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2024 Commonwealth Pen Show in Somerville, Massachusetts
I attended the 2024 Commonwealth Pen Show in Somerville, MA this past weekend. It was a two day show with hours of 10am-5:30pm Saturday and 9am-3pm Sunday. I was there from noon to 3:30 or so on Saturday.
The show had previously been held at a Holiday Inn a few miles away in the same city. Last year, there was a staffing issue at the hotel and they could not host the show. The organizers had insufficient time to find a new venue so there was no show last year. Thankfully, another venue was lined up and the show was able to return this year. There was a good crowd on hand. It was thinning out toward the end of my time there, but I felt a positive, enthusiastic mood in the room all along.
My shopping list for the show was:
Sheaffer Balance
Custom nib grind from JJ Lax
Extra nibs for existing pens
Pocket size top spiral bound notebooks
No ink
Possible wild cards of a Delta Spaccanapoli, Pilot Silvern, or Parker Duofold Junior
How did I do with that list? Pretty well.
Pens acquired (left) and improved (right) at the 2024 Commonwealth Pen Show
I didn’t get one Sheaffer Balance, I got two. They are both the shorter length version, not the full size I had in mind. The ring top on the far left needs a new sac but otherwise seems to be in great shape, so I’ll get it sent off for that repair. The clipped Balance needs a bit of nib tuning but I like using it so far. Both pens are more comfortable to use posted but it was mentioned to me that one should exercise care in posting Balance caps and watch out for cracking. There were several nice full-size Balances at the show but the examples that tickled my fancy felt out of my comfort zone price-wise. The shorter models were less expensive and I ultimately felt better starting with two smaller bites at the apple.
Sheaffer Balance (left, middle) and Pilot Murex (right)
The wild card ended up being a Pilot Murex. I looked at a Pilot Silvern but it cost more than I felt like spending. Then I spied a Murex on the same table. It’s in good shape with some small scuffs on the barrel. The nib is a medium, which I preferred over a fine. The unknown was how the metal grip would feel in hand. The ridges provide enough purchase to make the pen comfortable and useable. Without them, I don’t think I’d go for the Murex. I love the pen’s overall look and design.
As for nib work and extra nib units, things worked out nicely.
GvFC Guilloche, Esterbrook J, and Kilk Orient
I had booked an appointment with JJ Lax to get a grind for my Kilk Orient. The stock BB nib works well but it’s not interesting. I thought I’d get a cursive italic grind, but using some of the tester pens on Josh’s table changed my mind. His BBG grind offers an italic on the forward side and a finer line on the reverse. I asked for a smooth cursive italic as the main line and the reverse to be in fine to medium range. The reverse side is also drier than the forward. Now this nib is much more versatile and fun to use. It can easily switch from bold wet lines to thinner, lighter strokes.
Josh also was able to tune the alignment on my GvFC Guilloche. The scratchiness it had was more an annoyance than something that would discourage use of the pen, but it’s nice to have the nib dialed in where I want it. Josh was a pleasure to work with and I would recommend his services if you’re in the market.
We chatted about the very busy pen show schedule he’s been on the past several weeks, which drove home the point that it’s worth the trip to attend a local show if you can. The nib workers are making it to more and more shows and getting that in person experience with them is valuable. While the Commonwealth Show is small, there were multiple nib workers in attendance. In addition to Josh, you could see Richard Binder and Matthew Chen. I think Linda Kennedy was on the exhibitor list but I don’t know if she was at the show.
I also found a broad 9968 nib for my Esterbrook J. The line is not as wide as I expected but if it’s held near a 90-degree angle to the page it puts down a broader line. I don’t hold my pens like that, so if I keep the nib maybe I should get it ground to a monoline for my normal writing angle.
Writing samples for pens acquired or improved at the 2024 Commonwealth Pen Show.
I got three pocket size notebooks with top spiral binding — two Midoris and a Mnemosyne. The Clairefontaine I wanted wasn’t at the show and notebook selection was only found at a handful of tables. I didn’t look at a single bottle of ink and that didn’t feel like I was missing anything. A few Newton pen sleeves topped off the day.
