Saturday, December 31, 2011

My Find of the Year

Today seems like the perfect day to bring out my top find of this year.  The series of impossible coincidences that have happened over the last couple weeks ended up bringing together three brands that I never knew were connected and led me to a conclusion that I never dreamed up: 

Eversharp stole the idea for its repeating pencil from someone else. 

This story starts innocently enough, with the article I wrote in early December titled "The Ferengi's Acfad."  After the article was published, I went back to Michael Little (the Ferengi in the article) and told him how excited I was to discover that his ACFAD was actually a pre-Moore pencil, from the days when Moore was known as The American Fountain Pen Co.  I didn't ask him to sell it to me - I just asked that if he ever did decide to sell it, to consider selling it to me.

Well, Michael did ask me how much I'd pay for it, and after I made an offer, we had a deal.  There was only one problem: 

he'd lost it.

He emailed me frantically after I'd sent him the check and said it just had to be somewhere in his apartment, that he was on the hunt for it and not to worry.  Fortunately, I know Michael well enough to know that he would find it - in fact, while he was looking, he might find some other cool things while he's looking for it.  From his description, his apartment sounds like Warehouse 13.

Sure enough, a few days later he emailed me to let me know he'd found it, along with about six other pencils he thought I'd like.   One of them, he said, was a "Gilfred."  Quite correctly, he pointed out that I did not list the Gilfred in The Catalogue.   He didn't send me a picture of it, but a little later in the day he sent me a link to a court case decided in January, 1942, captioned Gilfred Corporation v. Eversharp, Inc. (ok, the lawyer in me can't stop there -- the citation is 43 F. Supp. 645). 

I was amazed as I read the case.  This "Gilfred Corporation" claimed that Eversharp's design for its version of the repeating pencil infringed on Gilfred's patent.  Eversharp didn't defend by saying it came up with the idea first, and Eversharp didn't claim to have rights under its own patent.  Eversharp's entire defense was that Gilfred's patent claims weren't valid because someone else had thought of it before Gilfred, in 1896. 

Who won?   I'll give you one guess.  Ever hear of a Gilfred Skyline?   

(Now as an aside, stop here for a minute and ponder the irony of this.  Just three years after this case was decided, Eversharp was on exactly the opposite side of this argument, when the Reynolds Pen Company introduced the ballpoint pen and  Eversharp sued Reynolds for infringing on Eversharp's rights -- Reynolds, just as Eversharp had done in 1942, argued that the ballpoint pen had been patented in the 1880s and the rights to it had long since expired.    But I digress.)

To get back to our story, a couple days later I decided to dig a little deeper and look into the two patents that were mentioned in the case.  The "Clement Patent" from 1896 was number 566,444, issued August 25, 1896 to John Clement of Birmingham, England.

But it was the Gilfred patent that raised my eyebrows.  OK, it didn't raise them, it had them sailing off my forehead like in an old Warner Brother's cartoon, with a steam whistle blowing in the background.  The Gilfred patent was number 1,592,502 and was originally issued to Abraham Pollak.  The assignee was . . . Samuel Kanner.  Wow!  That's the patent for the Presto repeating pencil I wrote about just a few weeks ago.  Remember this?

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



Friday, December 30, 2011

Mr. Culbertson goes to Detroit

With a title as intriguing as "Salz Culbertson pencil," I had to bid on this one . . .

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



Thursday, December 29, 2011

Everytime I Think I Found the Apex, There's Another!

In The Catalogue at page 20, you'll find a pair of pencils manufactured by the Apex Products Corporation.   Since the book went to print, I've found a couple others that are worthy of note . . .

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



Wednesday, December 28, 2011

My New "Parts" Pencil

At shows, one of the things I enjoy the most is helping people get their broken pencils "back on the road."  This year at the Ohio show, there was a bumper crop of busted pencils hobbling in, and I had pretty good success with all of them.

One guy, who I've seen at the Ohio show before, brought me a 1930s Waterman pencil that had a nose cone that wouldn't stay on -- a common problem that occurs with these, since the goofy design Waterman came up with made these particularly prone to coming apart.  My friend not only had the pencil for me to work on, but he supplied me with a second pencil from which I could harvest the parts I would need. 

