Queensway fountain pens seem to be rather rare on auction sites like Ebay but they were popular budget pens of the day often used as school pens. I bought this pen while I was at junior school when cartridge pens became all the rage and the thing to have in class back then. I recently… Continue reading Queensway Cartridge Fountain Pen 1950’s
This is not complete list of shorthand pens but just the pens I own and how they perform. I have been writing shorthand since I was fourteen which is more years than I care to remember. I still use it when writing articles and notes for myself as I am too lazy to write it… Continue reading Vintage Shorthand fountain pens
In the UK at the moment there are a lot of people with a little time on their hands due to the dreaded virus. I was just thinking about how I used to watch my children ‘typing’ on their laptops and thinking how painful and slow it looked. I did suggest that learning to type… Continue reading The Touch Typist -learning to touch type on a typewriter
One thing you can say about this typewriter is that they made an awful lot of them and many have survived. Remington claimed that they had sold more of these worldwide than any other typewriter. They were popular for a number of reasons but mainly because I think they were one of the few truly… Continue reading Remington Model 5 Portable Review
Not everyone has the fondest memories of Platignum fountain pens or of school for that matter. They didn’t all go to school in the seventies either but I rather suspect that if your memories are of fountain pens that didn’t want to write or leaked like a sieve then maybe you did go to school… Continue reading Platignum 1970’s Back to school pens
This must surely be the last shorthand pen made by Platignum as already shorthand was a skill required less by the commercial world by the mid eighties. When I saw this pen advertised as old stock but otherwise new I was tempted to see what it was like. In the UK, shorthand meant Pitmans Shorthand… Continue reading Platignum Cartridge Shorthand Pen 1980’s
You don’t always get what you think you are buying and this is true of the Parker Vector as it is of many things these days. My first Vector and by some strange quirk of fate I now have two of them, was made at the Parker factory in Newhaven, England, sometime in the late… Continue reading Parker Vector Review
There were quite a few Platignum fountain pens that carried the Regal name over the years. These two were made in the 1950’s and they were a fairly basic budget pen. It was replaced in the late 1950’s by a completely different Regal which was more top of the Platignum line. That model was a… Continue reading Platignum Regal Fountain Pen (1950’s)
There have been quite a few reviews over the years of this pen with very differing opinions. I have had one for a couple of years now and recently purchased a second one with rather surprising results. A great deal is made of how cheap these pens are and you can pick one up for… Continue reading Hero 515 Fountain Pen Review
I have never really been into Calligraphy and don’t know anything much about it. Used to have handwriting lessons even at secondary school and even handwriting competitions but thankfully that was all. However, I was tempted when I saw this set on Ebay for £1 including postage! It was worth it just for the ink… Continue reading Platignum Calligraphy set and school pen Review
The Shorthand Typist 