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Pencil History: J.B. Ostrowski’s Aluminum Ferrule

Here's a bit of pencil history for you: before 1964, Pencil eraser ferrules were made with brass because brass had the appropriate strength to hold a pencil with its eraser. Pencil manufacturers opted for the more expensive brass instead of…

The History of the Bullet Pencil

Bullet pencils, as the name suggests, are pencils whose casings are made from spent rifle cartridges. They originated on battlefields in the early nineteenth century, and were sold as souvenirs. .303 British rifle casings were the most commonly…
Bonded Lead

Obscure Pencil Terms and What They Mean

If you’ve spent time lurking through the Pencil Internet, you’ve probably come across some terms that have made you scratch your head. Like most enthusiast scenes, the pencil world is full of obscure pencil terms and jargon that can intimidate…
Colonial Pencil History

American Pencil History at Sutter’s Fort

I live extremely close to Sutter’s Fort in Sacramento, California so, a few weeks back, my wife and I decided to take a walk over to the fort and brush up on our history. As we walked through it’s mud brick walls, we learned about role the…
Sampson Mordan Mechanical Pencil

A Brief History of the Mechanical Pencil

Despite what David Rees claims in Chapter 11 of How to Sharpen Pencils, mechanical pencils do have their place in the pencilverse. Surprisingly, this wonder of pencil technology has actually existed in one form or another for the better…
General Pencil Company

A Brief History of the General Pencil Company

The General Pencil Company has manufactured pencils since 1889.  Withstanding the World Wars, recessions, hurricanes and new ages of technology, the General Pencil Company has proven itself to be a survivor in an economic climate that tends…

The Rise and Fall of the Yellow Pencil: Part 2

The historical intent of painting a pencil yellow as a reflection of high quality is considered out of date and yellow pencils are increasingly viewed as a low value commodity segment.   - http://timberlines.blogspot.com [Source] In Part…

The Rise and Fall of the Yellow Pencil: Part 1

Like the red fire truck or the blue police car, the yellow pencil is an iconic image. We have all relied on the yellow pencil at some point, the color embedded in our very idea of what a pencil is. The burning question: Why are pencils yellow? Why…

Pages

The Copying Pencil & It’s History

Doug Martin's Pencil Pages provides a very thorough and the most informative article I've ever read regarding the Copying Pencil. The article entitled, "The Copying Pencil: Composition, History, and Conservation Implications" which was written…