I took a look at the "parts" pencil and told him I thought the parts piece was nicer than the one he wanted me to fix.  Turns out what he didn't like about it was the name engraved on the clip, and that's why he thought it would be a suitable donor.

Now I don't want to start a pencil collectors' rumble or anything, because the collectors who are opposed to any engraving and those who don't mind it so much are like the Jets and the Sharks.  Personally, I don't mind a little engraving if it is tastefully done, and I certainly wouldn't condemn an otherwise nice piece to the parts bin because of it.

But before I could get into a discussion about this, my friend offered me a deal I really couldn't refuse.  If I could fix the pencil, I could have the "parts pencil."   It was tricky, but after a couple hours I had it repaired without stripping out the other pencil -- turns out that would have been the only way to do it anyway, since the parts between the two weren't compatible.   My friend went away happy, and I was a pencil richer.  Here it is, the green one (called "emerald ray") next to the one I had in my collection already, in red ("copper ray") . . .

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



Tuesday, December 27, 2011

A Keen Pair

A few weeks ago I was the successful bidder on a lot which included a pair of Keen-Point pencils.  Keen-Point was a subbrand for Dur-O-Lite, and examples don't come around very often.  These were particularly nice . . .

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



Monday, December 26, 2011

NIAOB: A Parker Find

I freely admit that I don't know as much about Parkers as a lot of people.  I am able to notice differences between different pencils, though, so when I see one that looks a little weird to me, I'll pick it up if it's priced reasonably.

So when I found this little jewel at the Scott Antique Market last month and the price tag said "Parker NIB $25," (NIB for "new in box") I thought it seemed like a pretty good deal . . .

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



Sunday, December 25, 2011

The Eagle Automatic Part 3: Merry Christmas!

I said yesterday that the "Twas the night before Christmas" pencil was my second favorite of the Giant Eagle Automatics.  That's because this one is my favorite . . .

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



Saturday, December 24, 2011

The Eagle Automatic Part 2: 'Twas the Night Before Christmas

My second favorite of the Eagle 75-12 Giant Automatics is this one . . .

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



Friday, December 23, 2011

The Eagle Automatic Part 1: All Pencils Great and Small

When I wrote The Catalogue, I didn't just want to write a book about pencils that you never see "in the wild."  My goal was to write a book that beginners and experienced collectors alike would be able to use, so I included information about all the pencils I knew about, not just the superstars that are rarely seen.

But there wasn't room enough for everything.  While I was finishing up the editing The Catalogue, I received an email from "Steve," a visitor at my Mechanical Pencil Museum website, asking about what he referred to as his "Shaw Mechanical Pencil."   His example, marked "Property of the U.S. Army," was marked with Patent Number 1,859,433.

That patent number gave his pencil away as an Eagle "Automatic" pencil.  The patent, for the eraser tip, was applied for by Isidor Chesler on October 18, 1930 and was granted on May 24, 1932.  Here is a good example of the Eagle Automatic . . .

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



Thursday, December 22, 2011

The Indian the Wife Doesn't Mind Too Much

When it comes to the Slencil, there are two basic types.  The first are the quirky little metal pencils which come in a wide variety of styles and options, invented by Carl C. Harris in 1933.  The second variety, while still unique, is the rectangular plastic pencils which have a  more conventional nose drive mechanism . . .

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



Wednesday, December 21, 2011

It's All Adding Up Now

At page 90 of The Catalogue, I've got an entry for the Houk Adding Pencil Co.  Here's the picture . . .

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



Tuesday, December 20, 2011

Sheaffer Pearlies Part 2: and Then There Were Seven

When I left off yesterday, I had "discovered" (or rather, learned of the existence of) a sixth variation on the Sheaffer Pearlie and was quite proud of myself:   But since four of this "new to me" variation had surfaced within just a couple weeks, I resolved that I would pay even more attention to Sheaffer pearlies when they passed by my way.

Within just a couple of days, I saw an ebay listing for something that didn't quite make sense to me.  It appeared to be a Sheaffer pearlie in green, but the clip looked like a regular balance flat ball clip and the listing title said "Sheaffer Jr."  The picture was a little fuzzy, but Matt McColm, who pointed it out to me, said it was exactly what it appeared to be.

