I started collecting floaty pens almost twenty years ago. I bought one on a whim at the lodge at the top of the Palm Springs Aerial Tramway. I started to notice them other places I visited, so I bought a few more. Soon friends were bringing them to me from their travels. I began browsing the gift shops and dime stores everywhere I went, looking for new pens. Soon I was measuring the success of a trip by the number of new floaties I collected. Every time I saw a new one, I had to buy it. At last count, I have 689 pens, not counting duplicates.
At first I kept them on my desk at the office, but they started to disappear, so I had to bring them home for safekeeping. I've always meant to build some kind of display--I even bought a case of clear plastic pocket protectors with a vague idea about turning them into something--but the collection quickly outgrew any ideas I had for something that wouldn't cost too much to make or take up too much space. So, at the moment, the pens are stored in a plastic crate in our second bedroom. I still have visions of displaying them in all the splendor that they deserve, but that will have to wait.
And of course, my future display won't be complete without an honor roll of donors. Without the tireless efforts and generosity of many of my friends, my floaty collection would be far less extensive or interesting. I'm thinking that a big bronze plaque near the entrance to my future gallery of floaties would be appropriate. But in the meantime, this virtual bronze plaque will have to do--a small token of the great appreciation I feel for these kind folks:
I've known for a while that there are other people who share my floaty obsession. I'd run into people who were collecting pens to take home to someone, and I'd even traded pens with one friend of a friend. But a couple of years ago, I came across a veritable treasure-trove of floaty enthusiasts and resources, here on that fount of interesting and occasionally useful knowledge, the World Wide Web. My collection has grown substantially, thanks to some of these wonderful folks. So for anybody else who's interested, here are some of my favorite floaty pen collectors:
Elizabeth Spatz's Floaty Pen Page
Beverly Broadstone's Go With the Flo-at!
Damon Zilly's Rootbeer Float Pen Club
Frank Dussaussois' Notre Collection de Stylos
Luis Aguila's Floaty Pens of the World!
Stephen Kenneth's The Floaty Pen Zone
Jen Funk Segrest's Dome-O-Rama
Mahfoud Zanat is widely thought to have the most extensive collection in the world!
Susan and Russell Eisen Floaty Pens Page
Nancy Nerenberg's Float Art Design has a great list of even more collectors looking to trade pens
There are some great companies that design and/or distribute floaties, including:Eskesen A/S where it all begins...
"Floatpens" The Ideal Motion Promotion
Operagraphics opera-theme floaty pens
Douglas Yeo is a bass trombonist in the Boston Symphony Orchestra, and the subject of two floaty pens
Leslie Hall is a woman who appreciates fine gem sweaters, and she has memorialized them--and herself--in a truly unique floaty pen.
Okay, Chrissy Caviar gets the prize--she has produced the weirdest floaty pen I've ever seen.
I'm the custodian and RingMaster of the Floaty Pen Web Ring. You can visit the ring's home page, or go to the ring hub to see a list of all the sites on the ring. If you have a floaty site of your own and you'd like to join the ring, go here and follow the instructions (don't worry, it's simple and relatively painless!)
Floaties have been in the news recently...and in the galleries!Inks For The Memories (Los Angeles Times Magazine, 11/17/96)
Fabulous Floating Pens Exhibit (Idaho Center for the Book)
And at last, here it is: my floaty collection:
Page 1--USA (general) - California
Page 3--North Carolina - Wyoming
Page 4--Places Outside the USA
Page 5--Animals, Bible Stories, Businesses, Cartoons
Page 6--Collector Pens, Events, Holidays, Miscellaneous, Music, Sports, Transportation
Sadly, I've had to call a temporary halt to my floaty pen trading. If you've written to me recently to ask about it, you probably already figured that out--I haven't been very good at getting back to people. Until I'm done with grad school, I need to simplify my life and cut down on distractions (I'm already much too good at finding excuses to procrastinate, thank you very much!) If you'd like me to let you know when I'm ready to start trading again, just email me at floatypens@casagordita.com.
