this post was submitted on 18 Feb 2024
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I imagine very few people reading this actually ever had to do so, at least as depicted. I, however, have. Because I'm exactly that type of ~~asshole~~ deliberately anachronistic nerd.
All throughout my school career, I used a Sheaffer Targa from the late 1970's. I still have it. Here it is.
Mine was not the fanciest entry in the Targa series -- by far -- but even in its basic stainless steel trim it's a head turner thanks to its very striking and distinctive nib design.
I can hear the screeching from the pen collectors from here. Yes, I committed sacrilege by grinding my antique pen's point into an oblique nib but, yes, I also have an unmolested original nib in its as-manufactured configuration. Still in its factory packaging, sealed, unused!
I like a good oblique nib, helped moreso because using this pen for all my assignments absolutely annoyed the shit out of most of my teachers. (And if an oblique is not available, I will make do with a plain italic nib instead.)
Because of that, to this very day, my basic handwriting looks like this. It looks absolutely ridiculous if you put a ball point or pencil in my hand, but let me have one of my fountain pens and I can crank out these serifed italics as fast as most people can scribble a regular printed hand. Now there's a less-than-marketable skill.
I await with interest what all the armchair graphologists will now tell me what's wrong with me.
This is a really great comment. It has everything. It's educational, it's funny, it's cynical, but also very optimistic with its unabashed display of niche nerddom. Gold star. Ya know what? 3 gold stars!!
Ooh, nice pen! I love the inlaid nib on this model. I also am a fan of the Triumph type nib (I have a Sheaffer Signature with one).
Here in the US we didn't use fountain pens in school. But there's a cult following.
My current daily driver is a Parker 45 Flighter with an Octanium nib (stainless steel with fancy marketing me lol).
I don't bother with cartridges; I use converters instead. Quink Black works pretty well in this one although I have too many other inks.
Fountain pen lovers -- there are ~~dozens~~ two of us!
OoooOOO.
I don't have any vintage Parker fountain pens. I do have one of the re-release 51's which is a fine enough pen, and I have a Parker Latitude from 2007 that is so terrible the thing seems to have been memory holed entirely and has negative collector's value.
Oh, and I have about 67 zillion Jotters, both vintage and modern.
The new 51s do look nice. I hadn't heard of a Latitude until your comment. (Maybe everyone memoryholed it lol)
Here's my $40 pen and 50¢ handwriting!
Nice!
Meanwhile I eyedroppered a single preppy and didn’t really have to refill it through 3 years of highschool. I think I added like 2/3rds water once because I was low, but I was using oxblood so it was still dark dark red lmao
Pretty sure german students have done that last friday
I still have, and occasionally use a pen virtually identical to this. Mine is a Sheaffer "Slim pen" purchased 1988, so maybe thinner than yours. Some years ago, I sent it away for repair. It came back fixed free of charge!
There is a slim version of the Targa, also. I don't have one, but I am given to understand that it takes weird cartridges that are now unobtanium. I've never seen one in person, only pictures online.
Do you meet a lot of armchair graphologists when you share this hobby? Genuinely interested, I never even knew this was a hobby or interest outside of maybe calligraphy. Very interesting post and fantastic handwriting.