Hmmm.  A possible seventh variation?  I added it to my watched items list.  And then I did something I rarely do. 

I forgot to bid.

I later found out Daniel Kirchheimer won the auction.  Since Daniel has helped me out by offering suggestions and corrections to my blog, I felt comfortable emailing him to ask if he would send me a good picture of this pencil to use here at the blog.  He said he would when he received it.

But the next time I heard from him, it wasn't to send me a picture.. it was to ask if I'd part with one of the carmine red military clip Sheaffer pencils I'd featured in my December 6 article, "A Tale of Three Pencils . . . or Maybe Five."  I hinted that he had a certain Sheaffer pearlie that I had forgotten to bid on -- no, he said, he wouldn't trade for that one.

But, he said, he'd trade me the other one he has.  He sent me a picture of the pair of them . . .

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



Monday, December 19, 2011

Sheaffer Pearlies Part I: and Then There Were Six

I've always had a soft spot for the Sheaffer pearlie.  My first pencil was one of these, albeit a later solid white school pencil, pictured on page 1 of The Catalogue. . . 

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



Sunday, December 18, 2011

That's with one "L."

On page 26 of The Catalogue, I have listed the "Biltwell," lower quality pencils mostly of the Welsh-style flattop variety that come in an entertaining array of colors.

At first when I found this piece, I thought I'd found an example that would finally give me some insight into who made the Biltwell.  But a closer look revealed that this might tell me something quite different . . .

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



Saturday, December 17, 2011

It's Not a Jingle Bell

I get a few emails a day from people who stumble across my Mechanical Pencil Museum or this blog because they are looking for answers about the only pencil they have.  Whether it's someone who found an old pencil in grandma's desk or an antique dealer who thinks he might have found the piece that's his key to a long retirement, I give them all credit for taking the time to try to learn a little bit along the way.  I also try to answer their questions in a way that encourages them to want to learn more. 

Sometimes, though, it's a little hard to keep from giggling at how they describe what they have.

Since we are full on into the holiday season, I thought this would be a good time for this one.   A reader emailed me to ask a question about his relative's "Christmas pencil" that he had just inherited.   I asked him what made it a Christmas pencil, and he said it had a jingle bell on top.   Interesting, right?  So I asked if the pencil had any markings on it, and he indicated that yes, his Christmas pencil said "Bell System" on the barrel.

Ah, I said.  And over the fields I went, laughing all the way (ha ha ha).  We had our diagnosis . . .

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



Friday, December 16, 2011

O Reynolds, Where Art Thou?

The rise and fall of Wahl Eversharp is, bar none, my favorite story. 

The Wahl Adding Machine Company got into the writing instrument business by accident, when inventor Charles Keeran approached Wahl looking to purchase pencil-making equipment and ended up hiring the company to make his pencils for him.   By the close of World War II, Eversharp, Inc. (having dropped the Wahl name entirely) was at its peak, neck and neck with the other members of the "Big Four" fraternity for bragging rights as the leading writing instrument manufacturer in the United States.

Maybe it was arrogance.  Maybe it was ignorance.  Whatever it was, when Eversharp decided to be the first to produce a ballpoint pen, the company blindly assumed it would be first and best. . . .

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



Thursday, December 15, 2011

"What the Heck is This?"


I know that it would be silly to play a "guess what this is" game with this piece.  This is a blog about mechanical pencils.  Of course it's a pencil.

That doesn't mean that I didn't fall for it, though.  A friend approaches me at the Ohio Pen Show and says, "I'll bet you don't know what this is," and I'm thinking to myself "OK, Jon. . . you know this.  Television remote control?  No.  Nuclear weapon detonator?  No, looks a little small.  Pocket pasta maker?   Hmm..." 

Duh.  I'm at a pen show.  I'm a pencil guy with a giant booth promoting my new book about pencils.  Someone approaches me with an object and asks me to guess what it is.  Why did I fall for it?  He should have asked me if I wanted a "hurts donut" while he was at it. 

So here's the pencil . . .

