The Wrath of Kahn

If there’s ever a second edition of The Catalogue, some years down the road, there’s one great injustice in there that I’m going to be sure that I correct. I will need to call one of the most influential men in the American pencil industry by name. After all, he earned it.

David Kahn was a man who arguably holds the title of being the most prolific producer of mechanical pencils in the United States. Although I haven’t tallied how many patents and design patents are credited to him or assigned to his company (David Kahn, Inc.) in George Kovalenko’s book, he’s got to be right up there with Eagle at the top of the "most innovative" list.

And his most recognized brand? Wearever.

OK, I didn’t say recognized was necessarily a good thing, because many of Kahn’s innovations involved ways to make more and cheaper pencils, not necessarily better ones. But not everything that the company made was terrible – at least as far as the pencils went (the pens, however . . . sheesh).
Take this one, for example, from the late 1920s or so . . .

NOTE:  This article is now included in the print version of The Leadhead's Pencil Blog, available anywhere you buy books, or also from The Legendary Lead Company.

To order, here's the link:  Volume 1 at Legendary Lead Company