(Kimberly (she/her) took the express train down the fountain pen/stationery rabbit hole and doesn't want to be rescued. She can be found on Instagram @allthehobbies because there really are many, many hobbies!.)
I feel like I keep saying every show was a whirlwind, but this one really was a whirlwind! Why? Because not only is the Dallas Pen Show a 2-day show (most shows are 3 days, occasionally 4), but that first day is a doozy. Read on to see what I’m talking about.
Like other shows, I worked behind the Franklin-Christoph table. Both days were fairly busy with Saturday traffic a bit lighter so I was able to walk around a little bit.
Size
I would classify the Dallas Pen Show as somewhere between a small to medium-sized show. With 58 vendors listed on their website, it is similar in size to this year’s Atlanta and Philly shows, but smaller than medium-sized shows like Chicago. Contrast that with shows like SF and DC which had 100 and 170 vendors, respectively, and it is definitely on the small side. But smaller doesn’t mean there wasn’t a good variety of vendors though! There were both modern and vintage vendors, large and small vendors alike. No surprise to anyone, Dromgoole’s (from Houston, TX) had an impressive spread of tables, which rivaled that of small brick-and-mortar stores and Retro 51 (from nearby Richardson, TX) drew a lot of customers as well. Many of the distributors were on hand as well - Coles of London, Kenro, Luxury Brands, Pilot, Taccia.
The last time I attended this show was in 2019 and while there were a good number of attendees both days, it felt like there were more people in 2019. As I mentioned above, the show is only open for two days, Friday and Saturday. Friday hours were from 10am-8pm. Yeah, you read that right, that’s a 10 hour day, not including setup time prior to opening. Saturday hours were 9am - 5pm. The show is not open Sunday, which is a good thing for vendors because the very long Friday definitely takes its toll. Thankfully, it never felt swamped for too long so I was able to check out some of the other tables during the show.
A quick peek at the main ballroom.
This Montegrappa Bijo-To-Yaju is definitely not something you get to see everyday, let alone up close and personal like you can at a pen show!
Turn around after looking at that Montegrappa and you’ll see the stunning Space Odyssey set from S.T. Dupont!
Monopoly, anyone?
Need your knives sharpened? Stephen Howell of The Sharpest Edge had all the gear to sharpen your knives and he also does engraving too!
A tray of beautiful Nahvalur Pens (formerly Narwhal), including the new Tiger Nautilus.
Dromgoole’s newly released Retro 51 Unity & Promise collectors set.
Don’t stare at these sapphire eyes too long or you’ll be hypnotized into buying this Montblanc Agatha Christie from Jimmy Dolive!
These are some neat metal pens from Only Made Once.
Dallas is one of the smaller shows and as such, it’s going to get a lower score than the larger ones. But don’t let the lower score fool you, there was still plenty here to see, try and buy. Score: 7/10
Location
One of the few shows located in the city for which it is named, the Dallas Pen show is 15 miles (20-30 minutes) east of the Dallas/Fort Worth airport (DFW) and about 10 miles (15-25 minutes) north of Dallas Love Field Airport (DAL).
I didn’t do a lot of sightseeing this time, but I did get a chance to check out Retro 51’s HQ and visit Tactile Turn also. I don’t know much about Dallas other than their sports teams (Sorry Cowboys and Rangers, I’m a 9ers and Giants fan), and I know there’s lots of other stuff to do and see, like a Six Flags Theme Park at nearby Arlington. But Dallas just doesn’t have a lot of draw for me personally, aside from the pen show (and nearby pen friends). That said, the show is close to two major airports and it is in a major city in Texas, so it’s easy to get to. Score: 7/10
Hotel
The Dallas Pen Show was held at the DoubleTree Hotel Dallas, Galleria. The pen show was located in two adjoining ballrooms, with the silent auction, Pen World and show registration desk outside. The first and smaller ballroom houses about 15 vendors, including Franklin-Christoph, Pendemonium, Shawn Newton Pens, and Toys from the Attic. From there, after going through a short hallway, you’re in the larger room where all of the other vendors were located. The larger vendors and distributors were along the walls with a variety of vendors filling up the middle aisles. The main room was oddly shaped, not one big square or rectangle but more of an L-shaped room.
The lovely ladies from Pen World Magazine are always so friendly whether you going in or out of the ballroom.