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



Wednesday, December 14, 2011

My Travel Buddy

My day job, for those who don't know, is as lawyer in solo practice in Newark, Ohio.  My main focus is in real estate law, so from time to time clients send me off to other counties to do title research.  It's my favorite part of the job, getting out of the office for a bit of a change in scenery.

Yesterday, I was called on to travel to Wooster, Ohio, in the northeastern part of the state (for those not from Ohio, that's WUH-ster, not WOO-ster).  I ran a mapquest search to confirm my directions, and on paper, it looks like a relatively straight line from here to there.  In real life, the trip was more challenging. 

The first leg of the trip is fairly straightforward, until you get to the little town of Danville, Ohio, where US 62 takes a hard right.  The way to Wooster is to go straight, up what looks like someone's driveway but really is Ohio State Route 514.  If any of you have ever seen the movie Rat Race, I was looking for a sign that said "you should have bought a squirrel."   By the time they get that high in the Ohio route numbers, you know we're getting off the beaten path. 

It was a beautiful drive, with lots of hills and sharp turns, and had it been a warm day on a motorcycle it would have been an ideal getaway.  In a Ford F-150 and in a hurry.... let's just say my knuckles were white.  Route 514 turned into 226, and I rolled into Wooster a bit frazzled.   At 4:30 p.m., the government offices were closed and with them, most of the doors of the town closed.  As dusk approached, I saw a little antique store on the right heading out of town.  What the heck, I thought...

This place was long and narrow and just packed with stuff . . . just not my kind of stuff.  About the best things I saw . . .

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



Tuesday, December 13, 2011

"Mono-point" Wouldn't Have Sold Very Well, I Suppose

Back we go to the Scott Antique Market, on my same swing through the larger of the two buildings that netted me that Presto box I talked about a couple weeks ago.   I ran across these two pencils, at different booths but in the same aisle . .

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



Monday, December 12, 2011

The Pencil Parker Should Have Built All Along

It's no secret to readers of The Catalogue that I'm not much of a fan of pre-World War II Parker pencils.  Out of the "Big Four" writing instrument manufacturers in the United States, Parker comes in a distant third behind Wahl Eversharp and Sheaffer (who were neck and neck for first) chronologically to get into the pencil business.  As far as quality is concerned, in my opinion Parker came in dead last. 

I can already hear the angry mob of Parker devotees, pitchforks and torches in hand, pounding on my door as I make this statement.   But think about it:  how often do you find an Eversharp, Sheaffer or for that matter, a Waterman pencil that doesn't work?   For every one of these that is our of commission, you'll find ten Vacumatic or Duofold pencils broken down by the side of the road with its owner thumbing for a ride.

With the Vacumatic pencils, it's usually a problem with a cracked drive tube.  Vac clutch pencils tend to jam and freeze up as if they were superglued.  Streamline Duofolds are the best of the bunch, but when there's a problem with one of them it's a bear to get into it for the repair (I spent about half a day at the DC Supershow a few years ago entertaining myself by repairing the marine green pearl one shown on page 112). 

With the first generation of Duofold pencils, the "bell top" flattops, the problem (in addition to a cantankerous screw drive) is that the tops are so fragile, it's a real challenge to find one that isn't dented or deformed.   While Parker was advertising a Duofold Pen that was so sturdy you could drop it from an airplane, the pencil that accompanied it would dent, as I commented at the Mechanical Pencil Museum, in anything more than a stiff breeze.

There is one exception, and it's taken me a few years to track one down.  Here is a picture of a Parker "Big Bro" pencil from around 1923-1924 . . .

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



Sunday, December 11, 2011

My Fellow Americans

The American Pencil Company, founded in New York in the 1860s, doesn't get a lot of press in The Catalogue, primarily because the company's focus from the beginning was the manufacture of wood-cased pencils.  Perhaps the most famous brand name introduced by the company was Venus, which became so popular that American actually changed its name to Venus in 1956. 

It's a bit confusing that there was another pencil company called the American Lead Pencil Company, founded in 1861 in Hoboken, New Jersey.  American Lead Pencil Company was renamed General Pencil Company fairly early on, probably due to the confusion that must have arisen, and is still in business today.

