NYC Hosts First Pen Show as Hobby Gets Handed to New Generation

“We’re in New York City! First time ever!” bellows Crazy Alan. “I’m here to sell, you’re here to buy!”

It’s 10:14 a.m. on Saturday morning, and the inaugural Empire State Pen Show is just getting started. Dozens of people who lined up early have filed into the Rhinelander ballroom on the New York Hilton Midtown’s second floor and are hunched over tables of fountain pens, ink bottles, notebooks and other stationery items.

Alan Cohen—or Crazy Alan, as his business cards and the hand-drawn sign on his table call him—is already haggling with shoppers. Prominently advertised: the Pilot Emperor, an urushi-lacquered fountain ...