Pencil Boxes (I) – Neiman Marcus

Neiman Marcus pencils

Sometimes pencils need a home, and one fine traditional home is the pencil box.

I’m sure I once had a nice wooden box of Blackfeet pencils, but I can’t find it. So, I decided to take a look around for other pencils still sold in wooden boxes. Here is what I found.

One place I looked is on Ebay, where I picked up this second hand box. The box is austere yet functional, with a sliding lid. It looks just like an archetypal old pencil box. The underside is stamped Neiman Marcus. I just looked at the Neiman Marcus website, and they still sell boxes of pencils – in no less than faux crocodile with matching box, though there is no offer of customization.

Neiman Marcus pencils

Inside the box are a dozen or so pencils, and it looks like it could easily accommodate a dozen more. The pencils have a person’s name stamped in gold letters. There is a title, initials, and a surname. The title might be civilian or military, and I’ll guess these were working pencils on an official desk.

Neiman Marcus pencils

The pencil, unfinished, is somewhat rough to hold, and the lead is a slightly scratchy light H or so grade. Still, they do the job. While there are novelty pencils aimed at children with pre-printed names (too bad if you have an unusual name), I don’t think a lot of adults today get their own name printed on a pencil. Too bad. This is a very nice grown up and practical appreciation of the pencil.

Neiman Marcus pencils