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 simply a record of the current standard releases, in my collection, to-date. Cal Cedar appear to have dropped the 'Palomino' part of the brand, but I've just kept it here for clarity. There are a couple of things I have not included in this guide: Any Volumes edition e.g. 24, 1138. Any... 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 →

From what I can gather, Blaisdell's involvement in London around the turn of the century was short and not particularly sweet. What makes this an interesting proposition for collectors therefore is the short amount of time the London-marked pencils were produced. What makes this even more interesting for a pencil collector, who happens to be... Continue Reading →

I've seen a selection of recurring markings on pencils, but one that always interested me was the 'S [Crown] O' stamping on a number of older, (mainly) British pencils. If you collect older pencils you've almost certainly come across it before. The stamp tends to sit alongside a code, for example, '48-75' on the pencil... Continue Reading →

I've always enjoyed collecting F Chambers pencils and in fact some of those pencils probably deserve a post of their own.  Many of their pencils had strange model names such as the 'WENO' and "IONA" below. I'm not sure where the names stemmed from, but according to an advertisement I've seen, the 'WENO' was for... Continue Reading →