(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!.)
If the San Francisco Pen Show wasn’t already my favorite show, I would have to pick the Baltimore Pen Show because it’s right up there as one of the best shows I’ve attended. As I’ve said in the past, I always have a great time at this show and this year was no exception. This recap won’t be too different from last year’s review so I will try (and probably fail) at keeping this one short…-ish.
This year’s Baltimore Pen Show kicked off with an “after hours” scene that actually started before hours on Thursday afternoon and well into Thursday evening/Friday morning (yes, I clearly haven’t learned my lesson and stayed up later than I should on Thursday night, despite flying in on a redeye).
Anabelle, John Albert, Klarissa, Alyson, Sue and her friend were among the many that were hanging out Thursday night.
View from behind the Franklin-Christoph table on Friday morning.
Always honored to work at the Franklin-Christoph table, especially with these lovely ladies (Mandy, me, Lisa, Audrey).
I was so happy to see Lisa Vanness of Vanness Pens (with helper Dan Hoizner) at the show!
You can count on the Gillett’s from Luxury Brands of America having fun at a pen show!
Just a few of the tables that Dromgoole's had at the show - Jesi, Larry and Michael were busy all weekend! Not pictured were the Retro 51 tables or the ink wall!
I love the latest addition to the Esterbrook desk accessory family - the Tree Frog desk clip - alongside the new Rainforest Estie!
I love seeing local vendors at their home shows - especially since many of them don’t have tables at other shows!
Last year I was so busy taking pictures of the beautiful pens from Kanilea Pen Co that I forgot to take pictures of the people! This time I remembered to take a picture of Hugh and Karol with troublemak…ahem, helper, Jason!
Of course, I HAD to take a picture of their latest release Punakea!
Baltimore locals Evan and Julian Rosenberg of Penquisition with their fun pen accessories, pen cases from Rickshaw and …is that Jigglypuff?!?!?
The Baltimore Pen Club has a table at the show too!
And some “might as well be local” vendors too!
Pennsylvania in the house!!! Newly coifed Ian Schon of Schon DSGN and lots of pretty (and awesomely engineered) pens!!
Kathryn Pokalo (PA) of Pleasant Valley Textiles makes some lovely (and soft!) products out of fabrics, felt and wool!
Helen of Helen’s Creations NJ (with her son, Dom) has some wonderful pen cases/kimonos, as well as glass dip pens, inks and more!
This is a great show for both newer and veteran pen fanatics alike. I also love the mix of vendors - it’s not all big distributors or huge shops and it’s not just individuals selling their pens either. You’ve got modern, you’ve got vintage, you’ve got new, you’ve got pre-owned, and budget-friendly to budget-busting pens and everything in between. And there’s also the “other” stuff that I love seeing at shows, more than just the pens.
Joe Crace, aka The Gentleman Stationer, brought a fun selection of Lochby inserts and covers as well as Traveler’s Company products and washi tapes (which I may have broken my self-imposed wash tape ban for)
The Write Stuff had a fun selection of stationery sets, pens, shirts and even sassy cat pen holders!
Jonathon Brooks of Carolina Pen Company doesn’t need any fancy displays for people to go crazy for his gorgeous creations!
Glad I got a chance to try some more pens at Les of StyloSuite’s table - might be placing an order soon!
Speaking of budget-busting (kidding!), you can count on Rick Liebson to have some amazing limited edition pens for sale, including Nakayas!
Andrea and Brian Gray of the Edison Pen Company and their eye candy-filled display!
Managed to get a shot of Jim Hinze (left) and his business partner Francisco Lopez of Hinze Pens before the crowds came in.
What a pleasure it was to finally meet Tom Forsythe (left) and his husband Panos Trilianos of Sugar Turtle Studio!! I “met” Tom on IG 3 years ago and love all the awesome stationery themed items in the shop!
Like these mugs! Why yes, I am extra fine, if I do say so myself, lol!
I love the name of these 3D-printed Autopoint pencils from Jonathan Veley!
So good to see Martin Ferguson of Martin’s Pens back at a pen show and doing repairs again!
Look at these gorgeous laser-etched pieces from Harrington House Designs and journals like this one!
Ticket prices remained the same as last year ($10/day, $15 for 2 days or $20 for the weekend), though special VIP Passes cost $75 this year (and limited to 75 people), which got holders the weekend pass, early bird access on all three days and a bunch of other goodies like a custom name badge & lanyard, mug, etc.
While there weren’t quite as many nib workers as last year, there were still quite a few there - at least 5!
- Damien Alomar of All in the Nib
- JC Ament of The Nib Tailor
- Joshua Lax of JJ Lax Pen Co
- Kirk Speer of Pen Realm
- Linda Kennedy of Indy-Pen-Dance
Friday at the show felt a bit on the slower side. It wasn’t dead on Friday but it didn’t feel like hoards of people, which made it a little easier for me to walk around and take some pictures. Saturday felt quite a bite more busy, with a fairly constant stream of people, especially in the morning and early afternoon. A few of the vendors said that it’s interesting to see which shows are busy on Fridays versus Saturdays - Baltimore is definitely a Saturday busy show.