While the company that became General did not (to my knowledge) manufacture mechanical pencils, the American Pencil Company certainly did, with lines such as the "Perpetual" and the "Everpointed."  There are many parallels between American's early mechanical pencils and those made by one of New York's other prominent early pencil manufacturers, Eagle Pencil Company.  Both manufactured cheap and very durable pencils which tend to be underappreciated today.

The pencils I am introducing today are no exception.  The red example shown is second from right on page 19 of The Catalogue . . .

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



Saturday, December 10, 2011

The "Other" Pencraft

At page 119 of The Catalogue I've listed the Pencraft . . .

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





Friday, December 9, 2011

Eversharp Checking Pencils Update

When The Catalogue went to press, I had space enough to illustrate a representative example of the original 1921 Eversharp checking pencil as well as the model offered from 1922 until around 1929.  Here's the shot from page 59 of The Catalogue . . . 

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



Thursday, December 8, 2011

This One Reallly Puts the Color in Colorgraph

The Colorgraph is one of those weird brands we pencil collectors really dig.  Here's the picture from page 31 of The Catalogue . . . 

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



Wednesday, December 7, 2011

A Two-Bit Mystery Finally Solved!

One of my early exhibits at the Mechanical Pencil Museum displayed the "Tubit," shown here in both ringtop and full size models . . .

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



Tuesday, December 6, 2011

A Tale of Three Sheaffers - or Maybe Five

Here's a family portrait of three seemingly identical Sheaffer "military clip" pencils, as shown on pages 139 and 140 of The Catalogue . . . 

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



Monday, December 5, 2011

It Was a Little Ritzier at the Booth Next Door

At page 129 of The Catalogue, there's a trio of pencils marked "Ritzie" on the clip, which are identical to pencils made by National Pen Products.  A few weeks ago, Janet and I were on our way back from our weekend getaway at Salt Fork State Park near Cambridge when we stopped in another out-of-the-way antique mall outside of Zanesville. 

This time, as we were on the way home from our antiquapalooza weekend, we stopped just because we thought we should, since it's right on the way.  We were pretty tired, our little Audi was pretty full of stuff, and we were pretty unenthusiastic.  Nevertheless, we valiantly shuffled on through, and my one and only purchase -- last of a long weekend -- added a bit to the Ritzie clan . . .

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



Sunday, December 4, 2011

A Monitor to Make Charles Keeran Proud

At page 62 of The Catalogue, I discuss an unusual diversion for Wahl Eversharp fanatics.  In 1928 or so, the company introduced pencils which, for lack of any better description, I refer to as Eversharp-Autopoint hybrids.  Here's the picture . . .

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



Saturday, December 3, 2011

The Ferengi's Acfad

Michael Little is quite the ebay seller.  He once told me he was a Ferengi, and I said I didn't know which was sadder . . . that he was comparing himself to a mythical character from Star Trek, or that I knew what he was talking about.  It was a Big Bang Theory kind of moment.

(For those who don't know what a Ferengi is, I'm not going into it here.  Hit up wikipedia if you have to.)

So it surprised me when he brought me something to look at at The Ohio Show this year that he didn't offer to sell to me.  It did take me all weekend to talk him out of a nice Parker Writefine (more on that one later), but on this this one he never budged.  I can't blame him really . . .

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



Friday, December 2, 2011

"Marie's Patent"

Ebay sellers who are honest but who honestly don't know anything about what they are selling are a lot of fun.  I'm not talking about the sellers who state in the title that a pencil is 14k, but the picture clearly shows a gold filled pencil sitting on a scale to show you how heavy it is, when 99% of the weight is steel, not gold.  Those guys know exactly what they are doing and should be publicly flogged.

No, the sellers I'm talking about are the ones who have something they don't understand, so they are describing it to the best of their ability -- and also to the best of my entertainment.  They are being completely honest in trying to describe exactly what they are seeing and don't realize that they've gotten things a little mixed up.

The best example, which comes up on a regular basis, are the "PATO" pens and pencils you see listed every so often . . .

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




Thursday, December 1, 2011

A Brief Study in the Classics

Dale Yessler recently contacted me about a beautiful pencil he had found, marked only with the word "Classics" on the clip, and asked if I knew anything about it . . .

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



Wednesday, November 30, 2011

An Eagle Update

Some people have a hard time admitting when they are wrong, but I am not one of them.  When I admit I'm wrong, in doing so I'm saying at the same time that I've learned something new that is right.

