Prequel: Let's Make That Birth, Death and Transfiguration

While I was researching the Triad articles that posted here recently, I stumbled upon a little detail that I thought was just an interesting side note to the Triad saga.  I was suspecting that there may be a connection between the Tri-Pen Manufacturing Company and another Providence, Rhode Island company: the Rex Manufacturing Company.

For a long time, I have championed the Rex as the great-granddaddy of so many brands of pencils. The example I have pictured on page 125 of The Catalogue is pretty tired, but until recently it was the only one I had seen:

It’s kind of hard to tell from what’s left of this poor thing, but there’s a whole gaggle of pencils that were spawned from this design. Here’s just a few:

To learn more, this full article is included in The Leadhead's Pencil Blog Volume 2, available at Amazon, Barnes & Noble and everywhere else you buy books, or you can order a copy signed by yours truly through the Legendary Lead Company HERE.