Welcome to Dromgoole's

Monthly Newsletter

September 2019

Each month, this newsletter will contain a calendar of upcoming events and releases, a feature article about the fountain pen community and industry, announcements of special deals and promotions , and more!

This Month's Article: What I've Learned Working at Dromgoole's by Claire Steinman

Below you can see the products that will be released in the next month.

If you're interested in any of these, keep your eyes peeled for our email blasts so you don't miss out!

The Blackwing Volume 42 is a tribute to Jackie Robinson. It features balanced graphite, a white barrel, blue imprint and eraser, road gray ferrule, and iconic red 42. The number 42 not only honors Jackie’s achievements, it celebrates those who pursue their passions, creative or otherwise, regardless of the obstacles in their way. 

LAMY Scala Dark Lilac

LAMY Studio Special Edition Lx Black and LAMY Studio Special Edition Aquamarine

LAMY Lx Marron

The Wahl-Eversharp Signature Series is available in four beautiful colors: Jade: Limoncello, Red, and Rosewood. Jade is available now, and the other three will be in stock soon!

The Signature has a medium nib which can be flipped over to write like a fine.

Each Monthly Newsletter will be accompanied by an article examining the fountain pen community and industry.

Claire Steinman

Claire is Dromgoole's newest employee. She helps with product photography, adding new pens to the website, and online marketing.

Four years ago, I was sitting on the dingy floor of a dimly lit dorm room. Miguel pulled two fountain pens from his desk. “Ok, I think I can part with these. Who wants which one?”

My friend Grace, who was sitting next to me, had called me from my room down the hall, because Miguel was going through his collection and getting rid of pens he didn't use.

Grace looked at me. “I don’t care which one I have; you’re more interested in trying out fountain pens than I am. Which one do you want?”

“Hmm...probably the green and gold one,” I replied.

“Are you sure?” said Miguel. “The other one’s better quality.”

“No, it’s fine; I don’t like red as much as green. You can keep that one Grace.”

That was the first day of a new hobby and obsession that continued through my college years and beyond. I scoured the internet for information and reviews. I wanted to know everything I could about pens, but felt that my experiences and knowledge would always be limited, since my budget was limited, too. When I moved to Houston from San Antonio, I visited Dromgoole’s several times, getting pens and ink for gifts. Ok, mostly for myself. But I never spent too much time around the higher-end brands, thinking that it wasn’t worth it to taunt myself with what I couldn’t have.

I hoped that by working at Dromgoole’s, I would learn to identify the best of the best, to see quality with a glance, to acquire esoteric enlightenment about the craftsmanship and techniques behind the finest writing instruments. And I have learned a lot. For one, I know the difference between Togidashi Maki-e and Togidashi-Taka Maki-e, which I personally consider quite an accomplishment. But more than this, the biggest thing I’ve learned is that ultimately, all the esoteric knowledge in the world matters little if you don’t pay attention to the person who will be using the pen.

As Willie Dromgoole said to a customer the other day, “Pens are personal.” Each person has their own preference, and no one gets to tell you that one pen is better or worse than another for you . Take a pen that an expert artisan crafted by hand for months on end, and someone will say it’s too thick for their hand, or they don’t like the texture of the material, or they prefer pens that can post. One of the Dromgoole’s regulars, Barbara, loves bright, clear ink colors. I like muted, dark, or almost black inks. I often find myself saying, “What a hideous color. Hey Barb, come look at this, I think you’ll like it!”

Four days ago, I thought to myself that I wished the nib of the pen I was writing with had a little more spring in it. I had never expected to become a person who cared so much about whether my nib was springy or not.

A year after Miguel gave me my first pen, before I ever dreamed I would be working here, I brought that pen into Dromgoole’s and asked about it. Larry informed me it was a Chinese-made pen, a knockoff of another brand. But I didn’t care. I loved that pen. I’ve taken it apart and put it back together a dozen times, taken countless pages of notes with it, filled it with a billion inks. It’s got a squeeze converter with a pretty low ink capacity, but it suits me, because I like changing ink colors frequently. I like the fine, hooded nib and the slim plastic body, because I have small hands and small handwriting. It’s a solid pen, and is to this day one of my favorites. My pen collection isn’t humble. It’s perfect.

All that being said, I should’ve picked the red one. It was a vintage Parker 51.