Anniversary of the Pencil Patent
Jan tells me that this
is the birthday of the patented pencil. How she knows that is a mystery to me,
but I decided to share it with you.
The history of the
pencil is actually pretty interesting – especially why they are mostly painted yellow, but we’ll
get to that a bit later. It all began with the stylus in ancient Rome and used
by scribes on papyrus, an early form of paper.
Some of these were made with lead. We still often call them ‘lead’
pencils, which is not true since now most are made of non toxic graphite. These
early pencils were wrapped in string, but later they were placed in hollowed
wood sticks.
The birthplace of the first mass produced pencils was in 1662
in Nuremberg, Germany. America’s first wooded pencils were made in 1812 by a
cabinet maker named William Monroe. Interestingly though, Henry David Thoreau was known for his pencil making prowess. The
first mass-produced pencils were natural unpainted to show off the high quality
wood casings.
Around 1890 many manufacturers started painting pencils –
mostly a bright yellow. Today, a majority of writing pencils are painted
yellow. It seems that the best graphite
in the world came from China. In China the color yellow is associated with
royalty and respect, and the American pencil manufacturers wanted a special way
to tell people that their pencils contained Chinese graphite – thus, they
painted their pencils yellow.
I love all kinds of
writing instruments - pens
and pencils, especially mechanical pencils. Unfortunately, I only have one
pencil that I use for crossword puzzles. It travels from room to room with me
and sometimes it’s hard to remember where it is. Last birthday Jan gave me a 50
year supply of wonderful colored pens. My
birthday is in May and I’m hoping she will give me a 50 year supply of pencils.
I hope she remembers to be sure they all are #2s.
By Lois Jamieson
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