September 28 was Tilburg pen show day! And not only that, it also was the first time in a few months that Veerle den Houwer, Michael Scharf, Michael Richter, Ronald Rietman, and Johan Thole would meet (again). The pen show was held in the Tilburg writing instruments museum, Scryption.

Here we are; Michael S., Veerle, Ronald, Johan, and Michael R.

We decided to take a coffee in a nearby restaurant before the show opened. Luckily there was a large table, because we all wanted to show off with our pens! Sumgirl of the year is Veerle, with her Waterman Serenitè and "Night and Day" flea market finds!

pre-show pens

Veerle, Michael S., Michael R. and Johan are all active on the Pentrace board. Ronald is a subscriber to the Zoss list, but we'll get him to Pentrace too! Here are the Pentracers, wearing their badge of honour!

Pentracers

The show had about 20 tables, most of them from German and Dutch sellers. So it's no surprise that most of the pens were of European origin. Rows and rows of Pelikans, Montblancs and other German pens were on the tables. But we also saw pens from Italy, France, the Netherlands, Denmark and other European countries. Most US pens were Parkers. There weren't many Sheaffer pens around, and those present were overpriced, in our opinion. Both Michael R. and Johan (the Sheaffer lovers among our small group) are used to US sellers and Ebay prices, so this was a tiny disappointment. But there was enough to spend our money on!

Michael R. and Ronald visited the table of Tom Westerich first. Tom is an expert Montblanc repairman. Ronald picked up a repaired Montblanc 1266 for one of his colleagues. Michael joined us again with a stunning Montblanc 139 in his hands!

After the show we tried this pen, and it's not only impressive to look at, but also a terrific writer! Next to Tom stood Jurgen Kuhse, another German seller and a regular on the Zoss list. He had some great pens for sale, among them a Montblanc 24 with a BB nib, that was meant for Johan, and a Pelikan 400NN with an Oblique nib, that disappeared into Michael S' pocket.

Here you can see Jurgen in a wild shirt, full of flowers. Tom Westerich is in the background, next to the black "op het lijf geschreven" object. "Op het lijf geschreven", "written on your body", refers to a T-shirt exhibition in the museum. You can see the T-shirts hanging everywhere

P.W. Akkerman, a famous Dutch pen shop, had the new Parker 51 on display. Unfortunately it wascapped and behind glass only. On their table, they had a range of modern pens, books and related stuff. Michael S. had the nib of his Stipula replaced by Paul Rutte, and was really happy with the result.

Pennenland, the Dutch importer of Visconti, showed some really nice pens. Among them the Skeleton, a few LE's, the Pericles, and the new Van Gogh models. Those pens look even more stunning in real life than in a catalogue! All in all, the different tables had a nice blend of modern and vintage pens.

In the picture below you see one of the highlights of the Scryption museum, the antique typewriter collection. Among them the private collection of F.W. Hermans, a famous Dutch author.

After the show we assembled again in the same restaurant, to show and try each other's purchases. We all bought a number of pens at the show, but most were taken by Veerle (the usual pattern). Michael R. also showed us his ink samplers and had some of those inks in his pens. A writing test revealed once again that those ink colors look even better in real life than on a computer screen! Here's our restaurant table one more time, again full of pens, this time our show finds:

There we were, tired but happy! Time to get back to the train station (for Johan, Ronald and Michael R.) and the car (for Veerle and Michael S.). We all had a great day, and we look forward to the next show (probably Brussels). Next year Tilburg will definitely be on our list again

Thanks to Michael S. for taking the pictures, thanks to all for the great day, and of course, special thanks to Jeanne van Putten and her team for organizing the show, already for the 13th time!