Cardinal Pens is the passion project of Brian and Lisa Anderson and our family. You may have heard the (true) story that as long time pen collectors, we met through the collecting hobby, fell in love, got married, and founded the our 1st company in 2010. Fast forward 15 years, and we are starting over with an entirely new venture, with a new outlook on the pen industry.
Why Cardinal Pens and Paper? What does the name mean?
In our return to the retail writing instrument industry, we have had to start from scratch.... new name, new focus, no brick and mortar store, all new inventory, and all new outlook on life. It took a long time for us to choose a new name, and we went with something that is personally meaningful to us.
Some generally accepted symbolism of the cardinal includes:
Hope and Renewal - The vibrant red color of the male cardinal is often associated with vitality, energy, and the promise of new beginnings.
Love and Relationships - Cardinals are known for their strong pair bonds, making them symbols of devotion, faithfulness, and strong family ties.
Spiritual Messengers - Cardinals are widely believed to be messengers from the spirit world, carrying messages of love, guidance, and comfort from those who have passed on.
Good Luck and Positive Energy - Some cultures associate cardinals with good luck, happiness, and overall positive energy.
Our backstory:
We used to bid against each other on Ebay for vintage Esterbrook pens in the late 1990's. We met in person in 2003 at the Chicago Pen Show, and we had an instant connection - two collectors who shared the same passion for the Esterbrook brand. We had some of our pens photographed together for a fountain pen book, which is another funny story that we will share some day.
Lisa wrote an article for a now-defunct magazine and several of her pens were professionally photographed. She sent the pictures to Brian, which included a very rare doctor’s pen with an unusual name engraved on it. Brian emailed back and sent a picture of a pencil he owned – the same very rare model, complete with the same unusual name.
In 2010 we got married and founded our 1st company. We attended pen shows all over the country, generally 12-15 shows a year. At one point we had 2 retail stores, but Covid sadly ended all of that, and we shut down our Chicago, IL store in 2023, and our main store in Appleton, WI in December 2024.
We have over 50 years of combined experience buying, selling, collecting and using both vintage and modern fountain pens, inks, and fine stationery and journals. Brian is an experienced pen repair person, and can be found on Twitch usually 5 days a week, showcasing his pen repair skills. Lisa works full time for a local optometrist, and handles bookkeeping on weekends. In the summer, we love to travel across the midwest, antiquing and enjoying local coffee shops.
Cardinal Pens is truly a family adventure.
Lindsay is our daughter who handles our photography, video and social media. She has worked with us off and on for several years, including before, during and after working toward her graphic design degree at UW-Stout. In her spare time, she can be found playing with her cats Sebastian and Gannon, and spending time with her boyfriend. Her other hobbies include nature photography, sleeping late, and LARPing.
Max is a very handsome and photogenic long-haired orange tabby, and is our Chief Wellness Officer, who does his best to remind us that sleep and relaxation is vital to a work-life balance and he absolutely leads by example. He is truly a Daddy's boy, and his hobbies include napping, eating and purring. In his spare time, he likes to look at the birds in the backyard, and sit in the sun.
Seiko is a long-haired Tortie, with the expected attitude, and is our Corporate Cheerleader who always has something to contribute to any conversation. She can often be heard "chatting" with Brian on Twitch, when she manages to sneak into the repair room during broadcast time. Seiko's hobbies include accidentally locking herself in the clothes closet, running around checking on the whereabouts and activities of everyone in the house, and sunbathing by the back door.
Garrett is our son who helps keep things running smoothly when we are away from home, antiquing or driving to other states to pick up pen collections on a whim. He lives nearby, and is always happy to pop over and check on the house and the cats. Garrett has worked for us previously in several roles, including inventory and data entry.