Today I get to admit I was wrong twice, in both cases regarding statements I've made about The Eagle Pencil Company.  This article corrects statements I've made concerning the "Stars and Moons" Epenco pencils (page 49 of The Catalogue, as well as my entry here on November 22) and the "Arrow clip" Eagles (page 48 of The Catalogue and my entry here on November 20). 

I'll start with the "stars and moons," because it was a discussion of that article on the Zoss List that led me to make both discoveries.  When Mike Kirk said that he had heard the "stars and moons" pattern was called the "Merlin" (and Mike Little suggested I should be turned into a frog for some reason), I started digging into the history of these pencils a little further to see what I could find . . .

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



Tuesday, November 29, 2011

And Presto! My Good Deed Definitely Went Unpunished

At some point, most collectors end up buying things against their will.  We've all had someone come up to us and say, "You're the pencil guy, right?  I've got something to show you . . ." and then we end up looking at something they are a lot more thrilled to show to us than we are to look at.

What I always try to remember in those circumstances is that while antique dealers are in the business to make a profit, they wouldn't be doing it if they did not get a sense of pleasure out of finding things that make people happy.   I figure, as I mention in the collecting section of The Catalogue, that if someone has taken the time to put something aside to show me, I'm going to take the time to appreciate the gesture and, unless the price is unreasonable, I'm going to buy what they are offering even if I'm not really interested.  If nothing else, I'll take the time to explain to the dealer what the piece is and how although I'd love to have it (sometimes it's a little hard to keep the straight face when I say this part) I would just have to pass this time.

After all, if this dealer finds a really spectacular piece next week, what I'd want that dealer to remember is to save it for me -- not that I'm the guy who never buys anything from him or her anyway.

This story started out as one of those stories.  One of the regular dealers from the Scott Antique Market still remembers me from a couple of years ago, when I was excited to find a few nice pens and pencils that I bought from him.  Every month since, when he sees me, he says "You're the pen and pencil guy, right?"   Unfortunately, most of the time he follows that with, "You know, I had a bunch of pens here this morning, and I sold them to someone.  They were really nice pens,  Don't remember what they were though."

Yeah.  I love hearing that.   But I've always managed to keep a pleasant face and say "Oh well, maybe next time you will show them to me?"

I thought maybe this time it had finally sunken in.  I arrived at his booth and he said to me, "Hey, I've got a pen to show you that you might be interested in."  He hands me a small box and I open it up to find this . . .

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



Monday, November 28, 2011

Adding a Bit More Balance to the Collection

At page 138 of The Catalogue, I illustrated what I thought was a fairly comprehensive set of the "rigid radius clip" Sheaffer Balance pencils, which date from around 1935 to 1940 . . .

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



Sunday, November 27, 2011

The Piercepen

It's early Sunday morning, and Janet and I are getting ready to head back for day two of the Scott Antique Market at the Ohio State Fairgrounds.  I don't have much time this morning to write, so I thought I would just introduce another of the "no-names" that I recently came across . . .

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



Saturday, November 26, 2011

A Conklin That May Be a Metal Duragraph

Metal Conklin pencils appear at pages 31 and 32 of The Catalogue and divide nicely into two groups:  the earlier design, patented by Harry P. Fairchild, and the later design, patented by C.N. Johnson.

And then there's this . . .

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



Friday, November 25, 2011

Ford's Junior Junior

In The Catalogue at pages 80 and 81, I include entries for the Ford's Deluxe, a rear drive, middle joint pencil measuring about 5 1/4 inches, and the Ford's Jr., which was a nose drive, middle joint pencil measuring 5 inches and made in some really wild colors.

And then came along this little guy . . .

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



Thursday, November 24, 2011

An Imperial to be Thankful For

Happy Thanksgiving, all!

This weekend is always a busy one, with family in town for the holiday and the Don Scott Antique Show starting tomorrow (more on that later).  We've got a full house, but things are still pretty quiet after playing euchre into the wee hours of the morning last night, so I've got a few minutes to post a nice find.

