I attended the Commonwealth Pen Show in Boston for the first time in the fall of 2022. None of us knew at the time that it would be the last show at the Bunker Hill Holiday Inn; the 2023 show was canceled after the hotel backed out of hosting the show, and after an impromptu smaller 2023 event, the show returned for 2024 in new hands and at a new location.
Janet went with me, and while it was wonderful to have her along, the company doubled my expenses with two plane tickets, double the food, and I couldn’t share the hotel room. Never mind . . . I went to this show for the first time primarily to “spread the gospel” about the great things I’ve been doing with my new Legendary Pencil Company.
Besides, as I’ve often said, I’ve had financially disastrous pen shows - but I’ve never had a bad one.
While I took a bath financially on the whole affair (including a missed connecting flight home which added a last-minute, hideously expensive overnight stay at the only hotel that had a room available), the show did not disappoint as far as buying opportunities were concerned. The Boston pen community typically doesn’t venture far from home, and there were many vendors I had never met in person who had boxes of stuff I had never pawed through before.
One of these vendors was Jeffrey Krasner, with whom I have shared an on again, off again friendship on Facebook. Nothing negative has ever happened . . . I think Jeff is one of those people who occasionally culls his friends list and for whatever reason, a couple times I didn’t make the cut.
On the first day of the show I was browsing through the things on Jeff’s table, and he mentioned that he had a whole box of pencils at home. Since he’s local to the Boston area, he offered to bring them for me to look at.
I did more than look. I bought the whole box, and it made my trip. Here are two of the things that were in there:
Neither is marked and had they not been together, I’m not sure I would have caught what they were. That green and black is the same celluloid Moore sometimes used (in addition to numerous other manufacturers), but that little rib at the middle joint, coupled with the trim band just a wee bit farther than what looks natural are the giveaways.
The clip on the other example makes that one much easier to identify as a later LeBoeuf, made after the original incarnation of the LeBoeuf Pen Company filed for bankruptcy in 1933 and was reformed as the LeBoeuf-Pilgrim Pen Company, Inc. Here are the new additions, shown alongside the two I wrote about in “A Tale of Two Clips” (May 8, 2020: Volume 6, page 98):
It is unfortunate that the new addition with the clip is oriented so that the “dark side” faces forward. Viewed from the side, that telltale LeBoeuf glow is more apparent:
I’ll be writing about many more things that came from Jeff’s box o’wonders . . . mostly variations of things represented at the museum but in different colors . . . but there were a few other surprises to report.
Jeff and I are again Facebook buddies, probably permanently this time (assuming I can keep my mouth shut during the upcoming election season). Those of us in a drinking state of mind frequented the Irish-themed “Tavern at the End of the World” on a daily basis that weekend; it was the only watering hole within walking distance from the hotel. Jeff joined our crew that last day to help us solve the world’s problems, and that provided us with the opportunity for us to get to know each other better.
“Get Thee to a Pen Show,” as David Isaacson often remarks. I wound up that weekend with a couple nice LeBoeufs, the rest of a boxful to write about, and a solid friendship. Sure, the wallet was a bit lighter, but what the heck . . . money is overrated.
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