Material Type

Artifact

Date Range From

1945

Date Range To

1955

Materials

PLASTIC, BRASS

No. Pieces

1

Length

13.6

Width

1.5

Description

REFLECTIVE RED AND GOLD SCALED FOUNTAIN PEN WITH BRASS CLIP AND BRASS RING AROUND EDGE OF CAP. "ECLIPSE" LOGO AND "STREAMLINE" ARE ETCHED INTO CLIP. "ECLIPSE" LOGO IS ALSO ON PEN NIB.

Subjects

WRITTEN COMMUNICATION T&E

Historical Association

EDUCATION

History

DONOR RELATES THIS FOUNTAIN PEN WAS HER PRIMARY PEN WHILE IN GRADE SCHOOL. THE NAKAYAMA FAMILY WAS ORIGINALLY FROM VANCOUVER BUT MOVED TO COALDALE FOLLOWING THE SECOND WORLD WAR WHEN THEY WERE INTERNED AT SLOCAN CITY IN THE INTERIOR OF BRITISH COLUMBIA BY THE CANADIAN GOVERNMENT. THE DONOR'S FATHER, REV. CANON G.G. NAKAYAMA, WAS AN ANGLICAN MINISTER IN VANCOUVER, AND THEN ESTABLISHED THE CHURCH OF THE ASCENSION IN COALDALE IN 1945 WHERE HE SERVED UNTIL 1970. FROM AUGUST 29 TO 31, 2011 COLLECTIONS TECHNICIAN KEVIN MACLEAN INTERVIEWED THE DONOR, JOY KOGAWA, ABOUT HER MEMORIES ASSOCIATED WITH SPECIFIC OBJECTS THAT SHE DONATED IN 1997. OF THIS ARTIFACT, KOGAWA SAID: “I USED [THIS PEN] A LOT… I HAD IT ALL THE WAY THROUGH HIGH SCHOOL AND BEYOND… I HAVE THIS OLD DIARY I STARTED WHEN I WAS 12 YEARS OLD – A FIVE YEAR DIARY, AND THAT WAS WHAT WAS USED TO WRITE IN IT… THIS LITTLE LEVER UP HERE, YOU’D PUSH IT UP AND PUT IT IN THE INK WELL AND UP CAME THE INK. THE INK WAS IN THIS LITTLE BLACK, RUBBERY CONTAINER AND THEN IT WOULD GO DRY AND YOU’D HAVE TO GO DO IT AGAIN. IT WOULD LAST QUITE A LONG TIME THOUGH. IT WAS QUITE AN INGENIOUS LITTLE THING… I REMEMBER WANTING TO WRITE, AND BEING DISAPPOINTED IN GRADE 10, 11, AND 12, THAT WE WEREN’T GIVEN ENOUGH ESSAYS TO WRITE… WE [ONLY] GOT TWO ASSIGNMENTS A YEAR IN WRITING, WHICH WASN’T ENOUGH FOR ME, SO I WOULD WRITE THESE THINGS AND BRING THEM TO [MY ENGLISH TEACHER], LITTLE STORIES… ONE TIME I WENT TO THE PRINCIPAL AND SHOWED HIM A PLAY I HAD WRTITEN, WHICH I THOUGHT WAS A VERY GOOD PLAY, AND HE HANDED IT BACK TO ME AND SAID THAT IT WAS INTERESTING, BUT THAT I WOULD NEVER BE ABLE TO MAKE A LIVING AS A WRITER, SO IT WASN’T IMPORTANT. SO I TOOK THAT TO HEART, AND JUST KEPT IT INSIDE ME, BUT I WANTED TO WRITE SOMETHING, BUT NOBODY VALUED IT… [I TRIED] TO ENTER A COUPLE OF COMPETITIONS. ONE WAS THE UNITED CHURCH ONE. I SENT SOMETHING IN BUT NOTHING CAME OF IT. ANOTHER WAS FOR A JAPANESE-CANADIAN NEWSPAPER CALLED ‘THE NEW CANADIAN’, AND I SENT IN A STORY, AND IT CAME IN SECOND… HAVING TRIED OUT THE CONTESTS AND NOT GETTING ANYWHERE WITH IT, I JUST GAVE UP AS FAR AS WRITING WAS CONCERNED, THINKING THAT I WOULD NEVER BE PUBLISHED AS A WRITER… THAT WAS MY EXPERIENCE IN COALDALE. ZERO ENCOURAGEMENT FROM ANYBODY, ANYWHERE… SO I WENT ALONG, AND THEN I GOT MARRIED, AND THEN I COULDN’T DO ANYTHING ACCEPT STAY HOME… I STARTED TO WRITE AND SEND OUT THESE SHORT STORIES AND POEMS OFF TO [MAGAZINES]. AND THEY WOULD JUST COME BACK AND IT WAS A GREAT BIG DAY IF SOMEONE MADE ANY KIND OF COMMENT AT ALL. THAT WENT ON FOR A FEW YEARS AND I JUST KEPT ON WITH IT… DURING THE PERIOD OF TIME [1963-1964], I GOT ONE POEM PUBLISHED, ‘MIRACLE OF GRACE’, IN THE UNITED CHURCH MAGAZINE. THAT WAS THE FIRST THING I EVER GOT PUBLISHED. I GOT PAID FIVE DOLLARS, I THINK. IT WAS QUITE MIRACULOUS. AND THEN THE SECOND THING I GOT PUBLISHED WAS A SHORT STORY CALLED ‘ARE THERE ANY SHOES IN HEAVEN’, IN THE WESTERN PRODUCER… [THERE WAS] A POEM THAT I WROTE, ‘GOD KEEPS GIVING US NETS FOR FALLING… TILL WE FALL INTO GOD.’ THAT WAS THE NOTION THAT I HAD. I WAS JUMPING OVER THIS CLIFF – I DIDN’T KNOW WHERE I WAS GOING TO LAND… SO WHAT I FELT WAS THAT I HAD FALLEN INTO THE NETS, AND IT WAS GOING TO BE OKAY… AND I’LL SOMETIMES GO TO CONFERENCES WITHOUT KNOWING WHAT I’M SUPPOSED TO SAY… AND I’LL JUST GO, TRUSTING, AND THEN IT’S THERE, AND THAT’S HOW I’M LIVING NOW… I DON’T HAVE TO BE ANYBODY, OR PERFECT… I JUST HAVE TO HAVE THE TRUST.” SEE RECORD P19970041001 FOR EXPANDED BIOGRAPHICAL INFORMATION AND PERMANENT FILE FOR FURTHER HISTORY.

Catalogue Number

P19970041506

Acquisition Date

1997-01

Collection

Museum

Less detail