December 5th, 2002 the first day of the annual Fountain Pen Hospital Pen Fair dawned brightly on the east coast, bringing with it the first major snow fall of the season. It was 7:00 a.m. and the snow was falling heavily. There was no way to leave the house today and get around the city. How disappointing for Terry and Steve Weiderlight. All the planning and preparation for what is considered by many, the best Pen Fair of the year, is going to be stalled by this terrible snowstorm.

Well, not to worry, nothing stops a loyal pen aficionado. Most of the representatives from the various manufacturers were able to get to the 10 Warren Street location in time for the opening. They set themselves up and waited. It was about 11:00 a.m. before anyone came to the fair. Things were beginning to feel dismal, but then customers started to arrived, covered in snow, cold and tired from their journey, but elated to be there and anxious to see all of the pens on display and to speak to the representatives about the new lines coming out in 2003. It was the beginning of what promised to turn out to be the best fair ever.

Needless to say Thursday did not get a great turnout. The entire east coast was blanketed in either snow or ice and it was really difficult getting around. Whoever made it to the fair had a great time and plenty of it to kibitz with the reps, talk to Terry and Steve, their staff and vintage guru Ed Fingerman. While all this was going on, the phones at FPH never stopped ringing and the orders just kept coming it.

Friday, December 6th, turned out to be a great day, sun shinning and winds abating, people came from everywhere to be a part of this fantastic event. Another successful day at the hospital.

Try as we did, we could not get there on Friday, the plows never cleared our street and we were stuck home until Saturday. The last day of the fair and the first time we had missed it in 6 years. No way, we were going today. We arrived about 10:30 a.m. It was so crowded that we could barely get into the store. Anyone who has ever visited Fountain Pen Hospital knows that it is a large, store with pens in showcases from floor to ceiling and that is how it was this day, the only difference was that there were wall-to-wall people. You could not even get to the counters. There were representatives from almost every company there, with their samples, new releases and old faithfuls on the counters for anyone to handle. Montblanc had a rep that was giving out calculators to those lucky people that spent time at their station. Montegrappa was represented and so were Stipula, Retro 51, Namiki, Cartier and Cross. Jerry Greenberg, owner of Yafa Pens and distributor of Delta were there to answer questions and talk with buyers. Joel Blumberg from Aurora was next to him and they were having a great time talking with people.

As we made our way through the crowds to the back of the store, there we found the rep from Omas, Dick Egolf and Rob Cole from Sailor Pens, Harold Rosenberg of Conklin Pen, Ken Jones representing Ancora, Patrick Pinkston of Michel Perchin and Jim Stringwell from Krone, all ready and willing to talk with you and show you their lines. It was awesome. The store was abuzz with excitement and the people seemed to be in a buying frenzy.

Let there be no question that the fountain pen industry is alive and well in New York. Terry and Steve Weiderlight, being the amazing hosts that they are had a room set up in the basement where you could get a cup of coffee, a bagel or complete lunch. They thought of everything. There was candy and goodies at every counter and the atmosphere was that of a friendly meeting. Strangers talked with each other and with the sales personnel and the manufacturers reps sometimes, not about pens but about life in general. There is always a bit of conversation that gravitates to the happenings of 9-11-01, especially here because it is only two short blocks to walk to “Ground Zero”, but all in all the tone was happy.

Steve and I spent the entire day talking with old friends, making new friends and just enjoying what was a wonderful and rewarding Pen Fair by and large. We acted at some points during this very busy day as relief workers, manning the displays so that the reps and sales personnel could take a coffee or lunch break. It was a full day of fun. Everyone should mark their calendar for next year’s Fountain Pen Hospital’s Pen Fair and make every attempt to get there. No disappointments here and that’s a guarantee.

Maryann and Steve
PenstopOnline