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Pocket Pencils

1/30/2021

A vintage pocket sized set of 8 colored pencils. Given that is is from Venus Esterbrook Canada, I would say it dates from the early 1970s. At just 3.5 inches long and 3 inches wide, this is the perfect size to fit in a pocket, purse or backpack. This little set would make a nice addition to Tina's minimalism challenge!

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Drawing Pencils

1/18/2021

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Each of the major pencil Canadian pencil manufacturers produced a line of drawing pencils. These were marketed to engineers and architects as well as artists. The pencils below are from the Canadian factories of Dixon, Eagle, Eberhard Faber and Venus.

Dixon's Eldorado "The Master Drawing Pencil"

Dixon's Eldorado has a long history, first being produced in the US in 1917. They were advertised and sold in Canada even before the factory in Newmarket was established in 1931. The image below comes from and advertisement in the June 1918 Bookseller and Stationer and Office Equipment Journal. This ad is from A. R. MacDougal & Co., Ltd located in Toronto. They were the Canadian representatives of Dixon Pencils prior to the Canadian subsidiary.

Dixon's Eldorado was made in 17 leads ranging from 6B to 9H. The pencil's name comes from Edgar Allen Poe's poem "El Dorado." The first lines of the poem are quoted in an early Eldorado pencil box insert, "Gaily bedight, A gallant knight, In sunshine and in shadow, Had journeyed long, Singing a song, In search of Eldorado." The insert carries on to say, "the beauty of this American legend suggested to us the name for the golden perfection of the master drawing pencil, which we have called Dixon's Eldorado."

Later versions of this pencil would carry the term Typhonite referring to the "typhonite" process of battering graphite upon graphite in a typhoon of super-heated steam to ensure small and even sized graphite particles in the lead.

Eagle Turquoise

The Eagle Turquoise drawing pencils was made in 17 grades of lead from 6B to 9H. "Electronic" is the trade name for Eagle's graphite refining process. They are painted a distinctive shade of turquoise from which they get their name. Of all the drawing pencils described here, this is the only one that is still in production. You can buy "Prismacolor Premier Turquoise Graphite Pencils" now made by Sanford in Mexico.

The image below shows a similar pencil from a 1957 catalogue.

Eberhard Faber Van Dyke

The Van Dyke is unique in this list as it had 18 degrees from 7B to 9H, instead of only 17 degrees. It also had 6 degrees of a chisel point version. Gradually, the name of this pencil changed from "Van Dyke" to "Microtomic Van Dyke" to just "Microtomic". The pencils also change from the classic yellow paint color to dark grey. “Microtomic” is the trademarked word that referred to Eberhard Faber’s method for refining and preparing graphite.

Venus Drawing

Venus drawing pencils didn't have a fancy name like the other pencils in this list. This pencil is probably best know for its distinctive green crackled finish. They were made in 17 different degrees like the majority of other drawing pencils, from 6B to 9H. As with all of the other drawing pencils listed here, Venus had its own proprietary process for creating high quality lead. The lead in this pencil is made by the "Colloidal Process."

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Eagle Drawing, Copying and Writing Pencils

1/14/2021

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These boxes are all early Eagle Pencil Company of Canada products. I found several references online that the graphic design of these boxes was created by American designer Robert Foster in 1938.

Each of these pencils filled a special role. The drawing pencils were made in 17 different grades from 6B to 9H. The copying pencils were made in 4 grades: soft, medium, hard and extra hard. The writing pencils had ferules with erasers.