Editing The Pen Addict 317/transcript (section)

== Pen Repair ==


'''Brad Dowdy:''' Was there a particular pen that you had at the time that you said, oh, this is broken. I'm going to figure out how to fix it. Was there like a specific pen that you remember that happening with?

'''Jessica Coles:''' It wasn't a specific pen. It was when I went to a pen show. I went to the Colorado show once and I was terrified because I had no idea what a pen show was going to be like. But some of the vendors had boxes of broken pen parts or bags of pens that weren't worth their time to fix. And I grabbed a couple of those during that show and brought them home and tried working on them. And I broke a couple and got one to work. And it was the most thrilling thing ever.

'''Jessica Coles:''' So I was hooked there, just using all of the little tools and getting in and making it work again.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' So when do you think this show was? Do you know which, how many years ago or what year this show was?

'''Jessica Coles:''' Yeah, it was actually the second Colorado show. It was in 2015.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' Okay. So I want our listeners to do the math here. This is not long ago. And Jesse has taken this to an entirely awesome level from her gel pens in seventh grade to a 2015 pen show, not knowing really what she's getting herself into. And now is one of the most, I'll say it if you want, one of the most respected vintage pen restorers in our community. Oh, thank you. all these pens together.

'''Jessica Coles:''' Yeah. Well, eBay knows me well. There's always broken pens around. And yeah, I was just counting the days until the next pen show. I didn't know there were other pen shows.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' Right.

'''Jessica Coles:''' But I did find those eventually.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' Do you know how you found the first Colorado pen show? Because that seems like kind of a, like a bit of an outlier for someone who wasn't really into fountain pens. Then you go to this pen show and now we're here.

'''Jessica Coles:''' Well, we had been living in Kansas for a few years and moved back to Colorado to be with family in 2014. And I was already well addicted to fountain pens. And I was excited that we were moving back close to Denver because I figured there's got to be some kind of fountain pen stores there. No. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. There was paradise pen at the time. And that was really it.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' Sure. Which for those who don't know, that's like strictly modern, new, full MSRP shop.

'''Jessica Coles:''' Yes. But, and they also, you know, sold luggage and planners and all that. But I went in there just to see, you know, what was going on and be overwhelmed. But I started talking to Pete there and another couple people that had walked in and also talked to Pete about their own fountain pens. And just struck up friendship right away with anybody who was coming in there who knew about fountain pens. It was kind of amazing to me that there was that camaraderie already. And he told me that it was a shame that I'd come in right then because the first Colorado show had been just a week before. Oh, wow. So I was very sad about that. But I had it on my calendar in big letters for the next year. And that's how I heard about it was just word of mouth. And yeah, it was, like I said, it's all

'''Brad Dowdy:''' downhill. Yeah. I think it's, I think it's uphill in your case, like, like rising to the stars. Oh, so like, all right. Like I'm still, this is boggling my mind. And, and I'm just fascinated by this. So 2015, you go to the show, and you buy some parts and you go home and you fix them. At what point is your next idea? I'm going to sell these pens, and I'm going to go to the pen show, and I'm going to be the vendor, or I'm going to sell online. Like, how does, where does that jump take place in, like, in this process that you're going through in, like, 2015, 2016?

'''Jessica Coles:''' Well, that was an external voice to me that was my husband saying, you have to sell some.

'''Jessica Coles:''' So the only way I really knew how was at fountain pen shows. And I made that decision, actually, when I was out in San Francisco at a show, at the show there a few years back. And I, I was very, I was encouraged by everybody there. And they wanted to bring another person deeper into the, into the hobby, you know, because we're all wonderful enablers. Yes. And that goes for vintage people as well.

'''Jessica Coles:''' And I just kept fixing up as many as I could. And then I went to Chicago one year, and I had no plans to sell, but I brought stuff because I wanted to lay it out and trade. And I did lay it out and trade. And then I had so many questions of, are you going to be selling at the show? Or why don't you just do that? They've got an extra table, go do it. And after hearing that enough times, I did. Because that, it was scary. Selling something to someone that you have repaired and are putting your reputation behind is terrifying to me.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' Absolutely. Absolutely. So what, what year was that Chicago show? How many?

'''Jessica Coles:''' Um, that was last year.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' Yeah. Cause I'm wondering if that's where we first met actually.

'''Jessica Coles:''' Yeah.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' Cause I was at that show.

