SF Pen Show 2016: Day 2

My view for most of Saturday
My view for most of Saturday

Since I spent my Saturday helping out at the Anderson Pens table, I didn’t get to see much more of the show than the four tables in front of me and the people who came to it. But a LOT of people come to the Andersons tables. And they are awesome people too. Some people came especially to say hi to me which was amazing and awesome and other people I was able to help buy their very first fountain pen which was equally amazing. But I thought it would be funny to show the upside down world view from my side of the table.

Sometimes the view from a pen show isn't all the exciting
Sometimes the view from a pen show isn’t all the exciting

And what it looks like from behind the giant wall of ink. Not as exciting, huh? Nope. Just brown boxes back here. What you can’t see is the pile of tissues, Altoids, half-consumed lunches, bottles of water and lip balm. The things we do to keep the show going!

Buying ink is such a difficult decsision
Buying ink is such a difficult decsision

And it was busy, busy, busy, busy. In a rare moment of quiet I snapped a quick shot of the moment of comtemplation that I saw all through the day of someone trying to decide which ink they wanted to buy.

The buyers and the sellers -- all the way down the Anderson Pens table
The buyers and the sellers — all the way down the Anderson Pens table

Here’s a late afternoon long view down the trays of fountain pens with the Anderson and Jason (one of the helpers this weekend) along the right and potential buyers and friends on the left. At several points throughout the day, there were often people three deep on the lefthand side. Crazy!

And the band played on!
And the band played on!

In the evening, there was a band that played well into the night and everyone had a good time listening to a mix of country and rockabilly. We got a little drunk and eventually got them to play Rockytop that led to a couple of us UTK alums to get pretty goofy. Yeah, free drink coupons. I’m hoping no Instagram videos surface of that!

The crowd was enthusiastic... and a little drunk.
The crowd was enthusiastic… and a little drunk.

More reports of Day Three will follow and there will be more shopping and a mail social today. If you get a chance to come for one last day of the show, this has been a really great show and totally worth the trip to Redwood, CA. Hope to see you!

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2 comments / Add your comment below

  1. So many pens, so many inks; so little time.
    Anderson Pens have a fantastic veriety of inks.
    The Sailor brand is quite reasonable. As I’m sure are the rest.

  2. I found your site a few months ago and I have really enjoyed it. What a nice surprise to learn that you are a fellow UTK alum! I knew there was a reason that I like this blog better than the rest.
    Becky
    UTK ’97

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