Only the Lonely

Here are some "singleton" (as single-birth puppies are called) pencils that have never had their moment in the sun because they are alone, the sole representatives of their type in my pencil collection.  They aren't really lonely, I keep them together in the Miscellaneous box, but they're like only children, or orphans, even.

I like the carmel color of this swirl-celluloid, but, oops, the clip is broken.  It is a 1.1 mm lead pencil with middle drive.  That might be an N on what's left of the clip, possibly for Netop.  It works well, and although brassed, bitten, and scratched, it carries on with its job.

Another 1.1 mm lead middle-drive pencil is this green Wearever.  The black and white striped top is its special feature, and the press clip is sturdy and untarnished.  It is a humble, unobtrusive worker-bee pencil.  I filled it with green lead, and enjoy doodling green leaves and vines with it.

Salz Brothers of New York made this cream lustre celluloid pencil, called a Stratford.  That sounds faintly Ivy League, but it's a workaday 1.1 mm lead, nose-drive pencil, with a press clip.  I like the pierced-design center band that these Salz pencils have, and this one's "brass" is in good condition.  It works smoothly, but has a light, insubstantial feel.

This one is really an orphan--no name at all.  A middle-drive, with 1.1 mm lead, it also has a press clip in the black celluloid top part, while the bottom is white marble.  The "brass" is sound, and the mechanism works well.  It has a somber look--a pencil in evening attire.

The flip side is this Ritepoint from St. Louis, Missouri, which is mostly white marble and just a little black Bakelite.  Ever since giving my dad the QEII pencil for Father's Day, I have been noticing Ritepoints.  (See my blog Getting There is Half the Fun! )  It has a washer clip, drive-tube twist mechanism, and the top comes off to reveal an eraser.  It uses 1.1 mm lead, and has an imprint in the Bakelite section.  It's a nice, solid pencil.

Finally, here is an Osborne pencil in yellow marble.   Its clip is part of the gold-tone top jewel, and is streamlined and modern.  The lead is the post-1938 0.9 mm, and to help you remember that, it has a 9 stamped on the center band.  Made in Clifton, New Jersey, this pencil has a fine, hefty feel, and a smooth middle-drive mechanism.  It lacks the black and white striped top (as seen on the green Wearever, above) that many Osbornes have.  With its cheerful color, I doubt it will remain lonely for long.

Pencil Sketch--Chair

Welsh or Irish handmade chair

Petite and Silver

When I started this blog, I never imagined I would discuss fashion so often!  But I have developed a taste for ladies' pencils, and they just naturally remind one of the days of hats and gloves, when people other than British royalty dressed more formally. These petites are more dressy than the flashier marble pencils.  They were fashion accessories in their own times, and fit the fashions of the period.

Grey is the new black, so I heard tell.  Here is a Ketcham and McDougall pin-on 4 inch pencil with retractable chain.  These are nose drive pencils, but the mechanism works perfectly.  This one probably dates to the late 1930s/early 1940s as it is celluloid, not plastic.

This is my first sterling silver Sheaffer, a bell-top (with ring) rear-drive pencil with ornate floral engraving, circa 1920-1925.  It is a tiny 3 & 1/2 inches long.  The flowers appear to be wild roses--the state flower of Iowa, where this pencil was made. It is attached to a pin-back Ketcham and McDougall accessory holder.

Another sterling rear-drive ring-top pencil, 4.25 inches, made by Wahl Eversharp, with leaf and flower design.  It probably predates the Sheaffer pencil by a few years.  It has a Doric column-capital top.

Finally, a Lady--the name for a Sheaffer "Tuckaway" 4 inch twist pencil with the thin center-band.  It is striated silver and black celluloid with the petite clip and snub-nosed point that all the "Tuckaways" have.  It sold for $3.50 between 1942 and 1947.  Think suits with shoulder pads.

Pencil Sketch--Welsh Quilt

Welsh Quilt with Flounce 

So Marmoreal!

So many celluloid pencil cases are of "marble" design that I wanted to ponder marble a little.  The word comes from the Greek word marmaros, meaning "shining stone."  It was a symbol of immortality in Greek mythology, but in reality, marble is not that hard, it is soft enough to sculpt, and is prized for statuary. It can be eaten away by acid rain and pollution.  Pure marble is white; it is metamorphosed from limestone (calcium carbonate, thus the acid problem), but when things like minerals, clay, silt, and sand are layered with the limestone, colors and swirls of pattern are produced, as in these examples, below.

Fascinating patterns and colors were formed out of celluloid to mimic marble, and fairly successfully, too. Things that are marble-like are called "marmoreal."  Below are two Sheaffer Balance pencils of grey marble with red veining, from 1934-35.

This American News Company marble is yellow-gold with grey veining.

Two more Balances in black and yellow-green marble are shown with an unidentified all-white marble pencil.

An earlier Sheaffer bell-top pencil from the 1920s (below) shows a fine-textured type marble in emerald green, very attractive on this large, weighty, rear-drive example.

