~~INK PEN was pronounced, ‘ayeannnk payunn’ in Texas

“…a gentleman ALWAYS signs his name with a quality fountain pen…” Boots Porter 1958

My son, Bilpo T. Baggins, who knows me like no other, gave me a horrendously expensive Montblanc Fountain Pen…the Boheme, almost 20 years ago. I literally wore the nib out. It’s been in Germany, being repaired, since last July. 

Here is, I think, a pretty good story:

DATELINE Waco Texas.1958. 

3rd grade penmanship classes. If you attained satisfactory penmanship, you were ‘promoted’. You could use an ’ink pen”, instead of a pencil. “INK PEN” meant FOUNTAIN PEN in 1958 Waco.. 

[~~INK PEN was pronounced, ‘ayeannnk payunn’ in Waco TX. Since I had just moved there from London, England….I had zero idea what they were saying most of the time~~]

There were no cheap plastic ball points in our school. I was one of the first to attain qualifying penmanship levels.

(SPOILER schools in London taught cursive earlier than TX schools, it seemed). 

And so……my mom bought me a dark green Parker. It had an actual bladder and sqeezy brass lever thing, to make it suck up ink. 

Mom then said the words that influenced my life for over 60 years. 

Offhand, speaking probably more to herself than I, my Mother said:

“…a gentleman ALWAYS signs his name with a quality fountain pen…”

As a third grader, I could physically FEEL the expectations (1) you will grow up to be a gentleman (2) you must always sign your name with a ‘quality fountain pen’

It cost me about $10,000.00 to fund a lifetime of expensive pens, expensive paper, expensive accoutrements, bags, pads, journals, holders, accessories. If you’re a fountain pen person, you know. 

I even became a lawyer, so I could sign my name a hundred times a day. (Ok. Just kidding)