Saturday September 27 was Tilburg pen show day. Or actually afternoon, since the show is open for the general public from 13:00 to 17:00. So it’s a smaller show, with less than 20 tables. Most dealers were from the Netherlands, Germany and Belgium, so it was not suprising to see a strong focus on European pens. Surprise, surprise! Our fellow Pentracers Veerle den Houwer and Michael Scharf set up a table too.

Johan Thole and Michael Scharf

I didn’t have any wish list in my mind, and I didn’t travel to the show with the idea of blowing money too. My main goals were meeting the other Pentrace (and non-Pentrace) friends again, and getting some ideas for Cologne next year.

Paul Rutte, P.W. Akkerman

At the entrance of the Scryption museum (same place as last year) I met Ronald Rietman and Mirjam. We went into the museum together where we met Veerle and Michael Scharf. They had been there already for two busy hours, and told us that they sold quite some pens. Michael Richter and his girlfriend didn’t arrive before 13:30, but they had to drive from Germany.

Veerle den Houwer

Since Veerle and Michael Scharf had set up a table, they had entrance to the show before us. They both managed to sell most of their pens, a lot already during the first hour! Luckily Michael left a Lamy 2000 that was looking for a new owner. Thanks Michael! Michael also had the Pentrace blotters at his table, and sold some really nice Pentrace posters.

Tom Westerich

About pens picked up ... Michael managed to pick up a Pelikan Rappen for a very good price! No wonder that there were many Pelikan around with people like Tom Westerich and Jürgen Kuhse manning the tables. While they mostly had vintage pens, dealers like P.W. Akkerman and Pennenland (the Dutch Visconti importer) showed some great modern pens. Among them the blue/silver trim Pelikans and the brand new Pelikan Moon Goddess!

Jürgen Kuhse

During the show we met Michael Richter, who had brought a pack of his ink samplers. A must have if you’re hooked on different ink colors and brands. And great to have if you aren’t, too, if only because of the beauty of his samplers.

Michael Richter showing his ink samplers

The only pen I took from this show was the Lamy 2000, with a great B nib, btw. Veerle kindly sold me a bottle of vintage Skrip permanent blue/black, and I got a lot of ideas for the next show, in Cologne.

Thanks to Ronald for taking the pictures, and getting them developed the same day! I hope he’s not mad at me for taking so long to write this article ... Thanks to all for again a great day, and especially thanks to Jeanne van Putten for organizing this show for already the 14th time! We’ll be back

Johan