What an epic year to close out a decade! 2019 was not only one of the best years I’ve had on the blog in terms of traffic and overall reader engagement, but I was able to visit more pen shows than ever before and truly feel like I engaged with and made an impact on the community. Today I want to recap the last year and share some of my own reflections and travel plans for 2020.

2019 Pen Shows

I was able to attend the Los Angeles, Baltimore, Arkansas, Atlanta, and D.C. Pen Shows in 2019, and enjoyed meeting many more readers in person. Overall, pen show attendance seems to have stabilized, and smaller shows like Atlanta continue to grow in popularity. By far the highlight of my pen show year, though, was Baltimore. Timed to take place a the end of the dreariest part of the year, just before spring, this well-run and friendly show could eventually steal D.C.’s place as the premiere East Coast pen event. To its credit, the D.C. Pen Show seems to have resolved most of the logistical issues plaguing the past couple of years, and from behind the Vanness Pens table, still seems as well-attended and busy as ever. On the other end of the spectrum, the local community-focused Arkansas pen show in Little Rock offered a refreshing change of pace, including an after-hours meetup at Vanness Pens.

I’ve linked to my recap of each 2019 pen show in the paragraph above. The current plan is to attend most the same shows in 2020, replacing Los Angeles with Philadelphia and possibly adding San Francisco. Since both D.C. and San Francisco are in August, I may have to choose one or the other and haven’t yet made a final decision. For those of you who back The Gentleman Stationer on Patreon, I am working on special pen show meetups for those shows where we overlap. See below for more details.

My Five Favorite Pens of 2019

It was pretty easy for me to pick out the five pen reviews that I most enjoyed writing. All five of these posts discuss pens that I acquired for my own personal collection, and have used extensively over the past year. As I’ve mentioned recently, I scaled back my personal acquisitions pretty significantly in 2019, and will continue that trend into 2020. I still plan on reviewing pens on the blog, but I do want to mix in some different types of content and the main goal is not to hold onto things that I won’t use over the long-term.

Leonardo Momento Zero. What can I say? As someone who mourned the loss of Italian pen company Delta, the emergence of Leonardo filled a void in the market (and my own collection). I have Momento Zeroes at the high end (the “Maestro set”) and from the standard mid-range lineup, and they’re all excellent.
Lamy 2000 Bauhaus 100th Anniversary. I let Lamy have it a little bit here for their curious decision to severely restrict the release of this exceptional limited edition pen, and for pricing it at an inaccessible - and somewhat incongruous - price point. That said, I love my Blue Bauhaus, and it’s going to be the “one pen” for 2020 that’s always with me.
Aurora 88 Sigaro Blu. Though it’s easy to get lost in a seemingly endless flood of limited editions, the Aurora 88 is a classic fountain pen that’s one of the best workhorse tools out there.
Franklin-Christoph Model 20 Marietta. 2019 was the year that I finally settled on the Model 20 “Marietta” as my Franklin-Christoph pen of choice. “Winter Pine” for the win - bring it to the standard lineup!
Montegrappa Extra 1930. Montegrappa has really emerged as a major player over the past two years, and not just at the high-end of the market. While the Extra 1930 is an expensive pen, the craftsmanship and material are such that I don’t regret the purchase at all.

I have a few other favorite posts from 2019 that were not necessarily pen reviews. I particularly enjoyed writing this piece on my own thought process behind purchasing more expensive pens, which is the culmination of a year of thinking about how I want to frame my own interest in this hobby. I also wrote a bit about the direction of Chinese brand Moonman, which has taken a different turn recently that’s not altogether positive, in my opinion. Finally, check out my article on “Picking a ‘Workhorse’: How to Choose a Fountain Pen for an Everyday Writer.”

Anticipated 2020 Pen Show Calendar

I currently plan to attend the following pen shows in 2020:

Philadelphia Pen Show (January 17-19)
Baltimore Washington International Pen Show (February 28-March 1)
Arkansas Pen Show in Little Rock (March 13-15)
Atlanta Pen Show (April 3-5)
DC Pen Show (July 30-August 2) TENTATIVE
San Francisco Pen Show (August 28-30) TENTATIVE

In addition to attending shows, I hope to organize more meetups during my other travels. To that end, I will be in New York City at the end of the month to attend the National Stationery Show with the crew from Vanness, and we are targeting a meetup the night of January 31. Stay tuned for additional details!

Patreon Update

Many thanks to everyone who has backed The Gentleman Stationer on Patreon! Check out the Patreon page for full details, but I wanted to post a few quick updates. First, I am now able to offer backers a new benefit in the form of a special “thank-you” coupon for 10% off your order at Vanness Pens, in addition to other periodic promotions that will be exclusive to my Patreon members. As I discuss on the Patreon page, one of my longer-term goals is to be able to develop some exclusive products of my own that I can offer in partnership with retailers and manufacturers, but in the meantime I’ll be exploring other ways to bring value to the membership. Second, I will be attending the Philadelphia Pen Show next weekend, and since I’ve met the first Patreon goal I’ll be doing something special for any Patreon backers in attendance. I’ll post details on the Patreon page. Finally, I still have plenty of pens and ink available in my year-end clearance. Patreon backers get early access through the end of the month (in addition to discounts for certain tiers of support), after which the sale will be opened up to the general readership.

Many thanks to all my readers for a great 2019, and I look forward to making 2020 even better! I have my first review of 2020 lined up for Saturday, as we leave the last decade behind us for good.

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