This machinery was timely since pencils were needed by soldiers during the Civil War. In the early 1870s, he secured a patent for a wood-planing machine that could make 132 pencils per minute. Joseph Dixon, a lithographer from Massachusetts, took pencil-making to new heights. This includes the Musgrave Pencil Company, one of the most popular tourist attractions in Tennessee. Eventually, other factories set up shop in Tennessee to be close to these trees. These pencils were unpainted and made from Eastern Red Cedar, a popular tree in Tennessee. William Munroe, a cabinet-maker from Massachusetts, is credited with making America's first wood pencils in 1812. His pencils, also known as Crayons Conté, were created instead by roasting a mixture of water, clay, and a little graphite in a kiln. Here are some other big names in pencil history! Nicolas-Jacques Contéĭuring the French Revolutionary War, Conté didn't have access to the graphite in London due to France's battle with Britain. Johann Staedtler isn't the only one who should get credit for inventing the pencil. These were the first mass-produced pencils to be sold all over Europe. Johann Staedtler was fascinated by the graphite pencils sold in London and started the Staedtler Pencil Company in Nuremberg, Germany in 1662. The timing couldn't have been better for graphite pencils! High-class families sent their children to grammar schools where they learned to read, write, and perform basic arithmetic. By 1610, the graphite was wrapped in paper, held together with strings or twigs, and sold to the wealthy in London. The thick, black goo discovered in Borrowdale, England was referred to as wadd, white lead, black lead, bleiweiss, grafio piombine, bismuth, plumbago, and eventually, graphite. Shepherds tending to their flock nearby noticed a strange black substance clinging to the roots and used the black ash to mark their sheep. As the myth goes, a fierce storm uprooted a large ash tree around 1565. Modern pencils wouldn't be what they are today without the discovery of graphite in Borrowdale, England. Early pencils (styluses) were also made from these materials, but it was ink that totally changed writing forever! When Did Pencils Start Using Graphite? Pens have their own fascinating history! Ancient Egyptians carved reed, bamboo, or plant stems into fine points, dipped them in ink made from water, soot, vegetable extract, and boiled donkey skin, and then used the ink on clay tablets. Graphite pencils, meanwhile, weren't used in ancient Rome until the Middle Ages. If you look at the history of styluses, pens were technically invented before pencils. These early pencils were made with an alloy of lead mixed with tin and were nowhere near as comfortable as the pencils we use today. The word "pencil" comes from the Latin penicillum, or "little tail." It was first used to describe a small, fine-tipped brush made from animal tails, which was used on stone tablets, parchment, and papyrus.īefore graphite pencils, many ancient civilizations would use tools known as plummets. This reduced the cost of new tests by $1.50 per test and took only 6.5 minutes to get results. Researchers at Penn State found that the electrodes made from graphite could be used to test for the virus. Surprisingly, graphite was a key part of COVID-19 testing in the United States. These were shaved to a point and used to make marks on parchment, papyrus, or wax-coated tablets. 3200 BC Source: īefore pencils were invented, our ancient ancestors used reed or bamboo styluses. This includes bamboo, plant stems, slate rock, graphite, and even repurposed bullet shells! This timeline shows the fascinating evolution of the pencil. Throughout their history, pencils have been made from a variety of materials. Henry Petroski, author of The Pencil: A History of Design and Circumstance History of Pencils Timeline Is it any wonder that we continue to have a warm place in our heart for the old-fashioned pencil? It went to school with us, and we learned to write with it. The wood-cased pencil is a friend from childhood. Let's go back in time to learn more about the sharp history of pencils! You can pick one up for drawing self-portraits, finishing crossword puzzles, and even stopping arguments in a golf game.Īll of these activities wouldn't be possible without the discovery of graphite in the late 1500s. Pencils may seem old-school, but they shouldn't be underestimated.
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