This is the small ballroom which greets you as you enter the show. I spent most of the weekend in that back left corner at the Franklin-Christoph table.
As you enter the main ballroom, this is your view if you look left.
And if you go down the aisle and turn left, you’ll see where Dromgoole’s occupied the whole corner of that ballroom. This was one of the rare moments when the corner wasn’t completely packed with people.
Next to Dromgooles were Mac, Adam, Richard, Jennifer, Alana and Jeff from Retro 51 .
There was a downstairs area where breakfast was served (I ate my oatmeal in my room though) but I don’t believe they served other meals down there when there weren’t catered events. The lobby is open and airy with high ceilings and there were lots of places to sit near the bar, though the staff was slammed all weekend.
I love the tall ceilings in this hotel which makes this seating area very open and relaxing.
The rooms are comfy and spacious. There is free parking at the hotel which is nice. The room rate was $95/night which was a great rate. It is one of the lowest rates for pen shows, which you don’t usually see for a big city like Dallas.
One of the other cool things about this hotel is that it is dog-friendly. It was awesome seeing dogs during the show! Score: 8/10
One of my “must-do” items for Dallas was meeting Kirby and get lots of kisses! She is such a sweetheart! I was happy to see Arielle/ToastyTreat too!
Tickets
Tickets were $5 per family, which I am pretty sure is the lowest price for pen show tickets. There are no weekend passes, nor early access. As mentioned above, the show hours were Friday 10am - 8pm and Saturday 9am - 5pm. Score: 10/10
Classes
There were four seminars, all held on Saturday - Tangles and Doodles with a Fountain Pen, Sketching with Fountain Pens, Basic Vintage Fountain Pen Repairs and Adding Flourishes to Handwriting. I think there is room for some more classes or seminars on Sunday as well, but 4 classes is pretty good for a small show like this one. Score: 7/10
Nib Workers
There weren’t a lot of nib workers at this show. There were 2 who could do nib grinds and a 3rd who tunes nibs but not grinds. Not included were Audrey Matteson and Mandy Reed from Franklin-Christoph who also tune and offer in-house ground nibs.
- Danny Fudge of The Write Pen
- Kirk Speer of Pen Realm
- Matthew Chen of Matthew’s Nibworks
Matthew Chen was busy grinding and fixing nibs all weekend.
Matthew Chen was in the front ballroom and Danny Fudge and Kirk Speer were in the main ballroom. As far as I can tell most, if not all, of them were busy all weekend. Danny is known more for his vintage restoration work and does not list nib grinds as one of his services, though he does offer nib tuning. Given how many people were at the show buying pens, I think they could use at least another nib worker or two. Score: 7/10
Overall Vibe
As with all shows, there is the excitement and buzz heading into the show, but with Dallas it’s a bit different. The vibe for both vendors and attendees felt more like endurance and surviving the long first day. People wanted to conserve their energy because they knew there were many hours ahead, and then another day after that. So in the mornings and rush, there was the usual excitement from folks on both sides of the table, but whenever there was a lull, you can just tell that people were tired and resting before the next wave of customers.
Everyone was smiling and people were exuding that southern hospitality all weekend, even if they weren’t from the South. It was a combination of pen show buzz and chill so you could make it through the two days. Score - 8/10
One of the sweetest moments of the show was watching Audrey Matteson of Franklin-Christoph working on and explaining nib tuning to this little girl, whose dad just bought her a yellow Model 65. (I got his permission to take and share the photo)
Always good to see Shawn Newton having a good time (he told me I had to post this!)
Folks from the local calligraphy guild, Kaligrafos were writing people’s names in beautiful script.
They were also selling items made by their guild members.
A local pen friend dropped these off at the F-C table because when in Texas, you gotta make sure people eat! How’s that for southern hospitality!
Food
The hotel says that they have an on-site restaurant but I don’t think they were seating people downstairs for non-breakfast meals, but I’m not sure. They did serve food at the bar which was pretty good but maybe a bit more expensive than typical hotel food prices (like an average of $17 for a glass of wine). They had a small cafe that was open in the mornings and some snack items available for purchase behind the reception desk (in addition to the DoubleTree chocolate chip cookie when checking in).
