I'd planned on writing about E Wolff & Sons' 'Pure Cumberland Lead' pencils next, but a last-minute change and today's post is about the rather fine E Wolff & Son Manufacturers, 'Compressed Lead' pencils instead. All advertisements I have come across for this model date from the 1860s, so let’s go with around 1868 or... Continue Reading →

B.S. Cohen Ltd was one of the founding companies of the Royal Sovereign Pencil Co Ltd (via Arthur Johnson Ltd) along with E Wolff & Son Ltd.  Before B.S Cohen Ltd was incorporated in 1904, the company operated as a traditional partnership (stylised as 'B.S. Cohen Maker') and their pencils don't turn up too often,... Continue Reading →

In 1937 Staedtler had their 275th anniversary, and with that, they released a range of '275 years' branded pencils across the range.  They also produced a 275 years anniversary book, which you can still pick up from specialist book sellers (although its published in German in case that matters). I don't really have much history... Continue Reading →

I have covered a lot of Wolff's pencils on this blog, but I've held off on the biggie, the pencil that ended up becoming the new company name, the 'Royal Sovereign'. I've tried to work out some date ranges for the various versions of the pencil, however, as you'll see, most of the box designs... Continue Reading →

This is part 2 of a post on Ann Banks pencils.  The first part can be found here and I suggest you start there if you haven't read it already. So to recap from part 1, Ann Banks had lost her court case trying to stop another partner of Banks & Co using the Banks... Continue Reading →

Banks is a surname you really should know if you want to understand pencil making history, with Jacob, Joseph and Ann all playing significant parts in the development of the pencil industry at Keswick. This post focuses on Ann, who in my opinion, is one of the most important female figures in pencil making history... Continue Reading →

  [This post was updated on 11 October 2020 to include new images and information.  I originally wrote the post after finding a single pencil, however, have since come across a box with a couple of different examples.] I've wanted to write this post for a while, but it was proving quite difficult because the... Continue Reading →

When I think of pencil graphite a few key historic sources come to mind: Borrowdale in England or the Alibert Mine in Siberia (named after Jean-Pierre Alibert for those that don't already know) being two good examples. One other source that usually makes the list is Wolff's "Spanish Graphite", which I had come across on... Continue Reading →

I was lucky enough to be invited to chat with Andy, Tim & Johnny on Episode 146 of the (excellent) Erasable Podcast, where we chatted all things vintage pencils.  You can find the show notes and the episode player using the link below.  The episode is also on all the usual podcast apps.   https://www.erasable.us/episode/146... Continue Reading →

This post is a slight segue from my normal 'pencil specific' posts, towards a 'pencil-adjacent' post. I don't intend on doing this too often, however, should I come across something manufactured and/or marketed by any of my favourite pencil makers, it might find its way onto this blog. I have highlighted my penchant for all... Continue Reading →