Those of you who are frequent flyers on ebay are probably familiar with the seller "speerbob," who in real life is my friend Robert Speerbrecher.  I've bought a lot of things from Bob over the years, and he's a very honest and reputable guy.  That doesn't mean, however, that we don't haggle, sometimes vigorously. When it comes to today's find, while we were in the midst of a good haggle someone else swooped in and hit the "buy it now" button, but Bob was willing to grant me the use of his picture. . .

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



Wednesday, November 23, 2011

A Different Keystone



On page 93 of The Catalogue, I illustrate three different examples of the Keystone, all of which are middle joint, nose drive pencils.   This example, a rear drive flattop, surfaced a couple weeks after The Catalogue went to press. . . .

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



Tuesday, November 22, 2011

More Stars and Moons for the Constellation

At page 49 of The Catalogue, there's a crude picture of the Epenco "Stars and Moons" pencils.  Truth be told, that picture was taken with my cell phone at the DC Supershow in August, because at the time I just couldn't swallow the price the fellow wanted for all three.  I don't even remember how much he said he wanted for them.  I think I was just having one of those guilty moments thinking about how much money I'd spent, how I should really be at my table selling stuff rather than shopping around, etc., etc.... anyway, they were the ones that got away at DC.

Fortunately, this fellow and I see each other at DC and Ohio every year, so in November, there he was, there they were, and I'd love to have tape recordings to compare our conversations from August and November, because I'm sure they were identical.  This time, however, when we got to the part where I was saying I thought that was just too much, and he was saying he couldn't take any less, at the end of that long pause I zagged instead of zigging and brought them home with me (for a little more than the price I listed in The Catalogue).  Here's a better picture of them now, taken with a better camera under controlled conditions . . .

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



Monday, November 21, 2011

Auction of the Century

For those who haven't been to the Ohio Pen Show in the first week of November, you should go.  It is my favorite show of the year, and I'm not just saying that because I live just half an hour or so away from the venue.  Besides having about the best selection of vintage writing instruments of any show, the atmosphere is just more relaxed and social than at the other big shows (well, I can't speak for LA, but certainly compared to DC and Chicago). 

One of the highlights of the Ohio Show each year is the auctions.  Saturday's auction is usually the one featuriing a wide variety of rare and mostly mint pens and other writing instruments, some of which sell for significant prices.

This story is not about that auction.

The other auction is held on Thursday night, and although the advertising doesn't call it such, it's more of a "parts auction" featuring lesser quality items, parts, and larger lots.  Many of the people who exhibit at the show like to buy these items for repair, restoration or simply to restock their parts bins.  That's usually where I find the pencils.

This year, there was only one lot I was going to bid on:  the "Eversharp Pencil Lot" . . .

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




Sunday, November 20, 2011

The Great Thing These Pencils Have in Common

Today I'm offering a pair of seemingly unrelated pencils, which are now forever linked in my mind by a single commonality. 

The first is a mid-1930s Eagle with the distinctive arrow clip that I theorize in The Catalogue is probably Canadian. The celluloid,a  mix of brown and red, is very unique among vintage pencils and could be said to be ahead of its time, since many fountain pens currently in production are made in acrylics using a very similar color pallate. . .

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



Saturday, November 19, 2011

The Amazing Karmo

"Karmo". . . for me, the name conjures up images of a sideshow magician who, regardless of the promoting, just isn't very amazing.  Or maybe a Buddhist superhero whose superpower is to make what goes around, come around. . . 

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



Friday, November 18, 2011

Rite-Rite Threadline: new finds from the Hopalong Cassidy Museum

I mentioned earlier that while Janet and I were communing with nature on our recent getaway at Salt Fork State Park (near Cambridge, Ohio), we saw the insides of antique stores a lot more than we saw the outside at Salt Fork . . . not that I'm complaining at all, mind you.  One afternoon, we ventured into downtown Cambridge to explore the sights, one of which was the combination 10th Street Antique Mall and Hopalong Cassidy Museum.  A Hopalong Cassidy Museum, we thought?  That's something we had to see!

(As an aside:  the museum is not as random as it sounds.  The star of the Hopalong Cassidy TV series from the 1940s and 1950s was William Boyd, who was born in Hendrysville, Ohio, near Cambridge, in 1895.)

