Note: The pens featured on this page are part of my collection; they are not for sale or trade.




Front: Plane (floater) flies over downtown city scene; parliament building in center.
Back: "Souvenir of WINNIPEG Canada" along with pictures of (left) Assiniboine Park Pavilion and (right) the Golden Boy.

The Golden Boy graces the top of the Manitoba Legislature.



Front: Plane (floater) flies over downtown city scene.
Back: "souvenir of WINNIPEG CANADA" along with pictures of (left) an aboriginal in headdress and (right) Upper Fort Garry.
1-vintage and 1-in colour.


Same front as above pen, but airplane floater is about 1/4 inch longer.
Back: "WINNIPEG, CANADA, 1874 CENTENNIAL 1974" (flanked by pictures also same as above).

Winnipeg's Centennial was 1974, Manitoba's 1970, and Canada's 1967.



Front: Football player (floater) runs after the ball at the stadium.
Back: "WINNIPEG CANADA" along with pictures of (left) the Grey Cup (the CFL trophy) and (right) the Golden Boy.

Our home Canadian Football League team is called The Blue Bombers. It must be an opponent running for the ball! Our team colours are blue and gold.

Read about: Winnipeg, Manitoba



Front: Airplane (floater) takes off.
Back: "WINNIPEG INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT, MANITOBA - CANADA" with picture of an Air Canada jet on the left.

Well, there's not much to say here. It's an airport.



Front: Voyageurs in canoe (floater) paddle on the Assiniboine River at The Forks (where the Assiniboine and Red rivers meet). A picture of the St. Boniface Cathedral is on left. (At least it looks like the Cathedral, but I don't know what it's doing at The Forks. See next pen - the Cathedral is located nearby in St. Boniface.)
Back: "THE FORKS, Winnipeg, Canada" along with a building.

Read about: The Forks, Winnipeg, MB



Front: Voyageurs in canoe (floater) paddle down the Red River in St. Boniface. (The Cathedral is in the center background. The building to the right of it with the black roof is the St. Boniface Museum.)
Back: "SAINT BONIFACE, WINNIPEG, MANITOBA, CANADA" along with a picture of a buffalo on left.

I noticed that these are the same people who were canoeing at The Forks (above). Well, it's really only about a 5 minute paddle from there and they were heading in the correct direction! And now it seems they are heading back, St. B. being east of the Red. (Hey, it never hurts to have a little local geography lesson.)

St. Boniface is Winnipeg's "French Quarter".




Front: Miniature steam train (floater), passes through Assiniboine Park.
Back: "ASSINIBOINE PARK, WINNIPEG, CANADA" along with:
(left) Boy with the Boot who stands at the entrance to the English Gardens - and (right) the park Pavilion.

While at first glance these 2 pens look identical, the background on them are mirror images of each other.

You can ride this miniature train around the park. Assiniboine Park opened in 1908 and covers 378 acres (153 hectares) along the Assiniboine River. The Zoo, Conservatory, English Garden, Leo Mol Sculpture Garden, Tudor-style pavilion and Lyric Theatre are a few of the features found in the park. There are also picnic areas and cycling and walking trails. In the winter, you can enjoy cross-country skiing, tobogganing and skating on the Duck Pond.




Front: The Prairie Dog (floater), a vintage train, crosses the prairies. (Second pen also has a stationary Red River cart on left.)
Back: "PRAIRIE DOG CENTRAL" along with Prairie Dog Central logo on left.

Read about: Prairie Dog Central, Winnipeg, MB



Front: Turboprop plane (floater) crosses in front of the hangar.
Back: "WESTERN CANADA AVIATION MUSEUM INC." along with drawing of a vintage plane and the museum address.
1-classic (top image) and 1-twist & click.

Read about: Western Canada Aviation Museum, Winnipeg, MB



Front: The Nonsuch (floater) sails on the water (probably Hudson's Bay). (You can board a replica of this 17th century two-masted ketch at the museum.)
Back: "MANITOBA MUSEUM OF MAN AND NATURE"

Read about: The Manitoba Museum, Winnipeg, MB (They've dropped the "of Man and Nature")



Front: The Countess (floater) passes in front of a train station (actually looks more like the Manitoba Legislative building).
Back: "COUNTESS OF DUFFERIN, WINNIPEG, MANITOBA, CANADA" along with pictures of (left) Upper Fort Garry and (right) buffalo and the phrase "GROWING TO BEAT 70".

