Browsed by
Month: October 2023

Nibby Sunday – Milton Reynolds – The Ballpoint King

Nibby Sunday – Milton Reynolds – The Ballpoint King

Comments 1 comment

This article was originally published in Norwegian at Pennen er mektigere on May 2, 2021. When you search in old Norwegian newspaper archives for the name “Milton Reynolds”, you find a lot of articles that mention two specific events in particular. One happened in 1947, when he flew around the world with his plane “The Reynolds Bombshell” in 78 hours and 55 minutes, thereby setting a new record for circumnavigating the world. The other case that was widely reported in Norwegian newspapers…

Read More Read More

Point to Paper – The Norwegian hatter that got in trouble with the Sheriff

Point to Paper – The Norwegian hatter that got in trouble with the Sheriff

Comments 2 comments

In a previous post, I wrote about the special envelope Andrine Aschjem received from her husband Hans Jakob just before Christmas in 1862. Hans Jakob Aschjem was a member of the Norwegian Parliament for Jarlsberg and Larvik County. His wife Andrine lived during this period at home on their farm Grini. It still exists and is today located in Larvik municipality. Four years earlier, in 1858, Andrine received another letter. It was written by her friend Lise Kahrs. Lise lived in the capital Kristiania (Christiania). This letter…

Read More Read More

Nibby Sunday – Service and restoration of Parker Vacumatic and Parker 51

Nibby Sunday – Service and restoration of Parker Vacumatic and Parker 51

Comments 4 comments

A couple of weekends ago I decided to fix up a couple of Parker pens I’ve had lying around for a long time: a Vacumatic and a 51. These are two legendary pen models, which, together with the Duofold, takes much of the credit for Parker in its time becomming the world’s largest and most-selling fountain pen brand. Vacumatic and 51 have very different filling mechanisms, and different considerations that must be taken when repairing them. They are also quite different from most other…

Read More Read More

Point to Paper – She got a very special envelope from her husband on the 17th of December 1862

Point to Paper – She got a very special envelope from her husband on the 17th of December 1862

Comments 0 Comment

On the 17th of December 1862, Andrine Aschjem received a letter from her husband Hans Jakob. The letter was addressed Laurdahl. To find her home in Norway on a map today you would have to look for the farm Grini in Lardal in the county of Vestfold. The farm still exists. It was just before Christmas. I think Andrine was busy in the house baking and cooking. It was probably cold outside. She might have been having trouble with the snow…

Read More Read More

13 tips for writing NaNoWriMo by hand

13 tips for writing NaNoWriMo by hand

Comments 0 Comment

This is a blog post about National Novel Writing Month. If you don’t know what that is, you might find it useful to read my post “Nibby Sunday – Write a novel in a month!” first. This year will be my fourth time writing National Novel Writing Month by hand. The first time was in 2016. I started the month with a trip abroad, and didn’t really have time to write much the first couple of weeks, which led to…

Read More Read More

Nibby Sunday – Write a novel in a month!

Nibby Sunday – Write a novel in a month!

Comments 1 comment

For the past two years, I’ve had sub-optimal NaNoWriMo experiences. In both 2021 and 2022, I had a lot of other things to do before, and partly during NaNoWriMo, I wasn’t motivated, I didn’t have time to prepare well enough, and I didn’t have any good ideas for what to write about. This year, I am determined not to have a third NaNoWriMo in a row that turns out like this. For those who don’t know what NaNoWriMo is: it stands for…

Read More Read More

Point to Paper – Do you have a fountain pen that would go nicely with my Hardanger fiddle?

Point to Paper – Do you have a fountain pen that would go nicely with my Hardanger fiddle?

Comments 0 Comment

You may be wondering if anyone has actually asked me if there exists a fountain pen that would go particularly well with a Norwegian Hardanger fiddle. Strangely, no one has. What I can say is that if someone were to ask me this question, I have a good answer ready. I would like to share that answer with you. If you are interested in this topic, it might suggest a special interest in Hardanger fiddles or fountain pens. It might also be that you…

Read More Read More

Nibby Sunday – Ballpoint pens I actually enjoy using

Nibby Sunday – Ballpoint pens I actually enjoy using

Comments 0 Comment

Us fountain pen enthusiasts have a small tendency to look down on ballpoint pens, but personally, I’ve found that both pen types have their uses. The fountain pen isn’t always the best tool, and in some situations the ballpoint pen is just better. In any case, there’s no reason to pit the two against each other. On the contrary, they actually complement each other quite well. When the ballpoint pen came on the market after the war, it was quickly able to replace the…

Read More Read More

Point to Paper – The business that had phone number 1, who did they call?

Point to Paper – The business that had phone number 1, who did they call?

Comments 2 comments

Imagine that once upon a time there was a company you could call by just dialing one digit. I wonder what made them invest in the new phone technology. Not to mention the company with phone number 1. Who were they to call? What motivated them to get a phone? Believe it or not, I actually know the name of one such company. You might be wondering how I know this. It has to do with pencils. I also think it is a bit strange that…

Read More Read More

Nibby Sunday – Report From Pelikan Hub 2023

Nibby Sunday – Report From Pelikan Hub 2023

Comments 0 Comment

Last Friday (September 22), we had the pen event of the year, Pelikan Hub, and over 30 fountain pen enthusiasts flocked to Tudos’ premises at Frysja in Oslo to share their experiences, try each other’s pens, exchange inks, and talk about this and that. Pelikan Hub was initiated by Pelikan in 2014, and has in relatively few years grown to become an annual event that many pen enthusiasts around the world look forward to. The aim is to bring together people…

Read More Read More