I’ll wager that not too many products have been marketed with the likenesses of both King Maximilian II and George Washington.

The box notes that the pencils were patented April 3rd, 1860.

“Adapted to the use of schools and colleges,” the seven pencils range in grade from HHH to BB:

Amazing condition:

Berolzheimer, Illfelder & Co.:

Note that unlike the A. W. Faber pencils, the narrow side of the rectangular lead is adjacent to the glued internal side of the pencils:

The Polytechnic seems to be a direct competitor and response to the Polygrade. This particular set has survived in amazing shape.

My thanks to Bob for sharing these images.

Lothar von Faber’s Polygrade is a historically important pencil. Launched in 1837, and sold until the early 20th century, the product offered pencils in a system of standard grades, and established the Faber name globally. The pencils were also the first by Faber to use the Conté/Hardmuth process of blending graphite with clay, an improvement over the use of raw graphite.

The particular box we see here is rather ornate, and reflects the price and status of the Polygrade pencils in the 19th century. 1851, 1853, and 1855 prizes are mentioned on the box. The pencils within are additionally stamped “E. Faber 133 William St. NY”. Eberhard Faber is known to have departed that address in 1877, so the pencils can probably be dated from 1855 to 1877, placing them closer to Faber’s 1761 establishment than the present. (2011 is Faber-Castell’s 250th anniversary.)

A metal push button mechanism to open the box is still functioning:

Eight of the original set of ten remain. All are a bit worse for wear. The imprints of the softer grades are the best preserved.

The inside cover mentions, in French and English, the pencil grades:

BBBB and BBB: very soft and very black
BB: soft and very black
B: soft and black
F: less soft and black
HB: middling
H: hard
HH: harder
HHH and HHHH: very hard

We would call these 3B and 4B today:

Though quite faded, the imprints are beautiful:

The patina of the wood is certainly no less attractive due to the age.

The previous owner performed some nice hand sharpening:

What is perhaps most interesting is the other end of the pencil: these pencils have rectangular leads, and use the historic construction method of placing the square lead in a square cavity, then gluing on the remaining third of the pencil. This was the technique used prior to the use of sandwich slats.

Note as well that the leads vary in size – just like modern quality pencil sets, the cores of the softer grades are larger.

Do they still write? Of course they still write! On a toothy paper meant for charcoal or pastel:

And the HB on a good quality writing tablet:

Well over a century after their manufacture, these pencils continue to impress.

Further reading and references:

The Pencil, A History of Design and Circumstance by Henry Petroski, has many references to this pencil. Two chapters in particular are relevant. Chapter 6, “Does One Find or Make a Better Pencil?”, discusses the history of pencil construction, and Chapter 11, “From Cottage Industry to Bleistiftindustrie”, focuses on the establishment of the pencil industry, driven by the Faber family and products such as the Polygrade.

Eberhard Faber’s Pencil Factory by Mary Habstritt at Archive of Industy. (PDF format.) A nice three page summary of the history of Eberhard Faber business.

Eberhard Faber Pencil Company Historic District Designation Report at City of New York. (PDF format.) Though officially about a municipal zoning matter, the report has an excellent history of the Eberhard Faber company, and is illustrated with maps and many photos of the historic Eberhard Faber buildings.

The lid has some compelling graphics:

Half a century old, only the design indicates the age of these pencils:

The “A” in “STAEDTLER” appears to be formed like a compass. As well, reflecting the manufacturing processes of the era, there are slight surface differences between specimens.

An element I love is the HB grade mark in vibrant gold colour. It is serious but not fanciful, like the painted gold markings that were once typically applied to wood surfaces such as office doors and library card catalogues.

The factory sharpening, just like the modern version, is the best in the industry, with no “scrape marks” along the wood.

Take a close look. Even the smallest graphical details are impressive.

Overall, a classic pencil.

Are “MARS” and “LUMOGRAPH” rendered the same way?

For me, the caps are a continuing delight:

A comparison with the modern version. In case you didn’t notice, this photo should make clear that the 2886 is a “left-handed” imprint, in contrast with the standard “right-handed” 100.

Does anyone prefer the modern look?

A small delight after all these years is to find a paper insert.

Slightly withered, it presents pencil grade recommendations for eleven different professions.

I have tried and tested the 2886, and find it to be extremely similar to the modern 100 in graphite function and erasure. Given the half century between the manufacture of the two pencils, this demonstration of Staedtler’s ongoing commitment to their product excellence is remarkable.