Of course, there is also this kind of marble, named for the stone they resemble, but made of glass.

And finally, the biggest marble of them all.

Something to ponder.

Balance in Transition

I needed another Sheaffer Balance like I needed a hole in the head, as my grandfather used to say.
However, as Shakespeare wrote in King Lear, "Reason not the need."  When this Balance in a color of marble I did not own showed up, I nabbed it.  But I also got a bit of a mystery along with it.

This is a color of marble called "ebonized pearl," introduced in 1934, which is black with the appearance of chips of mother of pearl floating in it.  Unlike other Balances of celluloid marble, it has a plain black tip and top.  As far as I can tell, all of the "ebonized pearl" Balances have the same black ends.  That's a mystery for another day.

It is marble, and it has the "lifetime warranty" center band of 1934-35, so it should also have a flattened ball clip, but it does not.  Mysteriously, it has a "rigid radius" clip usually only found on the striated celluloid pencils from 1936 to 1940.  It is 4 & 3/4 " and uses 1.1 mm lead.  It has the imprint that includes Sheaffer's patent number.  It has the longer clip, like my "rose glow" striated Balance, which also has 1.1 mm lead and the patent number imprint.

I'm going to call the "ebonized pearl" pencil with the later clip a Balance in transition.  You can imagine that when they changed to the new clip, they may have had some marble cases left to put them on.

More transitions were slated for the Sheaffer Balance.  Below are two more striated Balances, but on these the rigid radius clip is shorter, and there is no patent number on the imprint, but instead the 350 cost number. They use thinner 0.9 mm lead, which according to Wikipedia was introduced in 1938.  It's possible the shorter clips were introduced along with the thinner lead. Perhaps they changed the imprint at the same time to show the retail price.  New clip, new imprint, and new lead size--it was like a new Balance.

And that's the long and the short of it!

Pencil Versus Pen

As a new pencil collector I can't help but notice a certain attitude in the collecting world that pencils are a lesser collectible than fountain pens.  It's almost as extreme as antique German dolls versus antique French dolls.  Okay, I grant you that the pen is mightier than the sword, but is it really mightier than the pencil?

There are some issues to explore, and I think the main issue is permanence.

• pencil writing is erasable; pen writing is not
• pencil writing indicates you can change your mind; pen writing shows your ideas are immutable
• pencil writing is temporary; pen writing is permanent--kind of like renting versus owning
• pencil writing is for first drafts; pen writing is for final copy

Another issue is who uses pencils versus who uses pens in their occupations: pencil users are architects, builders, engineers, editors, teachers, journalists, novelists, poets, artists, and students while pen users are bankers, lawyers, judges, executives, presidents, administrators, doctors, law-makers, celebrities, and others who sign things in ink.

Maybe pencil users are more flexible, while pen users never waver; maybe pencil users can accept mistakes and change more readily, while pen users think carefully before they act.  Could it be as simple as right brain versus left brain?  Not really, because the truth is that most people need both sides of their brain, and most people need pencils and pens, to do what they do in the world.  Rather than the great divide, a total separation, it's really a marriage of two different but equally necessary writing instruments.  

Maybe that's why pen and pencil sets were so universally popular.  Like my Sheaffer Triumph Crest set (see my blog "They Were Always Together" ).

But don't try to tell me that this Waterman # 3 fountain pen is somehow better or finer than my new Waterman Thorobred pencil.

Thanks to Peyton Street Pens for their image.

Pencil Sketch--Colored Pencil Trio

Hawk, Owl, and Crow

colored pencils

Portable

Mankind, and, of course, womankind, has always liked the idea of taking our things with us, and when we invented writing instruments, they became something we wanted to carry about, too.  Men have had pockets for centuries now, but women have not always been so blessed by the fashion trends of our time.  I'm not going to rant about that, even though it is ridiculous and unfair, because handbags fill the bill pretty nicely and offer a lot of possibility for fashion statements.  They're practical, and can even be effective weapons, as Nora Batty has shown us.

But you don't carry a handbag in the house, unless, possibly, you are Queen Elizabeth, and your house happens to be a palace or castle.

When fashion provided no pockets, women had to carry their pencils and pens some other way.  One of these was the sautoir, a French term for a ribbon with a hook or clasp. They were improved upon to be adjustable, and to fasten in the back, thus preserving one's hairstyle. This one was given as a premium by Needlecraft magazine in the 1910s.

This is an actual vintage sautoir.

Another idea for carrying pens, pencils, or other indispensable items was the pin-on clasp with retractable chain or cord.  The New Jersey company of Ketchem & McDougall manufactured these for many years, with various decorations including engine turning, like this one.

Ringtop pens and pencils were made specifically to attach to these sort of ribbons or pins.

Portability is still a popular concept, even though the technology of writing has vastly altered.

Pencil Sketch--Eisteddfod

Eisteddfod Scene