Lizzie Borden pen

[AgathaBasset]

This is kind of an odd question but thought this forum would be a good place to ask it. A few years ago my husband and I went to the Lizzie Borden B and B for our anniversary. This was when LeeAnn was the manager. She was great! My husband’s hobby is turning pens and he asked her if she had any old wood from the house she would be willing to give him, and believe it or not she did! He made me my own Lizzie Borden pen. He has enough wood to make a few more pens but we are not sure if he should put them on EBay or Etsy? He had one listed on his own pen website but no one seemed interested. I thought maybe EBay would be a better place.

[mbhenty]

Yes AgathaB

I assume you are speaking of a writing instruments, as in fountain pen?

Ebay would be a good bet. Exposure is national and some interesting and valuable Borden items have been posted and sold on ebay, along with many unique one of a kind hand made Lizzie items.

Pens are certainly a distinctive and exclusive collectable. But collectors are unquestionably out there and in more numbers than most could guess. Elegant and swanky item to collect. I knew someone long ago that collected fountain pens. Victorian ones, with beautiful alligator or marbled bake-o-lite shells, in golds and host of colorful casings.

Of course when posting the item on ebay it is important to note the history behind the making of the pen along with Lizzie Borden's name. There would be a lot more Lizzie collectors than "Pen" collectors attracted to such a pen. Now the fact that it was made from a piece of wood taken from the Borden house is very unique and responsible for most of it's value. But I'm afraid that provenance may be a problem to prove. Countless items have appeared on ebay over time and supposedly belonging to the Bordens or Lizzie. Most if not all of them highly unlikely.

When I was almost a teenager I was given a gift. A Pen. A John F Kennedy pen. This was back in the early 1960s when JFK was still alive. It had his name embossed on it. I used it in school. One time I had it taken away by the Nun, Sister Angela, since we were not allowed to use pens but only pencils. I got it back at the end of the day. Not certain what happened to it. Lost in time, I suppose. Just a novelty doodad back then. Today it has good value as a collectable. Not only as a pen but as a Kennedy collectable.

Good luck if you try. I always check ebay under "Lizzie Borden." I'll look out for it.

Below are a couple of highly collectable pens for sale on ebay as we speak. I dare say the Lizzie Pens would be easier to sell.

[Kat]

Oh, that's right, mb! Now that Lee-Ann has passed away, it's too late for authentication
Jeesh! That's a shame, because it sounds like an interesting and creative endeavor.

I have a brick from the Second Street house chimney (outside chimney) given me by the curator of the house at the time (2004), and luckily he is in the photo with me while I'm holding it, right after he gave it, while we were in the cellar. thank you, Bill!

[AgathaBasset]

Thank you so much for responding. I don’t have anything like a letter from Leeann, all I have is pictures of us at the B and B and I have a photo of my husband standing in front of the B and B holding the wood. I took this pic to send to my friends saying “ My husband is such an embarrassment he asks for wood for pens everywhere we go!) lol
His website is Timbercreekturnings.com
I guess I can post the pictures I have along with the pen

[mbhenty]

Yes:

Wonderful site, AgathaB. Timbercreekturnings.com. Attractive and very professionally aesthetic. Kudos to hubby.

If he does make a Lizzie pen

you must post it here on the forum with particulars and facts.

The fact that you don't have absolute proof is not a lost cause. Depending on the cost, there will be those who believe you and willing on taking a chance on getting their hands on a true collectable. And by what I viewed on the site, and how beautiful many of the pens are, it will sell on its own merits even without the Lizzie provenance. The picture of your hubby in front of 92 holding the wood gets you half way there.

When I was writing my novel about the Borden Murders I wanted to have something special in the limited boxed edition. I had some wood from Lizzie's home, Maplecroft, since I lived next door, and I wanted to make some handmade paper from such wood. The single handmade page was suppose to have a watermark with the word "Maplecroft", and be the limited edition signed page. It took a while and there was a learning curve to paper making, since I had never done it before. Long story short, the book was being published and I did not have the time or experience to produce a professional looking product. That was some time back, but I still have the paper making screen frames I made up.

Nonetheless, your hubby appears to be a master at his craft and a Lizzie pen sounds like a great idea. Lots of Luck.

[mbhenty]

Hey Kat:

I'll trade you five bricks from the Sacred Heart Academy in Fall River for your Lizzie brick. Doo-no, but sounds like a great deal to me... or for me.

When I use to have the Davenport House on French Street, part of the back walkway was made from bricks taken from the old girls school, Sacred Heart Academy on Prospect Street just about a block away. The previous owner of my home had taken the bricks when the school was torn down in the late seventies for expansion of Charlton Hospital and used them at the rear entrance of the Davenport House. When I moved in in the early nineties, the brick walkway was still there. When I moved from French Street I dug up the bricks and took them with me. They are presently stacked up in my yard. The reason I took them was because the walk way was uneven and a walking hazard. I was hoping to use them for a new walkway here where I live now. Or perhaps when I get really old I can sit at the end of the driveway and fling them at people I don't like.

So let me know...


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[mbhenty]

OK, AgathaB:

As I mentioned earlier. There is a lot of well made, badly made, and just plain weird items for sale on ebay with Lizzie's name attached to them. Here's one. A real dead mouse with an axe murdering Andrew. All in a shadow box. For sale as we speak on ebay. Maybe you can have one made. Instead of having an axe in the little rodent's little hand you can place a fountain pen there instead.

[mbhenty]

WHAT, you say you don't have 150 dollars for a Borden Dead Mouse Motif?

Well, how about this customized Starbucks plastic cup.

The blood is still tacky.

On ebay as we speak.

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https://www.ebay.com/itm/284442694948?h ... Sw-P5hN8D6


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[mbhenty]

I'm on a roll, heh?

Well, time to light some candles and pray to Lizzie.


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[AgathaBasset]

Wow! Somehow when I think Borden Murders I don’t think of a rodent wielding an axe! Lol!
I will definitely post a pic of the pen and all the particulars here once it is made. (I did have my pen made with blood red resin )
That is so cool that you wrote a novel! I am new to all this so please forgive me that I have to ask the name of it? I am still working through Parallel Lives and I just got my copy of the Jennings Journals. I have ordered the Knowleton papers and I have the Porter on audible. I am sort of all Borden all of the time until at least spring. It was thrilling staying at the house and meeting LeeAnn. We stayed in the Morse room. It was honestly one of the weirdest feelings I have ever had reading about the murders in bed literally inches from where they found Abby. I had no issues sleeping but my husband was there, not sure I could have stayed alone. It is also very cool that you live next to Maplecroft! I drove by it and went to the cemetery, but I would love to see the inside someday.

[mbhenty]

Yes, AgathaB:

There's always something peculiar or bizarre for sale on ebay with a Lizzie theme. The mouse is a real taxidermist corpse. Ugh

Yes, Lizzie sells. It's probably the leading tourist attraction in Fall River, right up there with the Battleship Massachusetts.

I owned the Davenport House next door to Maplecorft for over twenty years. Lizzie had ownership of my building just before she died.

Maplecroft was both a joy and a thorn-in-my-side all the time I lived there. And for a short while I was caretaker and a bit of a handyman. Fun tenure. I have a lot more interest in Lizzie's history after the crime and her stay at Maplecorft. Spent many spooky nights there, alone. Several of them sitting in the dark waiting for something to happen But, nothing ever did and I never heard or saw a ghost. I never stayed overnight, though I had many opportunities to do so since the owner lived halfway across the country and made occasional visits over winter.

As for staying at 92, the Morse room is probably the nicest and most interesting bedroom in the building. Though to sleep where Lizzie slept may be a very special also. I have always said that if I stayed overnight I would want to sleep in the cellar. Cellars in old houses are very revealing and spooky. Of all the time I spent at Maplecroft, going into the cellar alone at night gave me the creeps. I always felt that someone was behind me. It was all in my head, you understand. That being said, I now hear that the new owners of 92 Second Street are now offering sleeping quarters in the basement/cellar. Funny, huh?

[mbhenty]

Here is the Zillow real estate add for Maplecroft. Lots of interior pictures, and as it looked when I was last there. Much of the interior was designed, updated, and Victorianized (? ) by Kristee Bates, the previous owner. Though apparently the building is still for sale, you will fail to find it on Zillow or Realtor.com. Though I did find this in my search. Lots of pictures.

https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/306- ... 4161_zpid/

[mbhenty]

RUN AWAY, RUN AWAY............

What a hoot

Not certain whether it's riotous or just sadly perverse.


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[AgathaBasset]

Thank you for the pictures! Wow! You wrote the Girl With The Pansey Pin?! That’s amazing. That’s one book that is the top of my list to read!
I am also jealous that you got to be a caretaker of sorts for Maplecroft. I was very hopeful when LeeAnn and her partner purchased it that we could plan another trip there and stay at Maplecroft, but now that looks doubtful. Maybe one day? It is absolutely beautiful.

[mbhenty]

Thanks greatly AgathaB for the kind words.

Though "Lizzie Borden the Girl with the Pansy Pin" is fiction, with a host of fictional characters, it uses many real people... being actual citizens of Fall River, like store owners, authentic places, mills, hotel personal—people and locations which actually existed. (Living and working in Fall River for 65 years gives one a feel for the place.) One of them, with a minor part, is Thomas Burrell, manager of the Academy of Music and old classmate of Lizzie. Of course it would help to be a Fall River Historian to pick them all out, nevertheless, it is the most historical entwined account you will read, and probably the longest fictional story about Lizzie, at over 500 pages.

And, as for fictional characters, there are many. After all it is a novel. In it Lizzie actually meets Oscar Wilde when on her trip to France. What a fun chapter that was to write. They have a bit of a debate. Of course, she never did meet Wilde. But if you are familiar with Oscar Wilde's quotes, most of his dialogue in the book is constructed with them.

(Wilde did spend some time in Paris where he wrote his controversial play, Salome. It was released in 1891, right around the time of Lizzie's tour of Europe in 1890. Thus it is not far fetch to imagine that Lizzie was in Paris the same time as Wilde, but highly unlikely that the two would have run into each other. Nonetheless, I made it happen.)

The book was recently released as a second edition and corrections were made... typos, misspellings, etc., and with a stunning new cover, designed by Stefani Koorey. Below is a review of Lizzie Borden the Girl with the Pansy Pin, by Eugene Hosey, fiction editor of The Literary Hatchet, and written in the now defunct Hatchet Magazine. (Different publication from the Literary Hatchet.) There you may judge whether it is worth a read. My personal opinion is, why sure

https://lizzieandrewborden.com/HatchetO ... eview.html

[Kat]

Below is a review of Lizzie Borden the Girl with the Pansy Pin, by Eugene Hosey, fiction editor of The Literary Hatchet, and written in the now defunct Hatchet Magazine. (Different publication from the Literary Hatchet.) There you may judge whether it is worth a read. My personal opinion is, why sure

https://lizzieandrewborden.com/HatchetO ... eview.html

---partial

Hello, mb! While I certainly agree that you are a wise wordsmith, and a very entertaining author, I do take issue (pun intended ) with your description of The Hatchet as "defunct." To me it is still a living, pertinent and viable resource, dear to us who worked on it, for it, and still use it and read it. I have a feeling you had not the intention to imply it was no longer in use, or past its prime. You even provided a link to an article there!

[mbhenty]

Sorry about that Kat. I know what you mean. I found the term "defunct" crude and harsh as I was writing it. What the word actually means is, no longer functioning. Which is not true about The Hatchet. And unlike many other magazines, The Hatchet A Journal of Lizzie Borden and Victorian Studies is a reference go to lexicon, and just as consequential and essential as the day they were published.

How about "Retreated into history," or we can say, "retired but functioning." Or "receded to the forefront." How about "Undiminished periodical " or "Parallel knives."

But I agree. The publication is as relevant today as it was when it was activity published. Even more so, since now you can read it for free. Can't take anything away from it. It is critical writing, both pivotal and decisive, in its approach and exploration into the study of murder and all things Borden.

I'd like to give it five stars, but I can't.

You see I have this thing about stars. Particularly the stick on kind you got at school..

When I was in catholic school, in the second grade, my desk was next to Karen Macado. Every time we got our test papers back Karen would have a sticky red star pasted to her quiz. I can't remember ever getting a star. I came to detest those shiny red stars. Little Karen would reach over with a smirk and hold her test paper under my nose, showing off her red star and a big red number 100, written across her paper. The red star and the number 100. (for 100% correct.) I was lucky if I got a 65, and buoyant about a 72. One time Karen had two shinny red stars on her paper. She waved it, and waved it in my face.

So you see. There are many defunct people like me. Who never received a red star.

[Kat]

Ooooops! Did I put one on the back of the envelope of you guys Christmas card?! Yikes, I think I did?

[mbhenty]

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Lucky us. I never saw at the actual envelope with the star. The lady of the house is the letter opener in our household.

