The Cavalier was a pencil that appears to have only been produced for the Canadian market (as far as I can tell). It is described in the 1950 Moyer's school supply catalogue as, "a very fine inexpensive school pencil." It appears to have been made until at least the 1990s. Earlier versions were made under the Eagle brand name and later versions under the Berol brand. All of the pencils that I've seen have been painted red with a silver imprint although some early pencils may have been painted black. I much prefer the less boring red color.

In the collection of Cavalier pencils seen below there is an early Eagle Cavalier. The reverse side of this pencil is stamped "Calgary Catholic Schools". The first Berol pencil included the rectangle logo. the last pair of pencil are probably from the 1990s with just the name Berol but no logo. The Eagle pencil is painted the darkest shade of red. The 181 pencil is round and untipped. The 182 is hexagonal and untipped and the 183 is hexagonal tipped with a silver ferrule and pink eraser.

Perhaps the reason that these were only sold in Canada was because there was a Cavalier Pencil Company in the US although the Canadian pencil may predate the company.

Do you have a pencil soundtrack? If not, don't worry... Berol has you covered. ​

The Canadian subsidiary of the Eagle Pencil Company was established in Drummondville, Quebec in 1931. The company later changed its name to Berol. This company celebrated its 50th anniversary in 1981 by releasing a 2 record LP with popular music from the 50 years of its existence (CSPS-2-1780-E).  This record was also produced in a French language version, Berol, Cinquante Ans De Succès (CSPS-1782). Just the cover was translated, the track on the records remained the same.

Inside the fold, there is a written history of the company as well as a display of products that Berol produced at the time. It is a nice range of pencils, colored pencils, pens and drafting supplies.

The text inside of the record jacket is as follows:
     In celebration of our golden anniversary, we at Berol are pleased to present this selection of musical favourites from the past 50 years.
     We hope it will bring you hours of pleasure and that, in listening, you'll discover some old personal favourites.
     We feel this album is appropriate to Berol's anniversary celebration since, as representatives of one of mankind's oldest and most universal forms of self-expression, our products share a common bond with music.
     Writing and drawing instruments have come a long way since man first etched symbols of his thoughts on cave walls. Today, a vast industry works to supply the varied needs of an increasingly literate world; and Berol is one of the world's most prestigious manufacturers, with seven major divisions and 12 factories around the globe.
     50 years ago, the Berol family established the Eagle Pencil Company in Canada with a factory in Drummondville, Quebec.
     While the factory originally manufactured pencils only, the product line soon grew along with the needs of the Canadian market, and, with the acquisition of North-Rite in 1966, a wide variety of ball point pens joined the family - along with a new name: Eagle/North-Rite Ltd.
     A year later, with consumers' needs becoming increasingly sophisticated, Eagle/North-Rite built a large, new factory in Drummondville, creating more jobs and a healthier local economy.
     Since then, our factory has continued to improve and modernize, with mechanization and automation unsurpassed in the industry.
     In 1974, in accordance with our international image, we joined our affiliates around the world in adopting the name Berol.
     Today, Berol is Canada's largest manufacturer of writing, drawing and drafting instruments, and offers the most complete range of products.
     Mirado and Eagle pencils, Turquoise drawing instruments, Prismacolor and Canadiana art pencils, porous tip Dart and Dart II pens, Eagle ball pens, Liquid Tip markers, RapiDesign templates, and the easy-writing Spree are just a few of the many products that we design and manufacture for use at home, at school and at work.
     And, in celebration of our golden anniversary, Berol introduces Super Sharp - the ultrafine porous tip pen.
     Berol is proud of its 50 year history in this country; proud of its accomplishments in meeting the growing needs of a growing market, and of its contribution to the community within which the company lives and operates.
     We thank all those, employees and customers alike, whose efforts and loyalty have contributed to Berol's success, and we look forward to many more years serving the Canadian public.
     HAPPY LISTENING, FROM BEROL.

A reader of the blog, sent in these photos of a Berol Super Sharp ultrafine pen as mention in the record jacket as being introduced in 1981.

