Ever Emblemed

This article has been edited and included in The Leadhead's Pencil Blog Volume 5; copies are available print on demand through Amazon here, and I offer an ebook version in pdf format at the Legendary Lead Company here.

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From what I recall, David Nishimura approached me with these several years ago at the DC show:

The outstanding feature on both is the fraternal emblems where you’d normally find the ball of the clip; the one on the left is a Masonic symbol, while on the right is the emblem of the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks:

The imprint on each is “Embleco,” and the clips are marked Pat. Pend.:

Although no federal trademark was registered, according to American Writing Instrument Trademarks 1870-1953, the book does contain excerpts from the Jewelers’ Circulars Trade-marks of the Jewelry and Kindred Trades from 1922, in which is found a listing for the Emblem Pencil Company of Providence, Rhode Island:

And, with absolutely nothing else to say, this one fell by the wayside, awaiting the day when I might have something more intelligent to say.  I thought that day came a couple years later, when I spotted this one online and hoped there might be a bit more I could glean from it:

It has a nice Elks emblem:

But I worried a bit about the cap – it’s a little different color, suggesting it might be a replacement.  This one had a different imprint, too, but there just wasn’t enough left of it to make out what it reads:

Finally, in the last few months, one came my way that added a bit to the story:

It doesn’t have a fraternal emblem, but that’s obviously what that flat spot on the clip is for.  Note the cap, which matches the sterling ones at the beginning of this article and appears to support my suspicion that the cap on that last one came from something else.  Unlike the other, this one has a nice, clear imprint:

Ever-Ready, Does this have anything to do with the Ever-Ready of Edison and American News Company fame (see Volume 2, page 67-70)?  I don’t know, but there’s one other thing to consider:

Barrel chasing is like a fingerprint – different manufacturers tended to use very distinctive patterns.  That’s the Ever-Ready alongside a DeWitt-LaFrance made “Signet.”   The two are nearly identical, with the exception that the pattern runs the other way.

And now, for an unrelated footnote concerning the Ever-Ready, I’ve always suspected these later Ever-Ready pencils were made by Eclipse:

The colors certainly look like they might be Eclipse . . . but there isn’t anything else that clearly ties these to Eclipse, and the Ever-Ready brand was handed off like a football so many times that absent something more conclusive, I’ve been loathe to speculate.

In the last couple weeks, an online bid brought home a side clip model, shown here alongside an Eclipse:

This side clip model answers two things, actually.  First, here’s confirmation that these were made by Eclipse: the clip is the Eclipse clip patented in 1923:

Note also the “E R” on the clip.   I’ve seen clips like these before, with no accompanying barrel imprint to help explain them.  I think Howard Edelstein had one on his table at the Ohio Show a few years ago (I also think I bought it, but I can’t lay my hands on it right now).  My best guess at the time was that it was some sort of British Commemorative piece, but I knew that wasn't right: if it stood for Elizabeth II Regina, it looks too early to celebrate a coronation in 1953.