Here's One Rite Sexy Looking Pencil!

Michael McNeil from Northwest Pen Works recently sent me an email to let me know that he had too many darned pencils taking up space, and after he emailed me a picture of what was cramping his style I was glad to help him out with a little bit of breathing room around the shop.

Among the 55 or so pencils that I purchased from Michael was this 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

I Won't Get Lost in the Woods with This One

A couple weeks ago, an unexpected package arrived on my doorstep from a friend.  Inside was no note, no explanation, only this . . .

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

Leadhead's Tread: Baltimore 2012 Show Report

Before this last weekend, neither Janet nor I had ever been to Baltimore, but we received a great introduction to the city when we decided to attend the second Baltimore Pen Show this year!   For such a new show, this one already has that warm, comfortable feeling, like attending a family reunion -- in a good way, that is -- I mean, the kind of reunion you'd have with family you like.

The Baltimore show is smaller than the other shows I regularly attend, but I don't like to use the word "small," because it sounds like a negative.  "Intimate" might be a better word to use.  I knew nearly all of the people who were in attendance, and since it was a smaller show, I didn't feel so rushed to see everything -- that meant I was able to spend much more time talking with people and catching up during the show.   I thought it was a good thing.

I should have taken shots during the show on Saturday, but I was pretty busy messing around with pencils.  Sunday morning I did take a couple pictures of the rooms in which the show was held . . .

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

Eversharp Week part 7: Joe Weighs in on Wafers

I recently posted about a Wahl "bumblebee" in teal, with the rare price "wafer" in lieu of a price sticker.  No sooner had the article published than my good friend Joe Nemecek entered the scene with a big "nuh uh" to my belief that the bumblebees were the only Wahls to sport these wafers.  Immediately, I knew a follow up article would be in order, as soon as Joe sent me a few pictures to show me what he meant . . .

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

Eversharp Week Part 6: Square 4 in Triplicate

I've pictured a variety of Eversharp's "Square 4" pencils at page 71 of The Catalogue, and I'll admit the assortment is a bit of a mess.  In fact, that photo is one of the original photographs I shot for my online museum in 2009, before I was very good at either (1) photography and (2) organization.

The "Square 4" pencils, introduced around 1937, were utility pencils with exposed erasers, named for the lead they were designed to use:  four inches long and square in shape.  There are so many varieties that it's easy to put together quite a collection just of these, and they are still so reasonably priced that you can have a whole lot of fun for not a whole lot of cash.

Recently I've picked up a few that are worthy of note . . .

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

Eversharp Week Part 5: Fraternal Twins

Can you tell the difference between these two pencils?

That's not a fair question, really, because the difference isn't visible from this angle.  Here's a shot of the tops . . .

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

Eversharp Week Part 4: The Other Transition

The dawn of the 1930s was a fascinating time in Wahl Eversharp's history.  Since Wahl had gotten into the business in 1917, the company had been producing pencils that almost universally used the same basic design, invented by Charles Keeran in 1913.  The Tempoint line of pens and pencils only dressed up Keeran's design in attractive new plastics.  By the end of the 1920s, while other manufacturers were introducing a wide variety of innovations, Wahl's product line was beginning to go stale. 

Looking at the company's history in a simplistic way, Wahl's next big move was the "Equipoised" line of pens and pencils, made more streamlined to reflect the dramatic impact the introduction of the Sheaffer Balance in 1929 had on the design of writing instruments industry-wide.  The Equipoised pencils featured an entirely new mechanism -- in fact, it was the only original pencil design Wahl ever came up with (remember that Eversharp's repeating pencil design was "lifted" from the Gilfred Corporation). 

At page 61 of The Catalogue, I illustrate three pencils in frame 7e that match the Tempoint pens of the late 1920s, but which instead use the mechanism that would later be used on the Equipoised line and also on the Doric series . . .

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