I confess I love writing with a fountain pen. And April is letter-writing month. What could be more perfect? Letters, notes, pen, and ink are some of my favorite topics to write about.
Did you know that we have a 2016 ink color? Each year Pelikan introduces a new fountain pen ink for a limited time. The Edelstein ink of the year for 2016 is the color aquamarine! When I received my e-mail from Pen Chalet, I immediately contacted Ron Manwaring to get a bottle. It sounds like an addiction, doesn’t it?
This experience made me flash back to two moments in my life. When I was in elementary school, probably sixth grade, our class was well on its way to writing with fountain pens. Back then all we had were cartridges to drop into the barrel of our pens that contained black or blue ink. There were several of us who adored the writing experience and one particular friend walked in one day and proceeded to write in Peacock Blue ink! Oh my gosh—she had Peacock Blue cartridges for her pen. I think I went numb. After searching the city over, I finally found some for my pen. I felt all grown up and accomplished that I would be writing in Peacock Blue.
In her writings Alexandra Stoddard encourages us to choose colors that make us happy and to express our true personalities. Peacock Blue was my color. As I used up the ink cartridges, I enjoyed every moment that I spent writing. I branched out into other colors but always held this color near and dear to my heart.
About 20 years later I was in an old drugstore that was going out of business, and I looked down on a dusty shelf and spotted three boxes that contained bottles of ink. I looked closer and found that there was a blue band around the box that resembled Peacock Blue ink from my childhood. When I picked up the boxes, I found each contained a full bottle of Peacock Blue ink. I had totally lost this ink color through the years and frankly didn’t think it was even made again. And there it was, left over from the ’60s and still sealed tight.
I quickly grabbed all three and made my way to the cash register. Oh the joy of it, I had my color again! I used this ink sparingly for years. It had to be used for something really important. And if you got one of my notes written with Peacock Blue ink, you were special.
This magnificent aquamarine ink of today brings all those emotions back of writing with beautiful ink. This clear, bright, and glorious ink will be my ink for spring. Because April is letter-writing month, now is the perfect time to send notes of love to special people in your life.
Visit penchalet.com for information about ordering aquamarine ink!
Do you have a special memory of writing letters?
