This One's Got Something for Everyone

One of the questions Paul Erano asked me during my recent interview for the Pennant magazine was about how pencil collectors are different from pen collectors.  My response was that they are no more different than a Sheaffer collector is from a Parker collector; while a Sheaffer collector understands and appreciates a Parker collector's passion, Parkers just aren't a Sheaffer collector's cup of tea.

Among pencil collectors, there are a few cups of tea that rarely get shared.  I'm primarily a mechanical pencil guy -- I get a kick out of the goofy and complex varieties of machines designed to push lead out of a tube.  

I distinguish mechanical pencils from "leadholders," which in my mind are cases which grip a piece of lead but have no means other than gravity or the push of a finger to propel the lead.   Leadholders tend to attract the scientific and technical drafting types.  Check out http://www.leadholder.com/ for more information.

A third group of pencil fans are the wood pencil collectors.  At wood pencil shows, I'm told you can see displays of things built out of the pencils, like Lincoln Logs.  I've never been to one of these shows but I'm going to have to.

There's just not much overlap in the interests of mechanical pencils collectors, leadholder-philes, and wood pencil guys.  Any given pencil will usually appeal to only one out of the three groups. 

Except, perhaps, for 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