Zaners on Parade

I should be more dedicated to collecting Zaner-Bloser pencils.  They hail from Columbus, Ohio, my hometown, and they are goofy, which usually puts things squarely in my crosshairs.

But on the other hand, Zaner-Bloser was a one-trick pony when it came to making pencils.  There's one ultra-rare, ultra-desirable variant - the ones made by Parker blending the Parker Streamline Duofold with Zaner's unusual shape - that I haven't been able to track down, mostly because they cost hundreds of dollars when they surface.  I have a picture of Joe Nemecek's example pictured in The Catalogue.  

All the rest are along the same lines.  But lately, I have been finding some interesting variations. 

The examples in this first bunch all have painted wood barrels . . .

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

If only all "Student Pencils" were this nice!

When Carter comes to mind, this is usually what I'm thinking of.  These are the "coraltex" pencils.  Later "pearltex" pencils were every bit as elegant.  But the company also made "student" or utility pencils - here's one shown with a couple of earlier Carter's pencils (the utility pencil is the one on the bottom) . . .

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

The Award for "Least Inspiring Patent" Goes To . . .

One of the early Eagle's pictured on page 45 of The Catalogue is the No. 831 "Spear," a short, simple pencil that comes in black enamel over brass.  Since the book was published, I've run across a couple other variations.   The top one I was really excited to find, since it is the only one I've seen that has a patent date on it, instead of the typical "Eagle Pencil Co. New York" . . .

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

Lovejoy's Requiem

At the Scott Antique Market last month, I was browsing around a table when I found this in a box with a sign that read "$1 each".    It was a pretty slow show, and this was about the only dollar I spent during that visit, but it was a pretty good one.  This is a Dur-O-Lite, and one of the neat things about it is the advertising on the side . . .

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

Less Moore

Here's a picture of the Moore clutch pencil box set, from page 103 of The Catalogue, and Eversharp's adaptation of the same design to the Skyline form, from page 76.    The gold filled examples, and one of the Eversharp plastic ones I have, are marked with patent number 2,358,091, which was issued to Charles K. Lovejoy on January 22, 1944 and assigned to The Moore Pen Company.

The connection between the two wasn't easy to establish, before I'd found the metal Eversharp that was a dead ringer for the Moore.  On the plastic pencils, the last number of the patent is omitted, so it reads "235809."   Was it truly a mistake, or was Eversharp less than thrilled announcing to the world that it had licensed Moore's design?  I don't have an answer to that, but I am skeptical that it was an accident. 

I digress.  This article isn't about Eversharp.

At the Ohio Show last November, I dropped by the Pendemonium booth and found that Lovejoy's design was also adapted to a demi sized 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

One for the Most "Secure" Stockbroker

Stockbroker's pencils are a special breed.  Unlike the giant Eagle pencils, which were a ridiculously large novelty pencil, Stockbroker's pencils are ridiculously large expressions of many power.   They are nearly as unwieldly in the hand, and the lead is bigger than found anywhere else.  Some, like the Mabie Todd example I blogged about recently, are cast out of a brick of 14 karat gold. 

In short (no pun intended), stockbroker's pencils signify loud and clear, that the owner is overcompensating for something.

Which brings us to today's find, which Joe Nemecek turned up at the Baltimore show and allowed me to photograph . . .

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

Joe Beat Me Out This Time

Back on December 9, I provided closer views of the enamel-over-brass checking pencils made by Wahl Eversharp from 1922 until around 1929.   Unfortunately, I still haven't been able to track down a blue one.  However, at the Baltimore show, Joe Nemecek was showing off his loot to me on Sunday, and here's one of his finds . . .

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

Filling Out The Transitional Family

On March 1, I introduced a pair of Wahl Eversharp pencils that appear to be the "missing link" between Eversharp's flattop era and the Equipoised.  Of these, one had a side clip and the other had a "military clip" mounted high on the cap. 

At the Baltimore show, I tracked down a ringtop. . .

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

A Marvelusk Pencil

After spending all day Saturday at the Baltimore show, Janet and I decided to get an early start heading back to Ohio, so that we could enjoy the sights and stop off at some interesting places on the way.  One of the ones we made a point to see this time was the Hancock Antique Mall in Maryland.

Hancock lies right off of Route 68 where it dead ends into Route 70.   We pass by it every year on our way to and from the DC Supershow in August, and every time we see the billboard by the side of the highway, we think that we should stop next time -- because it seems that every time we pass that billboard it's either close to or after closing time.

This time,  however, we were driving past at around noon, so we decided to make a stop of it.    The Hancock exit is an overly complicated affair, and were it not for Janet's GPS, I'm sure I would have stopped more than once to get my bearings and ask for directions.   A few twists and turns later, and we found the large, grey metal building in which the mall is housed.  It even includes a pizza parlor, a couple of professional offices and a flea market, too. 

Well, the flea market and the antique mall were in the same space, with the fleas on one end and the antiques on the other.  The dividing line wasn't as sharp as you'd expect; however, as you worked from the antiques end closer and closer to the spectacle that is a flea market, the goods on display tended to degenerate from antiques to garage sale to, well, fleas.

