The Blackfeet Indian Pencil revisited
It’s almost two years ago that I wrote about the Blackfeet Indian Pencil. It remains one of the most popular posts at pencil talk.
While a lucky few were able to buy this pencil at retail, it never broke into mainstream distribution channels. The picture above shows some hand made ceramics that were sold along with the Blackfeet pencils in the early 1990s via specialty catalogs. Since a lot of people are interested in the culture around the pencil, this bit of context seemed relevant.
I recently gave the Blackfeet Nation offices a call to see if there is any news about their beloved product.
It’s not good. The Blackfeet Writing Instruments factory has been fully converted to another use, and all the pencil making equipment removed. With the machinery gone, a revival of the pencil isn’t even a remote possibility anymore.
The company was founded in 1972, and sold by the Blackfeet Nation to a private firm in 1992. In 1997, sales were a mere 27,000 pencils [1]. That’s probably a minuscule fraction of the number sold by the large firms. I’m not sure when they folded, but it seems to be around 2000.
They are sadly missed.
[1] Indian Country Today, March 20, 2000 An informative article.
October 10th, 2007 at 12:40 pm
Thank you for sharing information about that pencil.
Only 27,000 pencils! Only 2,250 dozens!
Oh, it will really be a hard decision that sharpening one of that pencil.
But well, if I could get one, I want to sharpen, and use it.
November 7th, 2007 at 1:52 am
Kent, I have several and a box to sell. godanov at gmail.com
Brandon
May 4th, 2008 at 1:15 pm
I used to use these pencils as incentives when I was a substitute teacher. The kids loved them. 1n 1987 I could get three for 56c at K-Mart. I still have a couple. A shame that they are gone now.
I can’t believe that they sold so few– when I bought so many!!
June 3rd, 2008 at 9:23 am
Blackfeet Indian pencils sure do bring back some memories! When I went to Catholic elementary school in the late 70’s and early 80’s, we used to sell these pencils as a fundraiser every year.
July 28th, 2008 at 11:55 pm
I have a box of 18 of them.
Nifty little pencils, I wonder how much they’d go for on ebay.
August 10th, 2008 at 8:35 pm
I’m sad. I bought a box more than 10 years ago, and I still occasionally find individual pencils from that set here or there when I go through a drawer or box of odds and ends. My daughter is going off to kindergarten in a few days, and I have managed to track down a couple of my old Blackfeet pencils to send with her, but I had hoped to be able order more online. What a shame. Those were the finest pencils I have ever used. Why have we as a nation sold our souls for cheap foreign crap? There is something to be said for quality craftmanship. Plus, I would rather know that my money is going to a well-deserving American tribe instead of some greedy Asian sweatshop tycoon.