Esterbrook
I fell in love with this pen the minute I inked it up and started writing with it. I don’t know why, but I wasn’t expecting it to write so flawlessly. I thought I would possibly end up tweaking and adjusting it a bit before it would write well. No, the pen filled with ink and wrote buttery smooth and consistent from the beginning.
Speaking of Mr. Dowdy, here is a wonderful review and history he wrote up about one of my favorite pens. In fact, the pen I chose to use to celebrate Fountain Pen Day today is a Copper colored Esterbrook J, 9556 nib (Firm, Fine), filled with Private Reserve Copper Burst ink. It’s a lovely pen and my experience is the same as Brad’s. It has never failed to write well from the moment it came into my possession. Considering it is an 80+ year old pen, that’s pretty amazing in and of itself. That said, the Esterbrook J is one of the most common and accessible vintage pens you can find. If you’ve ever wanted to get into a vintage pen, there really is no better and more affordable place to start.