Fountain Pens.....

[smudge]

I read in the newspaper last week, that more schools are introducing the use of fountain pens back into the classroom again.

I was really pleased to read this, as due to emailing & texting, etc., nicely presented handwriting seems to be coming a thing of the past.

I've always used fountain pens when at school, work & at home (obviously not on ncr paper/forms, etc).

I still use different types of fountain pens, including italic ones, lots of writing paper (parchment being one of my favourites), coloured inks & really enjoy writing out cards & the occasional letter with them.

Just wondering if anyone else stil does?

[greenrook]

This jake -the-peg person comes across as a bitter little man. For Heaven's sake read the original post, a gentle inquiry by smudge about how many of us still take care to write decently as a matter of course, and enjoy calligraphy as an art. Of course we use ballpoint and other pens as appropriate, and keyboards et al, as we must in today's world of communication, but it remains vital to be able to decently express ourselves with a pen or a pencil in the hand. This PC rationale against proper handwriting is usually espoused by the 'spelling -isn't -important -as -long -as -the- sense- is -there brigade'. I make a moderate retirement income through my various writings and lo! I do it all on the blessed Word. But I write all our outgoing Christmas and other cards by hand - my handwriting was crap and I did a library calligraphy course to sort it out. What d'you make of that jake? So much waste of time In your view, I expect.
Smudge, good for you - greenrook

[smudge]

Wow, thank you lindapinda & greenrock for your support! How refreshing to tune in & find your 'relevant' replies, along with the first four.

I'm glad you both enjoy handwriting, 'specially with the good old fountain pen!

I read this letter in yesterdays paper, which speaks for itself. It's also what I was trying to express about learning &/or running before you can walk:

Take a note: We are not all idiots
Recent reports suggest that secretaries are a dying breed, but their demise started a good few years ago when IT became a subject in schools.

Suddenly we had 16 year olds who could type a bit calling themselves secretaries. They had no need to spell correctly or know any grammar, as the computer told them what to do.

But they didn't know the difference between 'there' and 'their', or 'licence' or 'license' One howler I came across referred to 'the defecate on your account'.

Now all secretaries are tarred with the same brush, so those of us who actually know what we are doing are lumped in with the halfwits!

Pat Allen,
Pype Hayes, Bimingham

It might have been quicker to scan, copy & past that letter onto AB, but I thought I'd better keep my hand in on the old keyboard!

Have a lovely day all.

[smudge]

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[Keeprockin]

The only pen I can remember having was a 'conway stewart' had others of course,but i've never forgot that. Must be going on 50 yrs since. Of course,when your young,you don't appreciate things,so either give it or just lost it .
Probably be worth a few bob now

[smudge]

I know what you mean Keeprockin - it's such a shame when you give things away, or lose things over the years, only to wish you still had them.

I left school in 1962 & have collected quite a few fountain pens since then, including a very unusual wooden one that my husband bought me & many others that our daughters & friends have bought me.

I also have & a beautiful Parker brown tortoiseshell, gold nibbed one which my boss bought me for my 40th birthday (19 years ago)! I've had the nib replaced on that one quite a few times, as it gets the most use.

[arburgirl]

blimey, what a carry on !

Iv'e finally got to the end of all the insults etc !

My view on the fountain pens is that I think its wonderful to reintroduce it to encourage good handwriting when such a lot of things in all aspects of our lives are going by the wayside. I always try to by books for kids for presents to do my bit to keep books alive !

But I can imagine with the way kids are nowadays, aggresive, unruly etc, that it wouldn't be long for classroom walls to be covered in splatters once it's discovered that the pens make good spray guns, and we'll have some new works of art all round the country.

[sg]

That was tiring....
Anyway, I think this is a great idea, I am not that old but I was taught to write with a fountain pen from age six, and an Italic one at that, as the little school I went to in the seventies used calligraphic style pens in all subjects, except maybe boxing.
Well, I was taken out of that school aged 11 and the school I was sent to used pencils (!).
The words Platignum and Quink are engrained in my memory, and it was great to have inky fingers, cartridge fights, splattering the walls with ink as aburdgirl says.
We had already invented ink spray guns in the seventies you know!!

[simsfreq]

I left school at 16 three years ago (I'm still in education, before you write me off as a delinquent,) and we were not allowed to use biros in the classroom. We were allowed to use them in exams for speed, but that was all. I used a fountain pen since the age of about 11 when I first started secondary school and my handwriting is appalling. Now I am at college and allowed to use a biro it is much neater. I believe it is down to personal preference and that anybody with messy handwriting can be improved by finding the right pen for them.

[suffragette]

Hi, smudge. I was lucky enough to be taught handwriting by a left handed teacher at school. He showed me that turning the paper at an angle and using a nib specifically designed for left handers would improve my writing enormously. I squirm when I see poor left handers who have never been taught such a simple technique and resort to curling their arm over the top of the page before writing. It looks uncomfortable and I would imagine leads to cramping pains after short periods of writing.

I would love to see children taught the cursive script used by my parents, which is beautiful, legible and fast to use.