By Bill Riepl
This year's Chicago pen show proved to be another great event. As we've come to expect, a ton of great pens showed up. The Chicago show is still one of the best places to find the best of the best when it comes to rare vintage pens. It seems that over the years I have been going, I've managed to see just about anything you can imagine, from the rarest early Parker and Waterman overlays to some truly amazing vintage Italian pens last year. It tends to become one of those events where you end up seeing things that you've only seen in books previously!
In
addition to the pens, the Chicago show is also just plain fun. I was going
to say "leaving the pens out of it", but of course, you can't
"leave the pens out of it"! Not at a pen show... Especially
the Chicago show! The pens go with you to dinner, they go with you to
the lobby bar after dinner. Some of the best pens don't even get seen
on the trading floor, much less bought or sold there: They get seen, haggled
over, and purchased in the bar "after hours".
But given that all your socializing might have to do with pens, it's still true that the best part of any show can be the time spent off the trading floor. It may sound counterintuitive, since after all the whole idea of going to the show is to get at those pens, but trust me, if you've ever shared a dinner table with the likes of David Isaacson, Jim Rouse, John Messer, or Jimmy Dolive to name a few, you'll understand just how much fun there is to be had "after hours".
As with all but one show that I travel to (Portland) the Chicago show began with a drive to the airport. Unlike some reports I've heard over the last few years, I've really not had much trouble with security when flying with pens. This year proved to be no exception to my run of luck, and I managed to get through the screening without delay. Hey, the flight was even a bit early getting into Chicago!
Thursday evening began with a trip to dinner with Mary and the crew from Luxury Brands. Dick Egolf managed to carry on his so far unbroken record of knowing the location of every Italian restaurant in a city hosting a pen show, and a few minutes drive got us to an out of the way place where we proceeded to get caught up on events of the last few months since the LA show.
As I had expected despite our arriving back at the hotel around ten PM, there were still pen folk talking in the lobby. Being exhausted, we didn't linger long enough to find out just what was in those cases being handed around, and headed for the room to get some rest for the next day. As it turns out we missed out on seeing some very rare early Parker overlays and pearl inlay pieces. Probably for the best, as I doubt the budget would have stretched to one in any case!
With
Friday morning comes the beginning of the three "full days"
of the show. While there are plenty of folks arriving on Thursday or even
Wednesday, the main event so to speak really begins Friday AM. The main
ballroom is opened up, and tables get quickly filled as the pens come
out.
There's a lot of debate over the whole concept of having a show with only one "public day", as Chicago does. It doesn't really mean that the show isn't open to the public on all three days, what it does mean is that the show organizers have set it up so that the only "one day" admission they offer is on Sunday. Admission for Friday and Saturday is via purchasing the three day weekend package at $60.
I believe that the Sunday only admission fee is $10, so at first glance it appears that it costs twice as much for admission with the weekend package. However, it's important to note that at $20 a day, it's still an amazing bargain when you consider what you're buying with that $20... The following holds true for all shows with "weekend package" pricing, by the way, not just the Chicago show.
Exposure
to more pens than you'll see anywhere else of course. But also, exposure
to pen people, worth much more in the long run. At a pen show, especially
one like Chicago, you can get almost any pen question you might have (no
matter how esoteric!) answered. Usually, with an example of the pen in
question on hand to illustrate.
If you consider what having this information might save you on a future pen deal... You can see why I consider that $20 money well spent! I've saved myself a lot of money and headache just by asking questions at pen shows. Of course, I usually immediately spend any money I might have saved (and a bit more!) on the "great deals" I find at the show, so I suppose it's not a net gain, but still...
When it comes to questions, you will find that the folks behind the tables are among the most helpful people you'd ever be likely to meet. I'm constantly amazed at just how friendly and eager to assist most of the traders and dealers are. The advantage to a large show like Chicago is in having dealers literally from across the globe. Whatever you might be asking about, the chances are that you'll be able to find at least one example at the show, and a couple of folks who can tell you all about it!
Another great aspect of a large show are the seminars put on during the show itself. For example, from this year's schedule: Parker 51's presented by David Shepherd, REPAIRS FOR COLLECTORS presented by Joel Hamilton and Sherell Tyree of Inkpen, WORKING ON NIBS, presented by John Mottishaw. That's three hours worth of information well worth the price of admission in itself!
If
your tastes were more towards modern than vintage, you didn't go home
disappointed. Modern dealers were set up throughout the room with the
latest and greatest on display. Jimmy Dolive of TOPs, Jim and Kenny of
Bertram's Inkwell, Detlef of Bittners, the Kaplans of Great Parker, and
Executive Essentials, among others. It was pretty hard not to find a good
deal.
On Sunday, many manufacturer's representatives set up displays showing off their newest products. Visconti, Aurora, Conway Stewart, Signum, Sailor, Taccia, Krone. It looks like some very interesting pens on the way in the next few months!
Sunday proved to be a busy day, with plenty of people through the door, and some brisk trade being done. Sunday is always considered to be the primary trading day, and this year was no exception. By the end of the day, everyone was more than ready for a break. I consider the Sunday evening dinner to be the high point of every show. Everyone is winding down, the pressure is off, and you can relax and have a good time. Unfortunately, this year Mary wasn't feeling at all well and we spent Sunday evening in the room with room service. I think we got the short end of that deal!
Restaurants within a short distance include two great Italian places ("real" deep dish Chicago pizza!), and a short drive takes you to great steak houses, it's a matter of taking your pick and bringing your appetite. In terms of dining, I think Chicago has to be one of my all time favorite shows. Although I will say that it's not a place to go as a vegetarian!
All in all, 2005 brought a great Chicago
show, and like every other I've been to, it was more fun than I thought
it would be. Considering my expectations by now, that's quite an accomplishment!
Thanks go out to Don Lavin, Dan Zazove, and Mike Fultz for a great job
again!
copyright 2005 William Riepl