have to do. Read the article: http://www.richardspens.com/?prof=j ------------------------------------------------------------------------ "Extra Fine Points" by Don Fluckinger ------------------------------------------------------------------------ It's outrageous how large pens are getting. Next to popular oversized versions of most pens, the things they call Standard size look like puny, cheap rip-offs. But you can help solve the problem by putting down that pen the size of a horse's leg and revisiting pens with more usable form factors. Read the article: http://www.richardspens.com/?page=extrafine.htm&refp=xf0310.htm ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Pens for Sale ------------------------------------------------------------------------ It's been pretty busy around here this past week. I'm still recovering from the Washington and New York shows! But I did find time to prepare a few vintage pens -- and some Parker pencils! -- for sale. Please check them out. Esterbrook ---------- No new Esterbrooks this month Esterbrooks for sale: http://www.richardspens.com/?page=sale_est.htm Parker ------ Black "Stealth" 25, steel M nib. Condition: B+. Price: $45.00 Black PROMOTIONAL 45, steel M nib. Condition: A1 with original box. Pen is printed with promotional text advertising Parker's Amazing Writing Discovery Sweepstakes. Includes original large-style Parker squeeze converter. Price: $50.00 Black "51" pencil, GF "Split Arrow" clip. Condition: B+. Price: $25.00 Black "51" Special pencil. Condition: B+. Price: $20.00 Teal "51" Special pencil. Condition: B+. Price: $20.00 Midnight Blue "21" Deluxe pencil. Condition: B+. Price: $20.00 Parkers for sale: http://www.richardspens.com/?page=sale_pkr.htm Sheaffer -------- Black Admiral Snorkel, 14K F open nib. Condition: B. Price: $80.00 Red and black marbled Wasp Addipoint, untipped steel F nib. Condition: B. Price: $45.00 Sheaffers for sale: http://www.richardspens.com/?page=sale_she.htm Other ----- 1950s Chrome-capped Waterman's, unknown model, 14K F nib. Condition: B. Price: $50.00 Black first-year Moore Fingertip, F nib. Condition: B. Price: $85.00 Others for sale: http://www.richardspens.com/?page=sale_oth.htm ------------------------------------------------------------------------ In the Reader's Corner ------------------------------------------------------------------------ My site's Reader's Corner features a monthly pick, a book that I like and think that you might enjoy, too. This month I invite a look at what might just become your next "carry" book when you go shopping: http://www.richardspens.com/?page=acc_txt.htm#readerscorner My monthly pick also appears as a link on my welcome page. ======================================================================== If you received this newsletter from Richard Binder, you are a subscriber. If not, you can subscribe by sending a mail message to richard@richardspens.com with SUBSCRIBE in the subject line, or by clicking on this link: mailto:richard@richardspens.com?subject=SUBSCRIBE To unsubscribe from this newsletter, send a mail message to richard@richardspens.com with UNSUBSCRIBE in the subject line, or click on this link: mailto:richard@richardspens.com?subject=UNSUBSCRIBE Note: We will never sell your name or email address. Your privacy is as important to us as it is to you.