Dixon's Active Service 2940

This is a World War II era pencil with a paper ferrule. The pencil were sold in sets of three with one red, one white and one blue painted pencil. These were the colours of the Union Jack which was on the paper sleeve for these pencils as well as on the unofficial Canadian Red Ensign flag prior to the familiar red and white maple leaf flag that was adopted in 1965.

The advertisement at right comes from a Dupuis Frères  mail order catalog (fall and winter 1945-1946). Dupuis Frères was a department store in Montreal, Quebec with a popular mail order service. It is quite amazing to see such a recognizable image in the catalog.

Dixon Actuary 2399 

The Dixon Actuary is one of the few pencils made with Canadian sourced graphite. The one pictured here is stamped "Calgary School Board" on the opposite side.

Dixon Chancellor 2180, 2185 and 2190

The Dixon Chancellor was a high quality writing pencil from Dixon Canada.  The 2180 was tipped with a gold banded ferrule and eraser while the 2185 was untipped. It was advertised as being made with domestic Canadian graphite from a source in Ontario. It appears that the 2190 was the same as the 2185 but H lead instead of HB lead (as far as I can tell). The version manufactured in the US for the Canadian market had the number 2170 with eraser tip and 2171 without eraser.

The first Dixon Chancellor in my collection. Found buried in a shoebox full of old pencils.

Dixon Chancellor 2185 HB

Dixon Chancellor 2190 H

Dixon Domino 43 HB

This pencil isn't stamped "Made in Canada" but I've seen ads from the 1980's for this pencil in Canada so it is quite likely that this was made in Canada.

Dixon Domino - 43HB in four different colours: green, blue, red and yellow.

The backs of these Dixon Domino pencils was stamped "Calgary Catholic Schools",

Dixon Encore 2487

One of the handful of pencils from Dixon that were made with Canadian Graphite. The 2487 and 2488 both were untipped pencils painted black. The 2487 was round and the 2488 was hexagonal. There were also versions 2486, a hexagonal pencil painted classic yellow tipped with an eraser and 1489 a round pencil painted blue tipped with an eraser.

Dixon Flamingo No. 303

The Flamingo pencil has a large diameter core and were popular with copy editors who wanted a bold black mark.

Dixon Nu-Glo 761

The Nu-Glo was a round pencil while the Semi-glo was a hexagonal pencil. Otherwise they are very similar.

Dixon Order Book 2020

Order Book pencils were specifically designed for salesmen writing in order books, "being soft enough to avoid tearing the paper but hard enough to make clear carbon copies."  Earlier versions had a metal end caps while later versions had a paint dipped ends. 

Dixon Order Book 2020 with long metal end cap.

Dixon Order Book 2020 with short metal end cap.

Dixon Order Book 2020 with painted dipped end.

Dixon Semi-Glo 762

Dixon Sovereign 2141

There is also a version of this pencil numbered 2140 with a ferrule. Advertisements for the Sovereign in the 1940's had the tagline "A fine British name for a fine Canadian pencil." I've seen one Canadian advertisement for this pencil from a 1917 stationary catalogue.

Dixon Strand 2240/2245

The Strand is an older Dixon pencil. It came in four colours: green, blue, red and yellow. It was often advertised alongside Venus Velvet and Eagle Mirado pencils as a higher quality pencil. The 2240 is a hexagonal pencil while the 2245 is round.

Dixon System 2500

Dixon Ticonderoga 1386

The yellow and green Dixon Ticonderoga pencil is one of the most recognizable pencils in the world. In the United States, these pencils were often advertised and packaged with the image of Ethan Allen, who led the capture of Fort Ticonderoga early in the Revolutionary War. Given Allen's invasion of Quebec later in the war, his image was not such a strong selling point in Canada. Because of this, advertisements and packaging in Canada were often different that in the US. 

Dixon Ticonderoga 1386 HB Pre-WW2 (1940s)

Canadian Dixon Ticonderoga box from the mid-1970s

Canadian Dixon Ticonderoga box from the mid-1980s

Dixon's 2260

Dixon

Some inexpensive pencils were imprinted with just the brand name "Dixon" printed on them. Some of these are painted yellow while others are natural.