Pens, Pen Collecting, Pen Clubs & Organizations, Pens Shows……The World of Pens.
Who collects these wide assortment of writing instruments and how do they spend their time?
Now that I am submerged into the world of pens I’m kind of flabbergasted by the vast amount of ballpoints, rollerballs, fountain, felt-tip, erasable and limited edition pens available and the prices some people will pay to get these very coveted objects!
First I’m curious to know who these people are! Do they have a particular kind of personality? Do they come from similar backgrounds? I myself do not collect a thing. My mother was a depression child, so she has a hard time throwing anything away…. as a result, in my household now that I’m all grown up, you better not set anything down for too long or it will end up in a bag headed for Goodwill or some other charitable organization.
After doing a little research I’m finding pen collectors do not really stand out as any one particular personality type, in truth, I really cannot get a good 
answer about who these mysterious people are and why they like pens so much. From what I can gather, pen collectors come from all different walks of life, have all different types of personalities and are scattered all around the world!
Interestingly enough, I did come across a woman in Germany, Angelika Unverhau, the world record holder for ballpoint pens…. 220,000 ballpoints from over 146 countries! Now that would be an interesting household to grow up in. I wonder what affect she’s having on her kids?
With the emergence of the electronic age you think you would be hard pressed to find a pen show; not the case, you can still attend pen shows all over the world….from Chicago to London to New York and beyond. There are vast numbers of pen online forums, clubs and trading sites as well.
I don’t know what rock I have been under for the last four decades but it seems that these things we use to write things down with have quite the following.
You too can join the thousands across the globe that have joined the fascinating world of pens. Where shall you begin? Montblanc, Waterman, Cross, Krone, Aurora, Libelle, Fisher, Lamy….the list goes on and on!
