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The amazing thing is that I didn’t break the darned thing trying to figure out how it worked, because I thought it was broken. That wire bail on the top pulls upward, but the pencil wasn’t advancing as I did. PB blaster and all the usual tools in my arsenal failed to move the mechanism inside . . . until I figured out this isn’t a magic pencil. The front twists to advance the nozzle, while the wire bail doesn’t do anything - it merely pulls out to act as an extender so the pencil fits better in one’s hand:
There’s a great horse’s head motif on the barrel:
But the real reason I scooped this one up is the manufacturer’s imprint at the top end:
“Pat. Apl’d For / John Foley.” There’s no pencil patent like this issued or assigned to John Foley listed in American Writing Instrument Patents 1799-1910; perhaps Foley acquired the rights from someone else or, since the only unique feature about this pencil is the wire loop as a simple extender, perhaps that innovation wasn’t unique enough for a patent to be issued.
This is the first time I’ve seen a pencil marked with the John Foley name – the Foleys (first Senior, succeeded in business by his son Junior) were more well known for gold dip pens and the like. Jim Marshall recently republished an 1875 John Foley catalog, including his comments and thoughts; a page of pencils is included, but as this is the first I’ve seen that was marked with the Foley name, I’m inclined to believe they offered primarily unmarked pencils and combination pen/pencil holders supplied by jobbers.
I am so excited to see this post! My grandfather collected pens and pencils and I have this John Foley pencil as well with a different animal motif. I also thought it was broken. Thanks to you I was able to extend the wire and twist the nozzle...though something still doesn't seem quite right. Thank you so much!!
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