ChiPS 2026
April showers bring May Pen Shows!! Chicago was not as cold and windy this year as it has been in the past, which made the Chicago Pen Show, lovingly referred to as ChiPS (IYKYK), even more enjoyable.
Chicago is always the show where Kanilea Pen Co introduces their annual pen release – and this year’s model is a stunner! Alaula means “light of dawn”, and this pen captures that imagery perfectly. Everyone who picked it up loved the colors, and the new colored medallions were a nice touch.
As I discussed in my post about the BWI Pen Show earlier this year, this show highlighted what I have been feeling in a way that nobody could ignore. Talking with the show organizer, the weekend pass numbers had more than doubled since last year, and daily show tickets were way higher than expected, as well. And yet, most vendors reported that sales all revolved around smaller dollar amounts, and while it did include some pens, most were under the $200 range. For the attendance numbers to be so drastically higher, while still having less than normal sales reported, can only mean that the majority of the new attendees are not part of the pen community. Chatting in the bar one evening, it was summed up like this – “there seemed to be a lot of people who were bored and saw an event and wandered in to see what was going on. It was like a weekend flee market, but with pens.” A few people commented on the increase in stationary-fests throughout the country and wondered if the pen world was intersecting with them in a way that was driving up attendance, but not necessarily sales. If this is so, I think it’s a double-edged sword. Sure, bigger crowds are always good. But when the crowds are so full of non-buyers that the buyers can’t get to the tables they want to, there are lost sales for the vendors. And as much as stickers and stamps and ephemera are fun and good and we all like them – it’s not a pen show if the pen manufacturers, small pen makers, and such aren’t making enough money to justify attending the shows. For the sake of the hobby, I hope that a middle ground between the two groups can be found, and sooner rather than later.
Overall, though, the show was fun and as always, I can’t wait to go back. ChiPS is always a fun trip. DC is next!
Remember to always Spin the Compass.
