Adam's Philadelphia Pen Show 2009 Review

Well folks, it’s been a while since our last update in the world of pens. We’ve had quite a bit of changes in the meantime. We’ve worked a few pen shows, and many new pens have come out too!


We hosted this year’s Philadelphia Pen Show, which was great! It was the first time I’ve gotten to go to the Philly Show, and I got to meet many fun people that shared my enthusiasm in all writing instruments – both vintage and new! Bert and I got to go to a couple of restaurants that were packed full of people (which made the atmosphere all the more fun). The first night Bert, Renn (the security guy), and I went to The Happy Rooster which is a small restaurant, with great food, that happened to have a karaoke night while we were there. And no, I couldn’t get Bert to go up there and sing (maybe if we had a few more drinks…)! The next night we went to a very nice restaurant called Table 31, with Dave MacDougal (who represents Curtis of Australia), Jimmy Dolive, Jimmy Dolive Jr., Chuck Swisher, and his wife. The food was incredibly delicious, and the server was very friendly. On Saturday night we enjoyed the company of the crew from Fountain Pen Hospital (Steve Wederlight, Ed Fingerman, and Ricky), and the crew from Kenro Industries (Dick Krane, and Bryan H.) who represents Aurora, Omas, Libelle, and Aquila, as well as Nancy Olsen (with Stylus Magazine). We all went to Maggianno’s Restaurant and had a great Italian meal. During the show I managed to pick up a few great finds! Ken Jones of Visconti Pens helped me acquire a totally awesome Gold Nugget Ltd. Fountain Pen with a stub nib that writes beautifully! Joel Allison was also generous in my acquisition of 4 of his limited Cross ballpoint pens, as well as two of his limited Zippo lighters. Overall, the show was a lot of fun, and a great experience, and was also filled with non-stop excitement!

The 2009 Philadelphia Pen Show was sponsored by Visconti Pens. Their generous support of the show makes all of the marketing efforts possible. Of course Ken Jones and his skill as a salesman is about all the marketing effort any pen company needs! It sure was nice for them to donate one of their pens for the raffle (won by Jean Kellerman of Philly, PA)! For those of you, who didn’t get a postcard in the mail, thank you Joel Blumberg of Kenro Industries for producing the Bentley Pen themed postcards.

Alan Shaw of Shaw Pens produced/designed the theme pen for the show. It is called The Cradle of Liberty. It is an ongoing series of pens to highlight the history of Philadelphia and the nation. It was available in a steel nib or gold nib. This was given away on Sat. Jan. 24th, 2009 to Jeffrey Lerner of Merion, PA. We just spoke with Alan a few days ago and learned that he has just re-vamped his website to allow you to create and design your own pen for him to make! Check it out at www.shawpens.com.
This was the fifth year that Bertram’s Inkwell has actually run the Philadelphia Show. Each year the show has grown from an original count of 60 tables to the 95+ tables that we had this year! The amount of people coming through the doors has grown at an equally fast pace with this year’s attendance approaching 700 people! The show was promoted in The Philadelphia Enquirer, and on the radio, in addition to sending out over 5000 postcards. This show is more heavily promoted than most of the other shows out there. So if you’re planning on participating in (or just attending) a show, the Philadelphia Pen Show should be at the top of your list. Next on the list of “must attend” shows (if you’re looking for a more relaxed atmosphere) is the Miami Pen Show. Mark your calendar for July 17th, 18th, 19th, 2009 and stay at the five-star Biltmore Hotel in Coral Gables, Florida.