Venus All Purpose 3500
Venus All Right 6490 and 6491
The Venus All Right was an inexpensive general purpose writing pencil. The older version has the "Venus Pencil Co. Ltd." imprint while the more recent version has the Venus word-mark trademark. The 6491 had a ferule while the 6490 did not.
In a American Pencil Company catalog from the 1930s, the Beats All pencil was number 494. The entry below the Beats all pencil says "491 ALL RIGHT - Round, otherwise same as No. 494. 1/2 gr. per carton - weight - 1 lb $2.20 per gr." My 6490 and 6491 pencils are all hexagonal.
In a American Pencil Company catalog from the 1930s, the Beats All pencil was number 494. The entry below the Beats all pencil says "491 ALL RIGHT - Round, otherwise same as No. 494. 1/2 gr. per carton - weight - 1 lb $2.20 per gr." My 6490 and 6491 pencils are all hexagonal.
These 6490 pencils were a generous gift from Susan McIlveen. Thanks Susan!
Venus Blue Band 3561 HB
Many Venus pencils made in Canada have four digit numbers starting with the digit 6. This pencil starts with the digit 3 similar to pencils made in the US. In the US, the Blue Band 3561 pencil also had the words "superthin" on it to show it has a thin lead core. This pencil also apprears to have a thin core.
Venus Blue Band (photo submitted by G. Hutton)
Venus Bravo 6489 HB
Venus Canada 65 HB
The Canadian national flag was adopted in 1965. There were several commemorative pencils made for this occasion including the one below from Venus Canada.
Venus Carbon 6113
Advertised as an "Intense Black Lead Pencil." It had the number 113 in the US. These pencils were painted in several different colours.
Venus Empire 6518 and 6520
The Venus Empire 6518 is a round pencil while the 6520 is hexagonal. They were painted in four different colors: red, blue, green and yellow. Venus appears to have trademarked the name "Empire" just prior to the Empire Pencil Company becoming established in Canada.
Empire 6518 - Round body
Empire 6520 - Hexagonal body
Venus Imperial 1500
This pencil has a gold ferrule with a green band on it.
Venus Imperial 1500 pack of 10 circa 1977
Venus Lustro 757
The Lustro came in four different colors (yellow, green, blue and orange). This one is a magnificent dark orange color.
Venus Medalist 1600 / 1605
This was an inexpensive pencil that came with a ferrule (1600) and without a ferrule (1605). The Venus Esterbrook pack of 10 pencils shown below probably dates from the early 1970s.
Venus Esterbrook Medalist 1600
Venus Noter 6840
This ring top pencil would probably have been attached to a string and hung next to a telephone for easy note taking. Probably dates to the 1950s or 60s, the era of wall mounted rotary dial phones. Check out Fred's collection of ring top pencils. This one has a silver cap and ring while others had gold.
Venus Patria 6351 / 6352
The Patria, with a dark red finish, is an older pencil from Venus. The 6352 is a round pencil while the 6351 is a hexagonal version.
Venus Peerless 6322/6323 HB
The Venus Peerless 6322 had no eraser and the 6323 was tipped with an eraser. Both are hexagonal pencils painted a dark orange color.
Venus Receipt 6185
Venus Velvet 557
Venus Velvet 6557
Venus Velvet pencils were the flagship pencil of the Venus Pencil Company of Canada. It was the companies premium writing pencil and was a direct competitor of the Eagle Mirado and Dixon Ticonderoga. It
Venus Velvet from the late 1940s. Photo contributed by Marchand Lamarre.
Venus Velvet 6557 HB probably from the 1940s.
Venus Velvet probably from the 1950s.
Venus Velvet with "V-5" lead from the early 1960s. Photo contributed by Marchand Lamarre.
A well used Venus Velvet circa 1963 with "V-5" lead.
Venus Esterbrook from the early 1970s
Venus Velvet from Faber Castell 1980s
Venus 1600/1605
The Venus 1600 pencils are budget pencils. They share the same 1600 number as the Venus Medalist pencils. It seems like these pencils were made more and more cheaply. Some examples here have gold ferrules (made by Faber Castell) and others have silver ferrules (made by Eberhard Faber). At some point, the number 1600 was removed and there were just labeled "Venus". They were most likely trying to compete with inexpensive imported pencils. The 1605 was the same pencil without the ferule and eraser.
A pair of Venus 1600 pencils.
A set of 10 Venus 1600 pencils with the Commodore 64 contest dated August 1, 1985.
Set of 10 Venus HB pencils with a Canadian Tire price tag for $0.79. Probably from the late 1980s or early 1990s.
These pencils only have "Venus HB" and don't contain a number of country of manufacture.
