The pencils of Colombia

As mentioned last week, futural kindly sent pencil talk some other pencils in addition to the Mongols. Let’s take a look!

The pencils of Colombia

First, we have what appear to be more Mongols – except – the top pencil uses slightly different fonts than the Eberhard Faber Colombia Mongols, and is sold in unmarked packaging. Is it a fake? The second is imprinted “Made in Phil.” – a Philippines (Amspec presumably) Mongol that crossed the Pacific to Colombia.

The pencils of Colombia

The Mongol style is widely emulated in Colombia. Take a look at these pencils:

The pencils of Colombia

The Pointer (from China) is marked “Woodclinched” just like an Eberhard Faber pencil:

The pencils of Colombia

And the GEMA Chequeo red pencil, sporting a Mongol style ferrule. Here it is seen with a red Papermate Colombia Colorchek. (The Colorchek came to me via Argentina, thanks to blog reader dasmarians.)

The pencils of Colombia

Newell Rubbermaid also has a presence. The “Made in Columbia” PaperMate Mirado:

The pencils of Colombia

Unfortunately, yet another closed pencil plant. The ones marked “Colombia” are presumably older stock.

The pencils of Colombia

A familiar name, Eagle:

The pencils of Colombia

A Chinese manufactured Zeppelin whose ferrule is made to resemble a Venus Velvet:

The pencils of Colombia

Kores – a new name to me, yet a search reveals it to be an Austrian firm dating from 1887! This pencil was manufactured in Mexico.

The pencils of Colombia

Finally, a well known name, though not necessarily for woodcase pencils:

The pencils of Colombia

My sincere thanks to futural for kindly sending a number of really interesting pencils this way. So far, I’ve sharpened a Mirado, and am appreciating it very much.

8 Replies to “The pencils of Colombia”

  1. Interestingly, as with “Blackwing”, the trademark for “woodclinched” has also lapsed (though I’m not certain that anyone checked before using it on the Pointer).

  2. Great post! I have some Mexican Mirados that are triangular and have ferrules like these. Unlike the ones we can buy in the US (and elsewhere?) with the crimped ferrules, the Mexican and Colombian varieties seem to be glued (?) on — makes for a second-take when you first look at that smooth metal.

  3. Fascinating. I am intrigued by the very name of Zeppelin pencils as well as by those Pelikans! (I have never seen Pelikan no. 2 yellow pencils in Germany.)

  4. All, thank you for the comments.

    Adair, given that Pelikan purchased Herlitz about two years ago – I keep expecting a new pencil line, but it hasn’t appeared.

    Vikram, good catch. I have no idea. Hmmm.

  5. I found your site (very interesting!) while trying to satisfy a nostalgic curiosity. I remember using pencils in elementary school (c. late 1980s) that were striped (vertically) yellow and black. Would you happen to know who manufactured/es those? I know staedtler has some but that’s not the brand or look I remember. Any help with this (somewhat bizarre) search would be appreciated, thanks!

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