My brother got married in September 1983. The ceremony followed a tradition that didn’t call for a best man—but my brother never saw an absence where he could see an opportunity. He asked me to be his best man at the reception, and gave me this Hallmark wood pen as a gift marking the honor.
I still have the pen (I still have the brother, too). But the ink cartridge inside the pen has long since shown its age, and nobody makes replacements anymore—not even Hallmark.
Honestly, I’d keep it regardless. A gift like that isn’t just about whether it works, but I’d really like to use the pen, again, so I couldn’t bring myself to let it go without trying.
After months of sporadic internet searching, my latest round paid off: I found someone on eBay who machines brass adapters so that a Cross pen refill would fit this 40+ year old pen. I ordered one.
It arrived yesterday and I was able to slide a modern Cross refill right into the Hallmark body. It works perfectly.
Yay!
If you have a Hallmark Wood pen and need an adapter in order to use a Cross ink cartridge, then I recommend you get in touch with Glenn of Glenn’s Workshop. He can be found on Instagram: glennsworkshop55 or Reddit: u/gpohly
He also has a YouTube video where he talks about making the adapter: https://youtu.be/xNRJsg9vroc?si=AONxqyRHzHsAtBBw
