After Rex

(Note: this is the second installment in a series about the John Holland Gold Pen Company.)

During the mid-1920s, The John Holland Gold Pen Company offered pencils which were made by the Rex Manufacturing Company of Providence, Rhode Island. Sometime prior to 1930 or 1931, Holland quit buying from Rex and began to offer pencils of the company’s own unique design. Even though these were more cheaply made, they nevertheless had a distinctive look that makes them very easy to spot in a lineup.

I found a couple Holland sets at the Ohio Show this year – you heard right, the Leadhead picked up a couple nibby things to go along with the pencils! Here’s the earlier of the two:

The box looks to be earlier than the set itself. Maybe Holland was going for the retro look – this is more Victorian than deco – but if history is any guide, my bet is that Holland was using up older boxes:

Here’s the set itself:

To learn more, this full article is included in The Leadhead's Pencil Blog Volume 3, 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.