The Case of the Branded Pencils

Over the Christmas break at a relative's house, I spent a bit of time looking through some pencils stored in a small worn suitcase. Some of them were quite intriguing and lead me to do a little research.

No 480 ROYAL SOVEREIGN "CHINAGRAPH" Made in Great Britain

Royal Sovereign are the original and leading marker pencil for marking on glass, china, acetate, film and polished surfaces. These pencils are a grease/wax writing tool made from hardened coloured wax used for making marks on non-porous surfaces. They are able to write on  photographic contact sheets and are ideal for marking audio and film tape.

Other surfaces include theatrical lighting gels, construction materials and wet surfaces.

The writing substance is a non-toxic, opaque wax like a wax crayon.

A.W. FABER "Castell" Polychromos Made in Bavaria

The well known pencil brand Faber-Castell first produced these Polychromos pencils in 1908. They are waterproof and smudge resistant.

Originally, the company Faber were known to make pencils in the Nuremberg region back in 1660. The founder Kasper Faber, a cabinet maker from the nearby Stein, was so successful in his work for other employers that he created a reputation robust enough to support setting up his own business.

Kasper's son Anton Wilhelm Faber inherited the business and subsequently passed to his son Georg Leonhard. The company floundered under Georg, particularly with their products struggling to compete against the fine Cumberland graphite being used in some high quality English pencils.

To steady the business, Georg's sons Lothar and Johann set up business in London and Paris. After Georg passed away in 1939, Lothar took over the main business at the young age of 22. Very business minded, Lothar set his goal "to rise  to the highest position by making the best that can be made anywhere in the world".

Lothar was the first family member to understand branding in the modern sense and snsured his high quality products were both well presented and always stamped with "A.W. FABER".

Faber, the brand was first registered in the USA in 1870 and remains to date, the oldest surviving brand name.

Family heiress to the company Baroness Ottilie von Faber married Count Alexander zu Castell-Rudhausen in 1898. Lothar von Faber's will showed how forward thinking he was when it came to his carefully built brand. He stipulated that should an heiress to the company marry, then she was required to keep her own name, Faber, rather than automatically take on that of her husband as was traditional. This historical quirk required royal approval as it was so unusual. Lothar's wish was granted and the couple became Count and Countess von Faber-Castell thus creating the brand name we are familiar with today.

"Castell" pencils were produced followed by the Polychromos range of coloured pencils available in 60 hues. 

ROWNEY VICTORIA

These are a standard make of coloured  pencils likely to have been manufactured in 1950s to 1970s.

 

 

 

Milward Dressmarker

I believe this is a pencil for marking up fabric for pattern cutting or alterations in much the same way as tradition tailors chalk would have been used.

787 EAGLE COLOURCRAFT Made in England

 The Eagle Pencil Company is a long established American brand who opened an office in the City of London in October 1894 followed by a factory in Tottenham in 1906.

Eagle joined other pencil companies in the manufacture of WAR DRAWING pencils during the period surrounding World War II. Severe rationing was in place impacting not only on civilian lives but also restricting the use of material for maufacture. The war drawing pencils were of the most basic design and remained unpainted. I notice that the lead circumference is much smaller compared to other pencils in the collection.

L & C HARDTMUTH Ltd "Mephisto", "Studio" & "Pedigree" COPYING PENCILS

L & C Hardtmuth is one of the world's oldest manufacturers and suppliers of pencils and remains the second largest pencil company in Europe. The company is now known as Koh-I-Nor Hardtmuth.

Originally founded in Vienna by the Austrian Joseph Hardtmuth, the factory was moved by Joseph's sons Karl and Ludwig in 1948 to the Czech Republic. The company became state owned.

As many of the pencils in this collection have COPY or COPYING on them in some form or another, I looked into this type of pencil and found this very informative paper by Liz Dube.