This is a vintage pen issued in 1970, Manitoba's Centennial year. Does anybody who was here at the time remember the "Hello Twenty-Seventy!" (2070) ceremony at the (old) arena? There was a time capsule that our family put something into for our descendents.

Read about: Countess of Dufferin.



Front: Two jockies on horses race around the track.
Back: "ASSINIBOIA DOWNS, WINNIPEG, MANITOBA" along with pictures of (left) a jockey cap and (right) a horseshoe.

Oct, 2009
Oh, can you tell I am excited about this find?! I actually bought it at an antiques/collectibles show AT Assiniboia Downs. Thanks, Bruce!

Read about: Assiniboia Downs.



Front: Guards (floater) march along fort wall.
Back: "FORT GARRY HORSE GUARD, LOWER FORT GARRY, MANITOBA" flanked by fort-related pictures.

Read about: Lower Fort Garry.



Front: The Paddlewheel (floater) travels on the Red River, towards the (old) Provencher Bridge.
Back: "PADDLEWHEEL QUEEN, WINNIPEG - MANITOBA, CANADA'S LARGEST EXCURSION SERVICE"



Front: The River Rouge (floater) travels down the river.
Back: "M.S. RIVER ROUGE, WINNIPEG, Canada's Finest River Cruise Ship"

Second Pen Front: Smaller floater; stationary sailboat on opposite side.
Back: Same as above.

Read about: Paddlewheel River Rouge Tours



Front: The Lady Winnipeg (floater) travels down the river.
Back: "M.S. LADY WINNIPEG, cruising the Historic Red River"


Second Pen Front: The same, but much better colour.
Back: "M.S. LADY WINNIPEG, CRUISE TO LOWER FORT GARRY"

Background on these pens is the same as the River Rouge. Looks like the Hotel Fort Garry (tall building) on the right-hand side, but I'm not convinced you can see it from the Red. The scene is west of the Red River towards downtown Winnipeg, near The Forks. The M.S. Lady Winnipeg is no longer in existence.



Front: Polar bear (floater) crosses snow covered land.
Back: "The Arctic Trading Co. | CHURCHILL, THOMPSON, WINNIPEG" along with picture of a baluga whale on left
twist & click

Churchill is shown on the Canadian map above. Thompson is south and west of Churchill.



Front: Viking ship joins sailboats in the Gimli harbour.
Back: "GIMLI, MANITOBA, LAND OF THE VIKING" along with pictures of (left) a Viking hat and (right) a fish

Oct, 2009
Another great purchase from Bruce. Yay!

Gimli is located along the shoreline of Lake Winnipeg, approximately 80 km northeast of Winnipeg.



Front: Buffalo (floater) wanders across the prairie. Crocus (provincial flower) on left.
Back: "MANITOBA, CANADA" along with pictures of (left) Manitoba flag and (right) Manitoba Coat of Arms.
twist & click

The Great Gray Owl is our provincial bird and the White Spruce our provincial tree emblem. There's also an official Manitoba tartan.



Front: Canoeist (floater) paddles across a lake.
Back: "MANITOBA, CANADA, THE LAND OF LAKES AND PINES" along with: (left) a moose and (right) a bear.

Read about: Manitoba



Front: Steam engine (floater) crosses field.
Back: "Manitoba Agricultural Museum, AUSTIN, CANADA"

Austin, Manitoba is about 130 km west of Winnipeg. And, yes, I drove all the way there just to buy these pens!



Front: CP Rail train travels across the prairies.
Back: "THE PRAIRIES OF CANADA" with grain elevators on left.

This pen is one of my favourites. I'm a prairie girl. This is home. And I worked many years for CP Rail Intermodal Services (it's not a 'piggyback' nor passenger train on the pen, though).

Everybody SING!
(partial)

Manitoba and Saskatchewan then followed, where the wheat fields and the old Red River flowed.
In the quiet hours your whistling on the prairie, touched my heart and set my memories aglow.
Canadian Pacific, carry me 3,000 miles.........