There were a few options near the hotel within walking distance including Taco Bell & Wendy’s across one parking lot and the Salt Grass Steak House on another side. Beyond that, you can find a lot of food options within a 15 minute drive. I had some amazing BBQ at Ten50, a tasty steak and “adult” mac and cheese at Kenny’s Wood Fired Grill (“adult” because this isn’t your kid’s blue box mac and cheese) and Korean rice bowls too. Score - 8/10
After Hours
Despite the long Friday show day, or maybe because of it, folks were ready to enjoy their Friday night. If you were there at closing, it was a scramble to go get dinner because everyone was tired and hungry. Then they were refreshed from dinner and hung out some more. I was at the bar until almost 2 am. I know I just said I wouldn’t do this again but I finally met an online friend for the first time in 4 years and hung out with others that I hadn’t seen in ages! Everyone was ready to enjoy their Saturday night, knowing that the show was over, so the bar was pretty happening. Leddy was the only bartender that night due to another event but she was great and took care of everyone as quickly as she could. The long Friday combined with the short show duration made any organized post-show gatherings difficult, but people still got together and had a good time.
The bar is like an oval shaped island that you could sit around and there were also tables and chairs all around. And beyond that, there were even more tables and chairs for more casual lounging/hanging out. There wasn’t any place inside the two ballrooms for people to hang out or try pens/inks, so having a lot of space in the lobby/bar made that a good place to take a break mid-show. Score - 7/10
The bar was busy both nights, especially on Saturday when there was another event at the hotel. Still lots of places to sit near by.
Other
I know I’ve said it a few times so what’s one more time - the long Friday show day is really, REALLY long. I get it, they’re trying to make up for it only being a two day show (I understand that adding Sunday is not an option, which is totally fine), but 10-8pm is absolutely brutal. While there were some attendees in the late afternoon and evening, many of us had time to walk around and check out other tables and socialize with other vendors who were also not busy. It may not seem like much, but ending it one hour earlier at 7pm would’ve felt a lot better and folks wouldn’t be so hungry/tired. The aisles between the tables had a decent amount of space but behind the tables was another story. It was barely more than the width of a chair, so maneuvering around behind the table, especially if you had table mates or inventory or both, was difficult. So a long day plus feeling cramped behind tables and it’s no wonder that vendors are exhausted at the end of Friday.
Saturday felt almost like a cakewalk by comparison because it ended at 5pm and most folks were done with their packing by 6pm, which left plenty of time (and energy) to enjoy dinner and the rest of the evening. Crowdwise, I would say both days were fairly similar; usually Saturdays are busier because people don’t have to take the day off work to attend. I talked to a fair number of folks who made a special trip since this is the only pen show in all of Texas.
I liked that this show had a silent auction just outside the entrance to the show. People were able to check out and bid on items at their leisure (the shows that have auctions are usually in-person, live auctions). Both the registration desk and the silent auction were staffed by the Dallas Pen Club - I love when the show works with their local pen club put on their show (and no, not all shows do this). Score - 8/10
Outside the ballrooms were tables set up for the silent auction.
I wonder how much this Retro 51 ended up going for? I didn’t bid on it but I bet you thought I did!
Report Card:
0-50 Oof, do not attend
51-70 Show is alright
70-80 Show is solid
80-90 Show is pretty darned good!
91-100 REALLY good show and not to be missed
The 2022 Dallas Pen Show scored 77/100, which was about what I expected. The ridiculously cheap tickets definitely helped the score, but even aside from that, it is a solid show. I had a good time, as did many of the vendors and attendees that I talked with. A few folks liked the longer but fewer days, but most of the vendors would’ve preferred three shorter days, or at a minimum, knock off an hour earlier on Friday. I’m sure the attendees didn’t really notice or mind the long Friday, but it may have impacted their after-hours experience. Still, I enjoyed the show from both sides of the table and definitely enjoyed meeting folks I had only known online.
My modest haul included the new blotter paper from Esterbrook, Robert Oster Campfire (second hand), the cutest little Delta Dolce Vita, an irresistible purple Franklin-Christoph 02, and Dromgoole’s Exclusive Retro 51s (Nine-Banded Dillo, Unity & Promise.)
Now that I’m caught up on sleep, it’s time to pay attention to some pens and relax a bit before heading to Colorado! Until then, stay safe and stay inky!
