Farmer Owns Amazing "Pen And Pencil" Collection

Farmer Owns Amazing "Pen And Pencil" Collection AG WORLD 31-2-21 It's a pretty sure bet you've never seen as many pens and pencils in one place as you'll find in Roger Bosse's garage. He's got more than 6,000 of them. "I've been collecting pens and pencils for 35 years," says the retired farmer from Elk Point, S. Dak. "I started putting pens in a coffee can. Once that got full I started putting them in a 5-gal. bucket, and when that was full I started hanging them up in rows on one side of my garage. Word of my collection got around, and it wasn't long before people starting giving pens and pencils to me. For example, two people at our local elevator gave me 300 pens and pencils apiece." Besides the pens on his garage wall, he also has a half dozen boxes and pails full. Why pens and pencils? "Well, you know how it is when you go to town to pay a bill and you use their pen. You say ænice pen' and they say ækeep it' so you take it home. Farmers pay a lot of bills, so there are a lot of opportunities to collect pens. I also get a lot of my pens and pencils from seed companies, savings and loans, banks and car dealers, etc. It's a fun hobby." The pens and pencils in his collection come in a wide variety of shapes and designs. "Very few of of them are alike," says Bosse. "Most have advertising slogans. Some are shaped like ball bats, voluptuous ladies, medical syringes, and ice cream cones." His most unusual pen is a guy boxing, with a trigger behind him. When you push the trigger his fists jab out like he's throwing a punch. The pens are clipped onto wires strung horizontally across the wall. There are about 25 pens per foot. Members of the International Pen Collectors Society and others are welcome to see the pen and pencil collection. Call ahead. Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Roger Bosse, 48064 327th St., Elk Point, S. Dak. 57025 (ph 605 966-5678).

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