The Ruxton Multi-Vider

I’ve been wanting to write about the Ruxton for a long, long time. There are only two reasons I haven’t: (1) I didn’t think I was qualified to say anything intelligent, and (2) I haven’t had one cross my path. On the first count, I’m not sure I’m any further along than I was before; however, one finally did cross my path. 
　
This one was in that last mess of stuff that came from the estate of Edgar Nichols (inventor of the Tripoint, among other things). Figures, right? Of course Edgar Nichols had one of these.
Ruxtons are marked on the side opposite the clip with the "Ruxton Multivider" imprint . . .

NOTE:  This article is now included in the print version of The Leadhead's Pencil Blog, available anywhere you buy books, or also from The Legendary Lead Company.

To order, here's the link:  Volume 1 at Legendary Lead Company

Not Quite A Waterman

Here’s an interesting piece. I don’t remember where it came from.  The nose has the same style tip seen on many Waterman models of the 1930s, including the Patrician, Lady Patricia, Thorobred, Ink vue . . . the list goes on and on . . .

NOTE:  This article is now included in the print version of The Leadhead's Pencil Blog, available anywhere you buy books, or also from The Legendary Lead Company.

To order, here's the link:  Volume 1 at Legendary Lead Company

Odd Ducks

The Riedell, as the title of today’s article suggests, is an odd duck. It appears on page 126 of The Catalogue, and in addition to the fact that I’ve never had one in working condition, I can’t figure out how they ever did.

The internal workings look like they were designed by Dr. Seuss – here’s the picture from page 126 showing the tip removed . . .

NOTE:  This article is now included in the print version of The Leadhead's Pencil Blog, available anywhere you buy books, or also from The Legendary Lead Company.

To order, here's the link:  Volume 1 at Legendary Lead Company

Two Out Of 62 Ain't Bad

That lot of 62 "mostly advertising" pencils had one other great piece in it, shown here next to the one I had in the blue "clown" plastic typically found on Sheaffer Balance pencils.

It’s another Rite Rite "torpedo" pencil (that’s my description, not an official name), patented by Herbert H. Lang on August 22, 1933 (patent number 1,923,153), although he filed his patent application two years earlier, on August 27, 1931 . . .

NOTE:  This article is now included in the print version of The Leadhead's Pencil Blog, available anywhere you buy books, or also from The Legendary Lead Company.

To order, here's the link:  Volume 1 at Legendary Lead Company

Horses of Different but Familiar Colors

The title of the online auction was "Lot of 62 vintage mechanical pencils most have advertising" and there were three pictures: one showing the whole mess of 62, then one showing the top half of the heap and a third showing the bottom half of the heap. Sixty of them looked like the usual forties and fifties advertising pencils.

But then there were those last two . . .

When the package arrived, I hardly noticed there were sixty other pencils in those bags as I pawed through them like they were just more of the packaging. Eventually, I found the two that looked special, and yep, they sure were! Here’s the first one . . .

NOTE:  This article is now included in the print version of The Leadhead's Pencil Blog, available anywhere you buy books, or also from The Legendary Lead Company.

To order, here's the link:  Volume 1 at Legendary Lead Company

The Man Scorned

A few weeks ago, I was discussing the "Real Housewives of Minneapolis," and the determination with which Frank J. Vierling patented improvements to his wife Mary’s pencil design, the Dow. The last one of his patents along these lines, which he applied for on August 6, 1927, was the only one that identified an assignee: "Snap Point Pencil, Inc."

The existence of an assignee suggested that the pencil went into production at some point, although I’d never seen one. That changed in DC . . .

NOTE:  This article is now included in the print version of The Leadhead's Pencil Blog, available anywhere you buy books, or also from The Legendary Lead Company.

To order, here's the link:  Volume 1 at Legendary Lead Company

Swanky It Is!

Here’s one I’ve been meaning to write about for awhile, and one came my way through Frank Hoban and Michael Little in DC.

Now if you’re rolling your eyes, bear with me. Yeah, these tie-clip pencils epitomize the lounge lizards of the 1970s. I was given one as a birthday present when I was a kid, and even though I thought it was kind of neat, I could never bring myself to wear it in public, even with the clip-on ties I had to wear to church on Sundays.

But I wouldn’t bring these up if there weren’t a good story here.

This example is a little different in that it has a ruler on the side, and the measurements are also imprinted on the telescoping part . . .

NOTE:  This article is now included in the print version of The Leadhead's Pencil Blog, available anywhere you buy books, or also from The Legendary Lead Company.

To order, here's the link:  Volume 1 at Legendary Lead Company