'''Jessica Coles:''' That may have been the first time we met in person. Yeah.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' Yeah. Yeah. For sure. Wow.

'''Jessica Coles:''' Yep.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' So, okay. So this is, this is awesome. Like I, I'm learning something like, like just pretty much how insane you are. In the best way possible. Yeah. In the best way possible. Like my kind of obsession. So, okay. I want to talk about like some of the specifics that you're into because you're kind of, you're kind of known for, you know, one particular pen brand, but we're going to tease that for a second while I, uh, while I say thanks to our first sponsor this week, which is Casper mattresses. So this episode of the pen attic is brought to you by our friends at Casper. Casper are the company focused on sleep and they're dedicated to making you exceptionally comfortable one night at a time. You spend a third of your life sleeping. If you spend a third of your life doing anything like Jesse repairing fountain pens, you want to make sure it's the best it can possibly be. And that's why you need Casper. Casper mattresses are perfectly designed for humans with engineering to soothe and support your natural geometry. It's got all the right support in all the right places. So what goes into making a Casper mattress so comfortable? I'm glad you asked Jesse. They combine multiple supportive memory foams for a quality mattress with just the right sink and bounce. They're designed and developed in the U S and their breathable designs helps to regulate your body temperature throughout the night with over 20,000 reviews and an average of rating of 4.8 stars. Casper is very quickly becoming the internet's favorite mattress. You can be sure of your purchase with Casper's 100 night risk-free sleep on a trial. They deliver directly to your door. And if you don't love it, they have a hassle-free return policy. So like I always talk about Jesse, when we talk about Casper mattresses is ours, Casper is actually in our guest room. So I don't sleep on there a lot unless I, you know, anger, anger the missus and I get relegated to the room. And I'm proud to say that hasn't happened in a while, but it's actually getting hot here in Georgia. And our Casper mattress is cooler than our regular mattress on our bed. I need to switch those one day. I don't know if it would actually fit, but I might need to get in a little bit of trouble just so I can go sleep on the nice, cool Casper mattress in our 90 degree weather and a hundred percent heat. So I don't know how you deal with that. So I'll work on getting in trouble so I can go, I can go hang out with, with my Casper in the, in the guest bedroom. So you can get, you can get $50 towards select mattresses by visiting casper.com slash pen addict and using the code pen addict checkout terms and conditions apply. Thank you so much to Casper and we appreciate their support of the pen addict podcast. All right, Ms. Esther Brooke, I gotta, I gotta understand how the first Esther Brooks came into your hands and subsequently why they never left them.

'''Jessica Coles:''' Okay. So, uh, I said that I was going through, um, pens that were broken up and usually in bins and, um, you know, you pull your hands back out and they're all dusty and old ink and stuff. Uh, often I would find Esther Brooks there back in their heyday, they were everywhere. And I believe that the generation, uh, before me really looks at them like, you know, we would a big crystal. Why would you fix that up?

'''Brad Dowdy:''' Right. They were manufactured in the millions, right? I mean, yes. Yeah.

'''Jessica Coles:''' Yeah. They were everywhere and they were, um, dependable, but cheap and pretty too. Mm-hmm. But because they were everywhere and because people didn't look at them as something to, uh, treasure, they are, they were everywhere that I looked. So it was easy to find them. I could get them inexpensively. And, um, once I figured out the insides of them, they were super easy to fix. And, um, I don't know. I think that, um, the colors also got me because once they're polished up, they're just amazingly beautiful.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' They really are.

'''Jessica Coles:''' And then when I was at the DC show, um, actually the last one that we were at together, um, I came across a nib testing station and, uh, I, I saw that and stupidly passed it by, um, went to, to sleep that night thinking about it. And I don't know, halfway through the night, just inspiration came to me of that's exactly how I want to approach people with selling these because I could take them through the process of knowing what they like and then pushing themselves a little bit to try something that is new, but then settling on something that's comfortable and it's all in a vintage setting. So it could, you know, people could get over their fear of vintage with just being able to test those out.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' Right.

'''Jessica Coles:''' So I got up as early as I possibly could and went down there with the cash in hand and the gentleman that was selling it didn't show up until noon that day. Oh no.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' And probably because he couldn't get a table.

'''Jessica Coles:''' Well, no.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' Did I say that out loud?

'''Jessica Coles:''' Oh, I will never forget your face at the show. I've never seen it so red.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' All right. Sorry about that. Okay.