Greetings from California! To my old friends and to those of you I don’t yet know, I am happy to introduce myself in the new position of Operating Manager for the penguin. I have known Rick Propas for over 3 decades now, having met him in the 1990s through our mutual love of old pens. A few years back, he asked if I was interested in joining his vintage pen business in charge of daily operations. We spent the better part of the next two years familiarizing me with the business and today, Oct. 7, 2025 is Launch Day! I’m now officially a penguin!
I have been a ”pen guy” since my early teens when I discovered a disused Parker in my father’s study. I evolved from that into a long affair with technical pens and eventually found my way into vintage pens as my daily users. After decades of attending shows in search of the next beautiful pen for my personal collection, I have stepped ‘round the table to sell pens, support, educate and I hope, inspire others in this delightful endeavor.
I look forward to our meeting on this site or at the next pen show.
Best regards,
Danny Aarons Your penguin in charge of Operations From its inception to 2025 Rick Propas was the sole proprietor of The penguin, a website for fountain pen collectors that focuses on Parkers, Pelikans and other German and American pens. Rick’s first pen was his father's Parker 51 and 51s remain an important, if incomplete, part of his core collection along with Parker Vacumatics and Pelikans. Rick has been collecting pens since 1984, and quite seriously for most of that time. In 1994, he helped found the Pan Pacific Pen Collectors Club, and since then has been involved in the community of pen collectors, serving the PCA both as editor of the Pennant and president of the board. Apart from pens he taught history at the college and university level finishing his career at San José State University. He also established fine writing instrument departments at Bonhams and Swann Auction Galleries. One of the most valuable aspects of pen collecting is community. This site helps draw us into the community of pen collectors. For those of you who are seriously interested in pens, you really owe it to yourself to join the Pen Collectors of America. Just follow this link: http://www.pencollectors.com. Our promise: Every pen listed here is accurately described and in full working condition, ready to be used, and is guaranteed to you for three years. In most cases, pens here have been "remanufactured" in the sense that we have disassembled and ultrasonically cleaned them as necessary. We then reassemble the pens replacing sacs, diaphragms, corks, any parts susceptible to wear. If there are any broken or damaged parts, we replace them using only genuine, authentic and appropriate replacements. We then clean and hand polish. We test and tune every pen, carefully adjusting the nib and flow for maximum performance. Our commitment: If you buy a pen and it is not as described or you are otherwise disappointed with it, please feel free to return it. The friendship and goodwill of fellow pen collectors is far more important to us than any sales. Even though Rick is no longer involved in day-to-day operations, feel free to contact me at rickpropas@comcast.net Rick Propas penguin emeritus |