Today is the 17th anniversary of pencil talk.
Upcycled pencils
Just a very short note. Staedtler has announced pencils made from “upcycled wood”. Upcycled wood is defined as “wood chips produced in the wood processing industry.”
The upcycled family includes the colour Noris 185 and 187, digital stylus pencils, and the graphite Staedtler Neon 180 and Noris 183.
These pencils (at least the 180 and 183) were previously known to use WOPEX. Perhaps this is a rebrand?
Tombow versus Mitsubishi
Please allow me to call attention to the essay The Golden Age of Japanese Pencils, 1952-1967, published by St. Louis Art Supply.
I’ve not previously been aware of this art supply company. I learned of the essay via a post at the Reddit pencil forum.
The conclusions are very interesting to me. Are the Tombow Mono 100 and the Mitsubishi Hi-Uni the greatest pencils the world will ever see? (And I’ll mention that the Mono 100 is no longer made in Japan.) Very possibly. Super high quality OEM pencils such as those from Pentel were on the market only briefly. And as the article notes, we haven’t seen the “Hi-Hi-Uni”.
But let’s note something else – the pencil market is likely still growing at a global level, due to population growth and increased educational opportunities. There are $10 (even $20) woodcase pencils that can be bought today from Musgrave (USA) , Faber-Castell (Germany), and Caran d’Ache (Switzerland). These expensive pencils are more in the collectible/luxury segment, but why wouldn’t it be possible to try a new super-high quality pencil?
The Carl Auböck egg paperweight
“On the desk of the German architect and Bauhaus founder Walter Gropius sits a solid-brass egg.”
From Perfecting the Paperweight by Victoria Woodcock in the November 20, 2021 How To Spend It, the weekend magazine of the Financial Times.
This paperweight egg shared the desk with companion objects such as pre-Columbian artefacts given to Gropius by Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera. The Financial Times says the desk was designed by Marcel Breuer, while Historic New England credits Gropius himself. The desk broke when shipped from Germany to the US.
The desk remains at Gropius House in Lincoln, Massachusetts. A clear photo doesn’t show an egg.
Click the image to go to the Historic New England site. (c) Historic New England
(Can you see a pencil?)
The original 1952 egg is now made by Auböck’s grandson, and available at London’s Sigmar for £170. I think that’s a pretty reasonable price for a famed design object of such provenance.
(c) Signum
The general Auböck catalogue is well worth browsing. Another stationery object – a giant paperclip – is also for sale at Mark+Fold.
Thank you to the Financial Times for illuminating this interesting stationery item.
16
Just a brief note. This modest website has reached the age of sixteen.
Marlborough’s
A recent trip to Toronto’s Marlborough’s Stationery revealed that they have gone out of business.
This wasn’t a store with any sort of prominent internet profile. It was a neighbourhood store with basic stationery, and over the years began stocking children’s toys and greeting cards (and recently, masks). They had some nods to quality – notebooks from Clairefontaine and pencils from Staedtler.
Marlborough’s was founded in 1922. They were 99, and almost made it to their centenary. This is so sad.