Category: pencils

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.

It seems that the staff at a local art supply store have noticed that I like pencils. I learned that some old pencils had been found by the mother of one of the staffers, and it was thought that I would be an appropriate recipient. I was quite amazed.

The pencils are yellow, with a gold/white ferrule, and pink eraser.

They are stamped:

Made in Canada Wheatley & Wilson Ltd. Montreal, Quebec Custom Made Bonded Lead No. 200 F2²/₄

The type style is a classic mid-century industrial look, and is often emulated today.

I can’t easily find any information about Wheatley & Wilson, although the McGill University Library reveals that Montreal does have a 1930 building with that company name, the Desbarats’ Building (The Gazette)/Wheatley & Wilson Ltd.

From the language on the packaging, it seems possible that Wheatley & Wilson had these pencils made for their stationery business. I’d love to know more about them. Is there anyone out there who recollects this name?

I sharpened one. It still has a nice “pencil” aroma. The lead is quite smooth for an F grade, and writes quite easily. A classic.

Though I may have a lifetime supply, I don’t consider myself a pencil collector. I’ve always thought pencils were meant to be used. The economics seem in accord: Almost all the vintage pencils on eBay, even great and famous pencils, are cheaper than new quality pencils, with very few exceptions. So I’ve never had trouble sharpening a 1950s Faber-Castell 9000 or Eberhard Faber Mongol. And they all still seem to be in plentiful supply.

Somehow, this box seems different. American Pencil Co. of New York Velvet No. 2s, they’ve stayed put on a shelf, occasionally looked at. They have a very rich natural wood stained finish, topped by a gold ferrule with a blue accent.

The artwork on the box is unmatched by anything I’m aware of on the market today.

Some people would preserve these pencils for their collection or future profit. But I’m mostly curious about how they write.

So my question is, should I sharpen them?

Readers of this blog know that we like the serious stuff, and don’t typically mention novelty or advertising pencils. But we’ll make an exception for this pencil from Clairefontaine, possibly (probably?) made in Japan. It matches a Clairefontaine notebook set.
In another way, it also matches the Rhodia pencil, coming from the same corporate family, and being a triangular, black-dyed wood pencil.

Give us more!

Pastellini is a set of 98 small colour pencils housed in a cylindrical tin, made by Seletti in Italy.

The tin has a lid with a clear cutout to see the many colourful pencils.

The pencils are quite small and round – making them more of an amusement than a practical tool. Still, they look great, and really brighten up a desk.

There aren’t 98 different colours – there is considerable duplication. And the leads are quite waxy, with weak colours.

They were $11.95 at a bookstore. That’s about 12 cents a pencil!

The Koh-I-Noor Triograph is an unusual offering. The oversized triangular shape along with the rich stained wood finish make these pencils seem like small pieces of furniture.

The pencil diameter is 10.5mm, and the core a very wide 6mm. It weighs 11 grams. To contrast this with other large triangular pencils, here are some statistics (all values approximate):

Pencil	Weight	Diameter	Core	Sharpened	Cap
Koh-I-Noor Triograph	11.2g	10.5mm	6mm	yes	finished
Faber-Castell Jumbo Grip	7.3g	9mm	3mm	yes	unfinished
Dixon Tri-Conderoga	7.1g	7mm	2mm	no	ferrule/eraser
Mongol Trio	8.2g	9mm	3mm	no	ferrule/eraser

Even compared with other oversize pencils, the Triograph is quite hefty.

Made in the Czech Republic, the pencil comes in three soft grades – 2B, 4B, and 6B. (Pictured are the 6B, with the darker stained wood, and the 2B.) They have a nicely finished black cap, and the stamping is in gold. The pencil’s wood stain surface is what makes it so unusual. It really does look like something that shouldn’t be disposable.

The lead is dark and rich, and certainly quite usable. The finish is unique, quite different from any other pencil I’ve seen. The large triangular shape will be a deciding factor for many. It’s large enough that you either like the feel or not. As well, like the International Arrivals pencils, it’s too wide for even the wide hole in dual hole sharpeners. This puts it in sharpen-by-knife territory, which may or may not be something you’re fine with.