The paper flaps have all sorts of fascinating information about the MARS line. I like the list of the “most important” products:

The pencils, finished in black, perhaps have less show than we might expect, yet still look great:

The seams of this box have largely disintegrated:

One side of the bottom has a label:

While the box itself has some nostalgic appeal, a gem is hidden on the inside lid:

Notice the “since 1662″ phrase also. Staedtler now claims an 1835 origin.

The tins of pencils are themselves quite something:

I am glad to see the artist’s initials, “W.H.”

Due to the relatively large size of these images, I’ll wait until the next post to show the inside of the box.

The box shows many signs of age. The half gross of 2830 pencils are in the K3 grade.

Despite many advancements in the ability to render images, modern graphics are less detailed than this 20th century beauty:

The box has some printed material:

No complaints necessary! We love these pencils.

Also an ad for a sharpener:

Unfortunately an overhead tree took away some of the focus:

The gold trim is very nice:

Nice lettering:

The insert is beautiful, and could probably be made into an excellent bookmark if printed on heavier paper:

The bottom piece of paper has tables of pencil grade recommendations:

I hope some further information will come to light.

After mentioning the modern Mirado, I remembered that I had a vintage box of Eagle Mirados laying around.

Those with Eagle eyes will note that the original half-gross box appears to have an invited guest:

The pull out tab helps to access the pencils, yet I guess I never pulled it all the way.

It has a bonus!

No kidding – the Eagle Pencil Company offered handwriting analysis for ten cents. Their graphologist, Dorothy Sara, appears to have written a number of books on the subject.

Ten cents seems pretty good for getting to know “your inherent talents, your virtues, and also your faults.”

The box also tells us what a “True Medium” is. No doubt related!

The pencils, given their age, have very nice imprints:

My thanks to isu for linking “Globe” with “Chikyu”. Here are some vintage Chikyu 8380 pencils. You can observe the globe logo. The pencils are bound in twine, and enclosed in a cardboard box.

Though 2H is too hard a grade for my typical pencil use, they were difficult to resist. I’m not going to find these at the local market!

I regret that I can’t say much about the manufacturer. Defunct? Merged?

Along with the IBM Electrographic pencil, IBM also manufactured lead for mechanical pencils.

The box is inscribed on the side:

“For Electrical Mark Sensing
For Marking IBM Test Scoring Machine Answer Sheets and IBM Mark Sensed Cards”

The bottom contains these instructions:

“To Make Electrically Conductive Pencil Marks

Mark with firm pressure on a sharp point. Keep the point sharp by turning the pencil after each mark. This will produce dense black marks, in which the particles of graphite deposited by the lead are so firmly packed that electricity can pass from one end of the mark to the other.”

The box itself has a wooden frame, and appears quite sturdy. I’m lucky enough to now have a few 0.9mm mechanical pencils, but these leads are 1.18mm, and my sole pencil that can take this diameter is a Yard-O-Led.

Unfortunately, the Yard-O-Led requires a Master’s degree in pencilology to change the lead. (And some people complain about the inconvenience of sharpening woodcase pencils!) Still, past practice likely helped, and I succeeded in the challenge.

I don’t know what results a few decades spent in the box might have had, but just like the woodcase pencil’s lead, the line drawn is remarkably rich, smooth, and black. Not just a darker grade, as in 4B vs. HB, but more luminescent as well.

The combination is nice, and the thick lead and dark line just might cause me to start using the Yard-O-Led pencil on a regular basis.

A very nice historical item.

A brighter than average yellow pencil – the Eberhard Faber Marigold 240.

It was one of perhaps hundreds of brands once made by Eberhard Faber.

You never know what a small city art supply store will offer. Last weekend, I found some pencils for sale from a long defunct Connecticut pencil manufacturer.

Ruwe Pencil Co. was purchased by Dixon in 1988, and I had only heard of them from collecting sites like Brand Name Pencils, so it was surprising to see some Ruwe pencils for sale at retail.

This pencil, the 205 No. 7S, is a “Polyester Drafting Film” pencil. For those of us (including myself) who don’t regularly work with specialty architectural and drafting films, this is a type of matte surface film with a number of properties that support drawing. You can see it for sale at Dick Blick for example. Staedtler and others do mention that their pencils work on drafting film.

The pencil also has markings from Keuffel and Esser, an engineering and drafting supplies firm. Perhaps the pencil was made for them.

A page at the Smithsonian website suggests K&E’s demise was in 1969, so this pencil might be much older than 1988.

A nice link to the past for only thirty cents.