One of the shadowy figures I’ve been researching for years is Samuel Kanner, the assignee of the original patent (and inventor of the improved patent) for the “Presto” repeater pencils. I even have his personal demonstrator Presto in my collection:
Doubtless it was Kanner behind the wheel, guiding his repeating pencils into the slimmer “Everfeeds” made by the Gilfred Corporation, eventually squaring off against Eversharp in the patent infringement case in which Gilfred claimed Eversharp stole his design for Eversharp’s repeating pencils (see “My Find of the Year” on December 31, 2011 at http://leadheadpencils.blogspot.com/2011/12/my-find-of-year.html):
From the top, that’s a later Presto, a Gilfred, an Everfeed, and an Eversharp Doric repeater. Unfortunately for Kanner, Eversharp won the infringement case in 1942, convincing the judge that since the Kanner mechanism wasn’t significantly different from a repeating mechanism patented in the nineteenth century, Kanner’s patent was therefore invalid.
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.
I know this is an old article but i stumbled upon it in an interesting manor you see i run a small business making plasma cut out signs and while looking up a family crest for a customer i got curious and typed in my last name just to see what came up and to my surprise i found a picture of a pencil with the name SAMUEL KANNER stamped into it and siting in my workshop i said to my self with some excitement "Thats my name!' and begun reading your article im writing this comment in hopes that i might be able to get a copy of the of the patent i think it would be something to have hanging on my wall a fellow entrepreneur that i share the a name with and he lived in the same state as me if Jon Veley reads this could you email me at samkanner08@gmail.com thanks!
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