On that border between the two, in a showcase full mostly of model trains, was 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

The Prettiest Eversharp Clip

Today I'm introducing another neat find from the Baltimore show, but before I introduce it I need to back up a few steps to show you why it's so neat. 

Here's a pair of Eversharp "Pacemakers" in blue, and an anodized black aluminum "white star guarantee" pencil from around 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

Just a Wee Bit Different

At the Baltimore show, Paul Erano had this little gem on his table.  What made this pencil stand out to me was the location of the trim bands.  Here is the same pencil shown alongside its closest relatives:

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

I Had to "Point" This Out

At page 46 of The Catalogue, I've shown a group of four Eagle "Hard Rubber and plastic 'Pointers.'"  While some are marked simply "Eagle Pencil Co.," some are unmarked entirely, and none bear the name "Pointer" nor bear the Pointer's patent date of February 7, 1922.   In short, I was sure these are Pointers, but I couldn't prove it.

That is, until this little gem surfaced a couple weeks ago . . .

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

Walpuski's "Ordinary Form of Pencil"

While I was researching the various patent dates found on early Eagle Stop Gauge pencils, I'd mentioned that the most difficult one to pin down was Charles Walpuski's patent from June 26, 1877.  It was tough to find because patent was for a formulation of lead, rather than for the pencil itself, so it wasn't indexed where you would expect to find it. 

Walpuski's idea was a pretty neat one:  if soluable dyes are mixed in with graphite and clay, a pencil using such lead writes normally on a dry surface.  Then, if you wanted to make a copy of what you'd written, all you needed to do was lay a moist piece of paper on the manuscript, which would cause the dyes to dissolve and transfer to the moist paper, which could then be pressed onto other sheets of paper to make copies. 

What is curious about Walpuski's patent is that while his patent has absolutely nothing to do with the pencil itself, he includes a drawing of one anyway.  In the text, he states, "The accompanying drawing represents one ordinary form of pencil in which my invention has been embodied."

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

Another One that Got Away: Mabie Todd Stockbroker

When I think about this pencil, I hope that it still exists . . .

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

One That Got Away: Parker Cobra

You can't win them all.

Most of the time, what you see here at the blog are the things that I've successfully chased down.  It's a lot easier to write about the things that are in my collection, since I don't have to negotiate with other people for permission to use their pictures or waste a lot of money shipping things back and forth. 

But sometimes, buying a pencil just doesn't pan out for one reason or another, whether the seller just wants too much money or I've just spent too much money for the day.   In the past, I've just had to content myself with the memory of "the ones that got away." 

I'm trying to get a little better about that.  At the Ohio Show last November, I actually had the foresight to bring my camera with me and thought to take pictures of some of the things that I just couldn't bring myself to take home with me.  No, I didn't have the foresight to photograph Cliff Harrington's Flamingo Deco Band pencil, and I'm still kicking myself that I didn't.

But when a fellow stopped me to show me this one and told me he wanted a thousand dollars for it, I did have the composure to remember my camera . . .

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

Lighter Pencil Week Part 5: Sure Fire

Some of these lighter pencils, like the Lite-O-Rite and the second generation Penciliters, are so graceful and well designed that you'd hardly know they were anything more than a beautiful pencil.  Others, like yesterday's Havalite, obviously have something going on under the top, but still retain some sense of proportion.

And then there's a few that look like a Volkswagen parked on a toothpick . . .

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

Lighter Pencil Week Part 4: Havalite

Sometimes I bid like a girl.  Most of the time, I'm all guy, checking the mechanisms, looking at the design and trying to figure out how it works. . . and then there's times when I just get this huge girly streak and say "oooh, that's pretty.  I don't think I have one in that color."  And I extend my pinky finger and delicately click on "buy it now." 

Today's story is one of those times.  I'll start with the guy part.  Here's the picture of the Havalite that shows up on page 88 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

Lighter Pencil Week Part 3: The Penciliter (second generation)

After World War Two, Ronson resurrected the "Penciliter" name and introduced a radically streamlined version of the product, for which the company applied for a design patent on June 7, 1947 (granted to Frederick Kaufmann on November 16, 1948 as Design Patent 151,771) . . .

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

Lighter Pencil Week Part 2: The Penciliter (first generation)

It seems a little ironic that Ronson, after first introducing the streamlined Lite-O-Rite, would take what appeared to be a giant step backwards with the gawky Penciliter, introduced around 1934.

If you are familiar with the Ronson Penciliter, you are probably thinking to yourself, "Gawky?  What's he talking about?  The only thing more streamlined than a Penciliter is maybe a Skyline pen."

Ah, you are thinking of the second generation of Penciliters.  The first generation was definitely not as graceful as anything that came either before it or after 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

Lighter Pencil Week Part 1: The Lite-O-Rite

Welcome to Lighter Pencil week, focusing on combination mechanical pencils and lighters!