An interesting "Newfoundland" pencil from Berol that I haven't seen before. Only the name Newfoundland and the grade HB are stamped on the pencil.  While it does say "Shop Canadian" on the package, it doesn't say anywhere that it is actually made in Canada although that is my suspicion. (There was originally a Shoppers Drug Mart price tag on the package.)

Below is a closer look at the name.

2021 marks what would have been the ninety year anniversary of the Eagle Pencil Company in Canada. The Canadian subsidiary of the American pencil company opened in early 1931. In 1991 the company, by that time named Berol, celebrated its 60 year anniversary with specially marked Mirado pencils. The back side of these pencils were printed with the words, "60 Years of Quality 1931-1991 60 Ans de Qualité." The factory unfortunately ceased production not long after its reached this sixty year milestone.

I only have two of these anniversary pencils. I would love to know if these pencils come in specially marked packages as well or if the packages were the same as usual. I've seen an anniversary package from the US celebrating 100 years of the Mirado pencil in 1995. That set came in a special wooden box.

Eagle and later Berol Canadiana colored pencils were made in Canada from the early 1950s (this site states 1952) until the factory in Drummondville, Quebec ceased production in 1992. During this time, there were a number of different packaging styles. Below is a rough timeline of the different styles of packaging that I'm aware of. It is based mainly on old newspaper advertisements.

Sometimes it is hard to date vintage pencils and sometimes you get lucky and you can pinpoint a fairly exact date. The Canadiana Combo Set below is an example of the latter.

The great thing about this set is that it includes an entry for a back to school coloring contest that closes on October 30, 1976. The coloring sheet is the same as the design on the front of the package. It also states, "to enter color the black and white illustration of Berol's new package". From this we can assume that this packaging was new in 1976. I had previously seen advertisements showing this packaging in 1978 and 1981 but I didn't know when it was first introduced. So, do you want to try out a vintage coloring contest? I scanned the entry just for you!

I found this collection of vintage red pencils at a second hand shop today. I imagine that this is a from a teacher's collection of checking pencils used for marking papers. Three different red pencils, all with shiny gold imprints from three different Canadian pencil factories. The Berol Canadiana and Dixon Red 2210-R pencils are round and the Venus Handy-Check pencil is hexagonal.

The Eagle Pencil Co. of Canada Ltd. had a factory located in Drummondville, Quebec. This factory was located at 201 St. Jean St. in Drummondville.

Around 1970 Eagle changed its name to Berol and continued production of Mirado pencils. Berol was purchased by the Empire Pencil Company in 1987 but they continued to manufacture pencils under the Berol name into the 1990s.  ​In the mid-1990s, Sanford bought numerous pencil companies including Empire/Berol and not long after the factory in Drummondville was closed.

Eagle Canadiana pencil crayons were made at the Eagle factory in Drummondville, Quebec. This factory operated under the Eagle brand from 1931 until about 1969 when the company changed its name to Berol, the shortened surname of the company's founder Daniel Berolzheimer. I've seen written that the first Canadiana pencil crayons were made around 1951.

The boxed set of eight pencils above is an early set. In my opinion, this is one of the most beautifully made sets of colored pencils to have been produced in Canada. Check out these photos of a similar set from the Pencils and Other Things blog.  The pencils inside don't have the white imprint or area for a signature that the pencils below have.

The  version of these pencils shown above has a spot for you to write your name on them just like the Laurentien pencil crayons. I believe that the stylized letter E trademark seen on the pencils below started being used around 1960.

When Eagle changed its name to Berol in 1975, Canadiana pencils continued to be produced but now with the Berol brand name. The pencil crayons from Eagle appear to start at number 501 (with Crimson Red) while the Berol versions seem to start at number 551 (also with red). I know that Berol had a set of 60 colours. I'm not sure how many colours were available in the Eagle sets.

The packaging above was used from about 1975 to the mid-1980's. The set of pencils shown below is a more modern version. The pencils are the same but the packaging and the gold lettering are changed.