Disclaimer - The below paragraph is literally copied from last year’s recap because I just can’t say it any better, lol.
“You can tell Bert Oser, the show organizer, really cares about this show from making sure folks get the discounted room rate (as mentioned above) to organizing a Pen Shows After Dark Event with Cary Yeager, to gathering volunteers from the DC Metro Pen Crew to make the show run smoothly and offer help to anyone who needs it. It really makes it feel more friendly and approachable. In addition, there was a Share the Wealth table, where folks can donate their pens, papers, inks and things in hopes that they find new homes; it was so good to see this generosity from the pen community.”
One thing I will add about this year is that I really liked getting emails about the show in the weeks and months leading up to the show. It started as early as October 2022 with an FAQ email about the show, then subsequent emails about booking a room, VIP tickets, different classes, etc. It really helped to (1) get the word out, especially the rapidly filling up hotel room block, (2) highlighted classes and instructors and (3) really got me excited and hyped up for the show.
The website also included a banner telling folks to look out for bright orange shirted volunteers at the show. While it would be pretty obvious to attendees who the volunteers were, it’s a nice addition to the website to let folks know in advance.
Friendly faces in neon orange shirts greeted you at the registration desk. Folks from the DC Pen Crew were ready to help make sure you’re having a great time.
I love that there is a “Share the Wealth” table at this show where folks could leave behind no-longer-used products for others to take.
One of the reasons this is one of my favorite shows is because of the opportunities for hanging out, penabling and socializing. There are lots of tables and chairs in the bar area, as well as couches in the lobby and more couches and tables in the “side area” around the corner/behind the bar.
This year’s Pen Shows After Dark event was on Friday night and brought out a lot of folks (including me) who were eager to win pens and things that were donated by several of the vendors. Following that was some stand-up comedy by Michelle Malizaki (aside from being a stand-up comic, Michelle also works for Maruman)! And after that? More socializing, pen fun and enjoying the company of other pen people.
Folks getting ready to attend the Pen Shows After Dark event and hoping their numbers are called.
Cary Yeager (left) of Kenro Industries and also Fountain Pen Day with Bert Oser, BWIPS show organizer, are picking and announcing raffle prize winners.
Michelle Malizaki doing some stand-up comedy right after!
Random thoughts:
- Free Hotel Shuttle - Runs for a bulk of the day and night. Go figure, I had no idea. It’s the last stop in their loop, so if you’re going to the airport, it goes straight to the airport, but if you’re coming from the airport, the shuttle stops off at 2-3 other hotels before this one.
- Book hotel early - The hotel sells out fast, so book your room early next year (I was lucky to get a room but some people weren’t). The hotel was booked up more than a month beforehand!
- Parking lot fills up - The parking lot fills up quickly, especially Saturday. If you can, carpool. If you can’t, come early.
- Influx of newer folks to the hobby - I have met a lot of folks who said it was either their first pen show, and/or they just got into fountain pens recently. I love that folks are discovering our little rabbit hole and are getting to experience a pen show (and a good one too). I have been seeing more of this in the past 6-12 months, which is great for the hobby. It can also mean, however, that vendors may need to take a little longer to get to everyone because they have more questions to answer, so be patient with them.
- Kids at shows - I am seeing more folks bringing their kids to pen shows and I love it! I usually bring a small stash of random dollar store stickers to hand out cuz who doesn’t love stickers?! And thank you to the parents who remind their kids to ask before touching, be gentle with the pens/papers/etc and help them uncap pens too!
- Daylight Savings Sucks - One thing about the timing of the show this year is that it was held over Daylight Savings weekend. It’s hard enough staying up til the wee hours on a Saturday night of any pen show, but to lose an hour is just extra ugh. I was quite annoyed at myself for staying up late enough to see my watch go from 1:59 am to 3 am. Let’s just say Sunday morning’s alarm came way too soon.
Many of the vendors I spoke with said that they had a really good show sales-wise, which is always good to hear. And everyone I talked to said they had fun, even if they didn’t sleep as much as they wanted to, or didn’t buy as much (or too much).
Pen Show Haul - Chocolate covered peanut brittle from Jinji Chocolate, a Franklin-Christoph Pocket 20, a second hand Pilot Vanishing Point, Bungubox Energeia, washi tape from The Gentleman’s Stationer, Colorverse Lucky Galaxy ink from Lauren of Lucky Star Pens, and stickers from Sugar Turtle Studio.
The best part about pen shows is spending time with pen friends. Just a few of some of my favorite people that I’m so lucky to call friends.
Including this guy 🙂
A huge thank you, Bert Oser, for putting on a wonderful show! I can’t wait to come back next year! Until the next pen show (which would be Atlanta for me in two weeks), stay safe and stay inky!