To start things off, here's a "Lite-O-Rite" that surfaced at the Chicago Pen Show last spring in a bunch of other stuff I bought at one go.  It's also pictured on page 130 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

If I Had a Nickel for Every Nichols . . .

From the fuzzy picture on ebay, this looked like a perfect match for the pearl Nichols "monopoint" I blogged about a few weeks ago . . .

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

Tweeten Revisited

When Michael McNeil and I had agreed on a price for a large group of pencils he was interested in selling, what had me camped out at the mailbox wasn't any of the pencils that I "should" have been excited about.  No, the thing that had me ripping open the box like a kid at Christmas was another example of the Tweeten that came with the bunch, and it wasn't until I unwrapped it and compared it to the one I had that I noticed there were two variations . . .

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

Have a Keene Friday

When The Catalogue went to press, I didn't have a Keene to include in its pages.  Every time I had bid on one or seen one, someone else had swooped in and snapped it up.   Of course, two of them surfaced right after I published the book . . .

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

A Pioneer in Design

Most of the time, no matter what other interesting features a pencil may have, the barrel will be just plain old round.  Sometimes you'll find one that's faceted, and even more rarely, you'll find fluted barrels.

And then, every once in a blue moon, you'll find something 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

Here's One Rite Sexy Looking Pencil!

Michael McNeil from Northwest Pen Works recently sent me an email to let me know that he had too many darned pencils taking up space, and after he emailed me a picture of what was cramping his style I was glad to help him out with a little bit of breathing room around the shop.

Among the 55 or so pencils that I purchased from Michael was 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

I Won't Get Lost in the Woods with This One

A couple weeks ago, an unexpected package arrived on my doorstep from a friend.  Inside was no note, no explanation, only 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

Leadhead's Tread: Baltimore 2012 Show Report

Before this last weekend, neither Janet nor I had ever been to Baltimore, but we received a great introduction to the city when we decided to attend the second Baltimore Pen Show this year!   For such a new show, this one already has that warm, comfortable feeling, like attending a family reunion -- in a good way, that is -- I mean, the kind of reunion you'd have with family you like.

The Baltimore show is smaller than the other shows I regularly attend, but I don't like to use the word "small," because it sounds like a negative.  "Intimate" might be a better word to use.  I knew nearly all of the people who were in attendance, and since it was a smaller show, I didn't feel so rushed to see everything -- that meant I was able to spend much more time talking with people and catching up during the show.   I thought it was a good thing.

I should have taken shots during the show on Saturday, but I was pretty busy messing around with pencils.  Sunday morning I did take a couple pictures of the rooms in which the show was held . . .

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

Eversharp Week part 7: Joe Weighs in on Wafers

I recently posted about a Wahl "bumblebee" in teal, with the rare price "wafer" in lieu of a price sticker.  No sooner had the article published than my good friend Joe Nemecek entered the scene with a big "nuh uh" to my belief that the bumblebees were the only Wahls to sport these wafers.  Immediately, I knew a follow up article would be in order, as soon as Joe sent me a few pictures to show me what he meant . . .

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

Eversharp Week Part 6: Square 4 in Triplicate

I've pictured a variety of Eversharp's "Square 4" pencils at page 71 of The Catalogue, and I'll admit the assortment is a bit of a mess.  In fact, that photo is one of the original photographs I shot for my online museum in 2009, before I was very good at either (1) photography and (2) organization.

The "Square 4" pencils, introduced around 1937, were utility pencils with exposed erasers, named for the lead they were designed to use:  four inches long and square in shape.  There are so many varieties that it's easy to put together quite a collection just of these, and they are still so reasonably priced that you can have a whole lot of fun for not a whole lot of cash.

Recently I've picked up a few 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

Eversharp Week Part 5: Fraternal Twins

Can you tell the difference between these two pencils?

That's not a fair question, really, because the difference isn't visible from this angle.  Here's a shot of the tops . . .

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

Eversharp Week Part 4: The Other Transition

The dawn of the 1930s was a fascinating time in Wahl Eversharp's history.  Since Wahl had gotten into the business in 1917, the company had been producing pencils that almost universally used the same basic design, invented by Charles Keeran in 1913.  The Tempoint line of pens and pencils only dressed up Keeran's design in attractive new plastics.  By the end of the 1920s, while other manufacturers were introducing a wide variety of innovations, Wahl's product line was beginning to go stale. 

Looking at the company's history in a simplistic way, Wahl's next big move was the "Equipoised" line of pens and pencils, made more streamlined to reflect the dramatic impact the introduction of the Sheaffer Balance in 1929 had on the design of writing instruments industry-wide.  The Equipoised pencils featured an entirely new mechanism -- in fact, it was the only original pencil design Wahl ever came up with (remember that Eversharp's repeating pencil design was "lifted" from the Gilfred Corporation). 

At page 61 of The Catalogue, I illustrate three pencils in frame 7e that match the Tempoint pens of the late 1920s, but which instead use the mechanism that would later be used on the Equipoised line and also on the Doric series . . .

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