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