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



Thursday, November 17, 2011

A Sheaffer that's flat in one too many ways

We will start today's article with a review of the evolution of the Sheaffer pencil, picking up with the introduction of Sheaffer's celluloid or "radite" models . . .

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



Wednesday, November 16, 2011

The one I didn't think I really wanted

We pen and pencil collectors drive the people that work in antique malls nuts.  We are always asking to look at things in locked display cases.  Most of the time, as soon as we see whatever it is close up we say "no thank you" and hand it right back.

Be honest, now -- how many times have you bought something you didn't really want just because you felt obligated to buy something after looking at things in seventeen different cases?

I thought that was going to be the case with this piece . . .

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



Tuesday, November 15, 2011

The pencil might have been longer - if it hadn't been in Iowa

Yesterday I mentioned stopping at an antique mall while I was in Indianapolis meeting Agent X for Operation Sheaffer Lead Display, and posted a teaser picture of the finds that came from there.  Since this one really stands out, I thought this would be the one I should start out with . . .

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



Monday, November 14, 2011

Leadhead's Lead: Part 2 (Janet gets the kitchen table back)

Yesterday's post was written in the wee hours of the morning on Sunday, while Janet was getting herself prettied up for our road trip to Indianapolis to meet the man who had a Sheaffer lead display cabinet for me to look at.  

The weather was calling for wind gusts of up to 40 mph, which from the relative shelter of eastern Ohio's Appalatian foothills is no big deal.  It was a different story out on Interstate 70 after we passed through Columbus and out onto the flatness that is western Ohio and Indiana - even driving in that long, straight line my steering wheel was oriented to the 11:30 position most of the way (10:00 when a really good belt would blow through). 

Webb's Antique Mall in Centerville, Indiana made for a nice rest stop on the way.  I've never found much in the way of pens or pencils there, and this trip was no exception.  But my wife, the glass collector, was in heaven and I did find a 1984 Detroit Tigers Championship commemorative mug for a friend of mine.

My meeting with our contact (I asked him if he wanted me to reveal his identity and he declined, so we'll call him "Agent X") was quite the cloak-and-dagger affair.  He lives northwest of Indy, and since I offered to drive out to pick up the Sheaffer case, he said he would meet me on the east side somewhere.  After Janet and I had picked our way through Webb's, I gave Agent X a call to tell him we were approaching "the drop zone," and we agreed to meet in the parking lot at an Arby's restaurant on Shadeland Avenue.

It wasn't until we rolled into the parking lot that I realized I forgot to tell Agent X I'd be wearing a yellow carnation, but since mid-afternoon on a Sunday is not peak eating time at Arby's, I assumed the man sitting in the only vehicle at the rear of the lot was our man Agent X.   I waved . . . he waved back . . . excellent!  Either we were all clear to do the deal, or Janet and I had just made a dinner date. 

Nope, we were clear.  Agent X dropped the tailgate on his truck and showed off "the goods."  He's a very soft spoken man, a woodworker primarily, who had bought this case about 10 years earlier, just as his passion for collecting all things Sheaffer was starting to fade.  It had become, in his words, a dust collector.   The $85 on which we had agreed prior to the drive out was very reasonable to me, but as I reached in my pocket for the cash, he insisted that I give him only $80 since we'd made the drive to Indy and spared him the shipping.  

Nice guy.  His collecting bug probably hasn't faded completely, since he did make the trek to Columbus for the Ohio show.  I hope we'll see more of him.

After a stop at a nearby antique mall in Indy (more on that later), Janet and I made our way home, pulling in well after dark.  That didn't stop me from diving in to stock the old chest, which I am proud to say now looks like this . . .

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



Sunday, November 13, 2011

Leadhead's Lead

At the Ohio Show this year, I decided to do something a little different.   I had an old Sheaffer lead display and I had recently come across a large stash of NOS Eagle and Faber-Castell leads, so I decided to load up the display, put sample leads with varying hardnesses into some pencils and let people try them out.  Here's what the display looked like . . .

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



Saturday, November 12, 2011

The Other Happy Madison

No, there will be no aging comedians from Saturday Night Live here.  Readers of The Catalogue will recall the Madison from page 98 . . .

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