Notes on Kite Aerial Photography: Background
The deal in a nutshell:
I will print, sign and ship the kite aerial photograph of your choice (my work only) in
return for an old fountain pen.
A fountain pen is a noble thing
Ever since I was a student in college I have been a daily user of fountain pens. I remember having an epiphany of sorts as I struggled with a leaky ballpoint BIC pen that the mass produced objects I was writing with were generally inelegant and often offensive (as was the BIC at that moment.) So for almost 30 years I have used a succession of very pleasant Lamy, Pelikan, and Montblanc pens. They are a comfort in my daily routine and do lay down a line with greater character than a BIC.
Recently, I have come to appreciate older fountain pens. I have been using an old 1928 Shaeffer Lifetime pen with an extra-fine nib and enjoying it. Thus has started a quest to begin a collection of older pens. Why had this not occurred to me before? As a matter of fact, I have looked at older pens before but the specimens I found at garage sales and nick-nack shops were generally disappointing in quality. More recently, I've begun wandering through the online auction eBay in the collectibles: writing instruments: pens section and finding hundreds of interesting pens to think about.
So having had great fun with the original kite aerial photograph for slide rule trade offer I am now expanding my barter system to include fountain pens.
I have a particular interest in fountain pens from 1920 or so until 1945. What a fine period this was in the development of writing instruments. The age begins with interesting pens that housed simple bladder filling systems in hard rubber bodies. Over the next twenty-five years materials developed from hard rubber to milled casein, Bakelite, and celluloid bodies and finally to injection molded plastic. Shapes changed around 1930 from blunt cylindrical forms to handsomely streamlined objects. The ink train evolved through a dozen methods for filling ink sacs and into a variety of interesting mechanisms for filling the barrel itself with ink.
A pen with
great appeal -- the 1930s Parker Vacumatic in blue celluloid. This pen represents embodies
that decade's rapid change in design, material, filling mechanism, and craft.This model
developed rapidly so there are many variants to be found.
Social influences rival the technical during this period. The fountain pen was hardly
anachronistic in the early part of the century. In this precomputer day it was a major
medium for the written word. The period begins as the world was recovering from World War
I and extends through World War II. It encompasses the Depression – a time when many
could not afford fountain pens – and includes pens designed during a period of
intense market rivalry by the major pen marquees. Finally, this was a period marked by
care in craftsmanship and the creation of permanent rather than disposable objects.
There are, of course, some particulars to mention. There are several brand names I would prefer to avoid. These include:
Ambassador, Arnold, Avon, Champion, EPENCO, Fineline, Ingersoll, Iridium, Jefferson, Justrite, Manos, Morrison, Nassau, Osmiroid, Packard, Parco, Platignum, Remington, Royal, Speedball, Stratford, Traveler, Venus, Waltham, Waterson, Wearever, and Welch.
Having read the long list of pens I do not desire you might well ask if I am overly picky. After all, I am only trading photographs. And the answer would be yes and no. I have started to work on restoring old pens to good working condition and this effort is best placed in pens with some potential. So I am interested in pens like the Shaeffer Lifetime and Balance series, the Parker Vacumatic, Mable Todd, Waterman, Conklin, Pelikan, and others. The pen you trade need not necessarily be in good shape.
So here I am, enjoying the exploration and discovery that mark the beginning of a new interest. I won’t put a blinking subliminal suggestion on this page (someone actually wrote to complain about this gag, saying it was beneath me) but when you come across that old pen in the drawer or cruising eBay think about me and that dandy KAP print that is easily within reach.Instructions:
Perhaps you have a surplus fountain pen or the treasure-hunting talents to find one. If you would like to participate in what might well be the world's most specialized barter system - kite aerial photographs for fountain pens - just send a fountain pen to the address below with a note designating your desired image. If you send a nice fountain pen then I'll send you a nice print (a hand-printed and spotted 8"x10") in return. A more ordinary fountain pen would return a conventional print, etc. If you would like to negotiate the details drop me a quick note at crisp@socrates.berkeley.edu. Describe your fountain pen and the image you would like to receive.
Charles C. Benton
Center for Environmental Design Research
390 Wurster Hall
University of California, Berkeley
Berkeley, CA 94720-1839
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Comments to author: crisp@socrates.berkeley.edu . All content,
graphics and
images contained throughout are Copyright (C) 1995 - 2005 by Charles C. Benton
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No text, graphic or image may be used whole or in part, individually,
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All rights reserved. Revised: Monday, December 02, 2002
URL: http://arch.ced.berkeley.edu/kap/background/kapoffer2.html