Wichita man collects and restores fountain pens as a way to connect to history
WICHITA, Kan. (KSNW) — Gary Beckner is a big collector of small things. He restores and collects fountain pens, which connect him to history.
Beckner says the small pieces of history are intended to last a lifetime.
“The idea is to refill with ink rather than throw the pen away, so you’d get a nice one and have it your entire life,” Beckner said. “One of my latest favorites, it’s a pen and pencil combo I use at church a lot; take notes that way.”
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The vintage collection began three years ago when he watched a show on TV about restoring antiques.
“I thought, ‘That’d be cool – restore something old that hasn’t been used in 50-100 years,'” Beckner said. “It’d be interesting to restore them back to a new condition to where they can be used. Being in a small apartment, I couldn’t do cars or anything; it’s got to be something small. I remembered about fountain pens. I thought, ‘That’d be great.'”
Since then, the collection has grown to about 70 pens, ranging from 1914 to the late 1950s. He researches the pens and has accumulated a wealth of knowledge.
At first, it was hard to find the pens, but he learned where to look for them – flea markets, antique stores and estate sales. When he restores them, he cleans the outside and then the inside. Then, he finds the right parts to make it work.
“It’s fairly simple, yet there are certain things you got to learn to do,” Beckner said. “I get in there with a tool to clean it all out real good and make sure it’s in good condition and find parts to it.
I usually get right after it. I like to see what their potential is, so I clean it real good first and test different parts of them.”
Beckner says learning how people used to do things fascinates him.
“If you restore a fountain pen and you actually use it, you’re not only looking at how they used to do things, but you’re actually experiencing how they used to do things,” Beckner said.
Restoring his fountain pens is satisfying for Beckner.
“It’s kind of a thrill actually to make it look new again or as close as possible to new and showing them to other people and how they enjoy them too,” Beckner said.
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