Baltimore Washington International Pen Show Recap
Welcome to The Baltimore-Washington International Pen Show!!!!!
Penquisition BWIPS 2025 fidget spinner included in the VIP Swag bags
The Annual Baltimore-Washington International Pen Show was held March 7 – 9, 2025, at the BWI Airport Marriott Hotel in Linthicum, MD. The show was run by Bert Oser of Bertram’s Inkwell in Rockville, MD as well as many volunteers from the D.C. Metro Pen Crew. This was my 14th year attending this show and it is still my favorite. You could find everything from vintage to new pens, pencils, inks, papers, writing paraphernalia, and accessories. There were also after-hours events, seminars, giveaways, and all-around pen fun and I want to bring you some of the sights from the show in case you couldn’t make it or would like to attend in the future.
Arriving at the show…
The vendors were spread out over two hallways and three rooms this year. There were a few ticket options for the show this year, General 1-day admission, a 3-day pass, and a VIP pass. The VIP pass included, early admission on the weekend, a swag bag, a VIP raffle prize entry, and guaranteed seating in all free seminars. Once you got your ticket choice it was on to the show.
Entering the show…
The main hallways had several vendors including: Schon Dsgn, Luxury Brands, Michael’s Fat Boy Pens, David Oscarson, Truphae, and Toys from the Attic, Organic’s Studio, as well as J.J. Lax Nib Meister. There were two smaller rooms that had many independent makers including: Zodiac Pens, Fantastic Pens, and Skogsy Pens.
The Main Room!!!
The layout was very well thought out. The spacing of the vendor tables allowed plenty of room for traffic and easy table access without bumping into other pen enthusiasts. Many of the well-known names from the Fountain Pen community were present, including: YAFA Brands (Monteverde, Conklin, Pineider, Stipula, etc) Kenro Industries (Esterbrook, Ystudio, Aurora, Montegrappa, etc), Coles of London, (S.T. Dupont and Visconti), Dromgooles, Penquisition, Taccia, Pilot, Legendary Pencil Company, Write Turnz, OMAS and Narwhal/Navalur, Karas Kustoms, Franklin-Christoph, Relic Pens, Write Turnz, Carolina Pen Company, Entropy Ink, Kanilea Pen Co, Lucky Star Pens, Federalist Pens and Paper, Epitome Pen Co, Scopus Pens, and Magna Carta pictured below.
One of my favorite tables at the show wasn’t a vendor. It was the Share the Wealth table. I helped run this for a few years with The Pen Blotter aka Jesse Tanenblatt, and he now runs it with many volunteers from the D.C. Metro Pen Crew. The whole goal of this table was to pass along items that you no longer use, i.e. fountain pens, inks, stickers, paper, etc for others to try out, and maybe pick up something new for yourself free of charge. As usual, this table was very popular with some amazing donations and many happy visitors.
Seminars and workshops were held throughout the weekend with topics covering: Making a pocket sketch journal, Creative journaling, how to improve your handwriting, Fountain Pen Cosplay, and a Q&A with Drew Brown of Fahrney’s Pens.
Friday and Saturday nights ended with afterhours events. Friday had Pen Shows after dark “Vintage Edition” hosted by J.J. Lax , Kenro Industries, and Luxury Brands and focused on vintage pens. Saturday night had Pen Shows after dark hosted by Cary Yeager (Fountain Pen Day), Truphae Pens, and BWIPS. Both events gave attendees a variety of opportunities to meet other pen enthusiasts outside of the hustle and bustle of the show floor, enjoy food and drinks, try out pens, inks, paper, and even some raffle opportunities. I highly recommend staying late as the community is the best part of the pen show, well outside of getting new goodies.
Wrap up…
As usual, the Baltimore-Washington International Pen show is a wonderful event and a great start to the beginning of the year. The variety of vendors and products covered everything that a pen enthusiast could ever want or need for every level of experience. Bert and Adam did a great job putting together this show and I can’t wait to see what they put together for next year.