Did you know Winnipeg is the namesake of Winnie the Pooh?

In 1914, an army officer from Winnipeg, on his way to the east coast to be transported to England, bought a black bear while stopped at a train station in White River, Ontario. The officer, Harry Colebourn, named the bear Winnipeg (or Winnie for short), and the bear soon became an honorary member of the regiment, entertaining the soldiers with her tame and friendly behavior.

Winnipeg stayed with the regiment while they were in England preparing for war, but when the regiment was called to battle, Captain Harry Colebourn was ordered to get rid of the bear. He found a home for her at the London Zoo. When the First World War ended, Captain Colebourn returned to Canada, but decided to leave Winnipeg at the zoo, where she seemed to be happy and had become popular with the zoo's staff and visitors.

Eventually, an English writer by the name of A.A. Milne took his son, Christopher Robin, to the London Zoo and it was there they were introduced to 'Winnie the Pooh.'


MORE FLOATY PENS IN MY COLLECTION


Debbie rests in her garden.

CANADA

Read about: Canada
Back: "CANADA" between 2 Canadian flags.
Back: "CANADA" (twist & click)
Back: "CANADA" between maple leaf and Canadian flag (twist & click)
Back: "CANADA" between maple leaf and Canadian flag (twist & click)
Back: "CANADA" surrounded by tiny maple leaves, between maple leaf and Canadian flag, (twist & click)
Back: "CANADA" (twist & click)
Back: "Canada" with Canadian flag on right
Back: "CANADA" with Canadian flag on right
Back: "CANADA" between maple leaf and Canadian flag, (twist & click)
Nov, 2009
Back: "Canada" flanked by Canadian flags, (digital)
Back: "Royal Canadian Mounted Police" along with pictures of Canadian flag and 3 maple leaves
Read about: the RCMP
Back: "Royal Canadian Mounted Police" between Mounties on horseback (twist & click)
Back: "Royal Canadian Mounted Police" horizontally, with vertical Mountie on right (whistle, keychain)
Back: "Scarlet and Gold"



My first floaty pen was one of the lunar rover on the moon, purchased at Kennedy Space Center, Florida in December, 1972. Sadly, I used to take it to school and I lost it. I didn't actively start collecting floaties until 1988, on our trip to Halifax/the Maritimes. The pens I most enjoy adding to my collection are Canadian locations. And while, of course, I prefer Eskesen pens, I do have others.


In November, 2004, I won a replacement 'rover' pen on ebay! It hasn't dethroned my favourite (Countess of Dufferin) but it rates a very close second.


These are my homemade wood display boxes (4 of 17). Each holds 128 pens. My husband built them for me because I am accident-prone and would probably have no fingers left if I attempted to use a saw. I then painted and stamped them. The non-Eskesen pens are kept in a separate smaller box.


I like to play with my pens, so once in a while I switch the order in which they are kept. Sometimes I put them by groups (city, etc.), sometimes by barrel colour, and sometimes in alphabetical order. I don't leave any spaces for additions because, when I get new pens, part of the fun (for me) is rearranging all the boxes and getting reaquainted with my treasures.


May, 2007 - This is very exciting for me. I bought myself a Palm Z22; and Documents to Go software for it. I can now "synchonize" my Excel inventory spreadsheet onto it and always have my pen list handy if I run across a new pen! I have put lots of other organizational stuff onto it, but my main reason for buying it was my pens. (Maybe that's pretty pathetic, LOL.) A couple years ago on our trip to Nova Scotia, I came upon some Bluenose pens. The front was virtually the same; and the wording of the text also. What I didn't realize until I got home was that the order of the text and graphic on the back was different. With my Palm list and pen details on hand, I would have known that!



March, 2008 - OK, so I wasted a whole Saturday evening making little flag poles for my pens out of shish-kabob sticks, white beads and address label stickers. It worked out really well, except for the countries where I have few pens, there's a throng of flags all mushed together.


April, 2008 - Hear ye! Hear ye!

Floaty Penthon (my floaty pen movie) is now playing at Cineplex 16 at the Floatsville Mall !!!










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