My mom went to the show with me and after we left, she surprised me with something.
Esterbrook had these small Toyo steel boxes at their table and I had pointed them out to mom because I liked the color and matte finish. I didn’t give much consideration to buying one because I’ve got many small storage containers at home, but I’m sure I can find an appropriate purpose for it within the stationery collection. At present, it’s holding another Esterbrook box I found a few years ago at Brimfield.
Old meets new.
Esterbrook had an attractive setup with different pen models and brand accessories. I got to handle the Model J and came away impressed. It’s shorter than the Estie but much more substantial than then the modern JR or classic J. I think the metal accents and ebonite help set it apart from many other production pens in the same price range. I had a short talk with Bryan Hulser from Kenro Industries who was running the Esterbrook table and I guess they have something in the works with the Charles Schulz Museum. Schulz used Esterbrook nibs in creating the Peanuts comic strip, so I’ll be interested to see what they cook up.
I’m grateful that the pen show was able to happen this year. Not having a show in 2023 was a bummer. I don’t imagine it’s easy to find spaces for events like this and no matter what you do you won’t be able to please everyone. I offer the following as feedback from a customer’s perspective - the venue was okay but had it challenges, and even if improvements could be made, I don’t know if the show should plan on staying there anyway.
This year’s show was held at the Somerville Armory, which is owned by the city but seems to be primarily used by a non-profit called Arts at the Armory. The space just doesn’t lend itself to a pen show. At the hotel in previous years, the show was in a function room which offered more space and better lighting.
If you look at the picture at the start of this article, you’ll see small windows high up on the far wall and a few lights up by the ceiling. That’s pretty much all the light you get in this room. Behind the black curtain on the right side of the picture is an elevated stage. This picture from the Arts at the Armory website shows the room from an elevated perspective by the wall with the windows. There are plenty of stage lights but those don’t do anything for the floor space.
Image from artsatthearmory.org
The lighting here was insufficient, inconsistent, and I think the pens suffered for it. For standing and talking with someone, it’s fine. For looking at pens with all the small details they contain, it isn’t enough. At best, some spots were okay if they were under a ceiling light, facing a window, or if the exhibitor brought their own supplemental lighting. Hemingway Jones has a video from the show on his Youtube channel and it demonstrates how odd things looked at different places around the room. A hotel ballroom may be generic and uninteresting, but it let me see the pens more clearly.
Parking was another challenge. The Holiday Inn had onsite parking in their lot and there never seemed to be a lack of spaces. The Armory has a small lot behind it that was reserved for staff and exhibitors. The show was able to set up free parking at a lot about a quarter mile away, which was nice, but driving to it was somewhat frustrating. Somerville is a very densely populated city with a small geographical are. Narrow one-way streets are common. While the parking lot used was the best nearby option, getting your car to it could be frustrating.
Additionally, many of the surrounding streets are hilly and I wonder if folks that have mobility challenges may have found it difficult getting back and forth between the lot and the show. I dropped my mom off at the door when we arrived at the Armory, then parked the car and walked over. I asked if she was okay walking back when we left, noting that it was uphill most of the way. She said she was but in retrospect it would have been easier to have her wait while I got the car.
There are subway & surface stops on two different rail lines nearby. The closest one would be about the same distance away as the parking lot, but depending on where you’re coming from that stop might require changing lines and more time on the train. What I would consider the closest major subway stop (Porter Square on the Red Line) is a mile from the venue. Either way, getting to the show doesn’t feel as convenient as previous years.
The last thing about the Armory is whether the show could reliably be held there because there doesn’t appear to be much security to the relationship between the current primary tenants and the city. Whether you take what’s written and linked to here at face value or with several grains of salt, it would seem tricky to make plans at this location for future years. I’ll reiterate my appreciation for the organizers making the show happen this year, but I would be looking for other places to have it because I don’t think the Armory has what the show needs to grow and get better for vendors and visitors.
Were you at the Commonwealth Show? What did you think?