It is a sterling silver-plated 4 inch rear-drive pencil with curlicue decoration on the cap, which pulls straight off for an eraser enclosure. It can be dated to 1919-1922 from the "STERLING PATENT PENDING" inscription. It is also marked "Superite, MAKERS DeWitt-LaFrance Co.,CAMBRIDGE, MASS." One hundred years later, it still works well.
I like to think of these two entrepreneurs working in Cambridge, a place I know and appreciate. It is the quintessential university/college town, with outlets for all the intellectual and cultural pursuits one could wish for, as well as much more. There is literally ivy on the ivy league university buildings.
Harvard is there, as well as Radcliffe--history oozes from every paving stone. Daily walking over those stones by the old cemetery, an earlier idea of mortality is thrust upon you. Memento mori!
Perhaps one of the Radcliffe students purchased and used this pencil in Cambridge, wearing it on a ribbon to class.
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| Radcliffe class of 1923 |
For my earlier blog on the DeWitt-La France Company, use this link:
