Pencils, eh
A virtual museum of the golden age of the Canadian pencil industry.
Wheatley & Wilson Ltd. was a large stationery and office supply store in Montreal, Quebec. They were incorporated in the early 1940s. They appear to have been in business until at least the late 1970s. I've seen a number of other Wheatley & Wilson branded stationary supplies including rulers, staples, hole punches, etc. The pencils below are a hexagonal pencil with a white stripe painted on the ferrule. The No. 200 pencils come tipped with an eraser and the No. 100 pencil has no eraser. They came in seven degrees (B, HB, F 2 2/4, H, 2H, 3H and 4H). Stephen at Pencil Talk has a number of Wheatley and Wilson pencils in his collection. He has some nice history on his site. These pencils were most likely manufactured in one of the Canadian pencil factories... Dixon, Venus in Ontario or Eagle in Quebec. Below is an entry from the Quebec Official Gazette from March of 1942.
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The Venus Velvet was the flagship pencil produced by Venus Pencil Company Ltd. in Canada. The most common version of this pencil is the yellow painted 6557 (the 3557 in the US). The Velvet pencil however came in other versions. One was a "natural finish" version. It was stamped with the number 557 both in Canada and in the US. A 1914 American Lead Pencil Company catalog shows this pencil made in "4 degrees", each one with a different number: 556-soft, 557-soft-medium, 558-medium and 561-hard. A 1937 catalog shows both the 3557 and 557 made in a variety of degrees. "3557 VENUS-VELVET. The country's leading commercial pencil. This is the standard tipped Venus-Velvet in yellow finish. 5 degrees-1, 2, 2 2/3, 3, and 4. Edgeless. Boxed dozens, 1/2 gr. to carton - weight - 1 ob., 5 ozs. $7.20 per gr. 557 VENUS-VELVET. This is the standard tipped Venus-Velvet in cedar finish. 5 degrees - 1, 2, 2 2/3, 3 and 4. Edgeless. Boxed dozens, 1/2 gr. to carton - weight - 1 lb., 5 ozs. $7.20 per gr." I have no idea of the age of the pencils pictured below.
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