But I do remember the Nuns placing a star on test papers when you got a high mark. Today it reminds me of the gifted and frail generation who expects a prize even though they lost. The whole concept of receiving a prize for winning is peculiar if not redundant. Always has been. As if winning wasn't enough. I won, I won, give me, give me Oh go away Go eat cake or something.

When we get mail or a box delivery, the lady of the house rushes to retrieve and open it.

As for me, I just leave it outside on the porch step where the postal delivery person put it.

I'm in no rush to look inside the mail.

And when she takes a razor to the box to open it, I leave the room.

One never knows if it contains a triggered bomb from Ted Kaczynski.

[mbhenty]

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And here we have another scene from the gal on ebay who posted the dead mouse with an axe killing Andrew, which I posted above.

Can you guess which murder she is portrayed here? Sure you can.

Takes all kinds possible to make the world go round, I suppose. I wonder if these mice were once pets of the artist? Ugh

https://www.ebay.com/itm/203648895991?h ... Sw8v5hZiFT

[mbhenty]

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As some of you well know, I am famous for going off topic... right Kat

My mind at times is a streaming kaleidoscope of random thoughts and those on forums, such as this, are dazed casualties to my endless rant.

So let's get back on topic.

Here's an interesting site about PENS. Pens preferred by famous writers. The one used by Jack Kerouac is the same type of pen I used when in school. The Bic Cristal. They use to leak like crazy. Most of the ones I used were all chewed up on the end, so much so, that I couldn't get the cap on. It was something I did when in deep thought.... or going off topic.

I can only imagine that Lizzie Borden had an elegant but new age fountain pen, unlike the pigeon feather her father used.

https://www.thegentlemansjournal.com/ar ... s-authors/

[Reasonwhy]

…My mind at times is a streaming kaleidoscope of random thoughts and those on forums, such as this, are dazed casualties to my endless rant….

—partial quote by mbhenty

Just a pleasure to read that sentence, mb. Admire the imagery and the metaphor. Looking forward to more dazed slaying.

[AgathaBasset]

mbhenty,
I showed my husband your famous pens, lol…and I have purchased The Girl With The Pansy Pin! It should be arriving any day now. Looking forward to it!

[mbhenty]

Yes

I wish you happy reading AgathaB. And thank you.

Funny story about the Pansy Pin. I was at a signing one day when a father and his thirteen year old walked up and bought a copy of my book. The gentleman said that the book was for his daughter. I froze... signed it.... and handed it to him. His daughter, thrilled, stepped forward and removed the narrative from my hand. Then they walked off to shop. I got up and began pacing the floor. I believe someone saw me with a worried look on my face.... some older woman, if I remember. I told her that I had reservations about selling my book to a thirteen year old since there was a healthy amount of 's-e-x' in it and she looked so young, to which the woman replied, "Don't worry about it. She probably knows more about it than we do."

In the Pansy Pin Lizzie's love making exploits have all to do with power, control, and manipulation, and is a vital character trait behind a tenacious and controlling individual... Lizzie Borden. At least in Pansy Pin, there are very few scenes, compared to every other novel these days. Just enough to add some realism to the story. Oh yes, and in Pansy, Lizzie is straight, which may be a new twist. And though there is a tiny scene between Lizzie and Nance, nothing is tangible, and all of it is left up to the reader.

But the sale at the book signing was enough to make my hair gray, when that innocent child took the book from my hand. Every time I tell that story people laugh, since they find my anxious telling amusing and much to do about nothing. Perhaps friendly mockery at what may certainly be my naive nature in such matters. And surely deserving.

[mbhenty]

I remember as a little boy, long, long, ago, in a mythical and dictatorial world called Catholic School, I sat at a desk just like the one in the photo below. Fountains pens were not used since the 40s I was told, but my ink stained desk still had the little cup recessed into the desk where ink was once kept for dipping fountain pens. Bringing a Parker Pen to school was akin to bringing a gun. You were sent to the office to see Mother Superior and she would deal with you. Later I would be sent back to class and made to stand in front, facing the students with a book in each outstretched hand as punishment. A Roman retribution, no doubt. Oddly enough, the nuns taught me nothing about forgiveness.

I remember as a child my mother writing letters to her relatives in the Old Country and using a fountain pen just like the one in the photo below. Only it was green. I use to try and write with it and get more ink on my fingers than on the paper.

Did you know that schools in France still use fountain pens? Tradition exalted.

Here's an interesting article about it.

https://france-amerique.com/en/the-figh ... n-the-u-s/