When you think of inventions you might think of a television set, a computer, or even a light bulb. Have you ever considered the pencil? Some people might not think of the pencil as a great invention. However, whether you write a letter, note, or use it to do your school work, you use the pencil every day. Have you ever considered the following questions; “What is a pencil?”, “How did the pencil come to be?”, or “Why is the modern pencil yellow?” Let’s explore these questions together.
So, what is a pencil? A pencil is a writing tool usually made out of a long, thin, solid stick of graphite inside a protective casing (google, 2002). The casing is usually made of wood, plastic, or metal (google, 2002). The pencil has a casing on it to prevent the writer from getting marks on his or her hands and to prevent the graphite from breaking (Petroski, 2011).
The question is, how did the pencil come to be? Like most human inventions the pencil has a long and complex history. Modern pencils owe it all to Ancient Roman writing instruments called styluses. Scribes, back in the day, used this thin metal tool to leave a light, but readable mark on papyrus (Pencil History, 2012). Other kinds of styluses were made of lead, which we still use in our pencil cores today. Later, graphite became widely used due to a discovery of a huge amount of graphite deposit found in Borrowdale, England in 1594 (Pencil History, 2012). People then decided to use the graphite for pencils because it made darker lines than lead or a thin metal rod. However, graphite was soft and brittle causing a need to develop a holder for it. At first they decided to wrap the graphite in string. However, they later decided to put the graphite in a hollowed out piece of wood and the wooden-cased pencil was born (Pencil History, 2012). Nuremburg, Germany was the birthplace of the first mass produced pencils in 1662 (Pencil History, 2012). The early American settlers depended on pencils from overseas until the war with England cut off all the imports (Pencil History, 2012). William Monroe, a Concord, Massachusetts cabinet-maker, was responsible for making America’s first wooden pencils in 1812 (Pencil History, 2012). The American pencil industry took off when The Joseph Dixon Crucible Company (which is now called Dixon Ticonderoga) and more pencil manufactures started getting in on the act (Pencil History, 2012). Towards the end of the 19th century, New York and New Jersey hosted several factories established by German pencil manufactures, including Faber-Castell, Eberhard Faber, Eagle Pencil Company (which was later called Berol) and General Pencil Company (Pencil History, 2012).
Now we know how the pencil came to be, but why is it yellow? Why not blue, orange, or white? The first produced pencils were natural and unpainted to show off their wooden casings. However, during the 1800s the best graphite in the world came from China and the American pencil makers were trying to find a special way to tell people that their pencils contained Chinese graphite (Pencil History, 2012). In China, the color yellow means loyalty and respect. So, in the 1890s many American manufactures started making their pencils bright yellow to communicate their association with China (Pencil History, 2012). Today, most of the hexagonal wooden pencils sold in the United States are painted yellow and what was once known as “regal” has become “common”. (Pencil History, 2012)
So, the next time you think about inventions, instead of thinking about the obvious ones like television sets, a light bulb or a computer. Remember to remember the small and modern things, like the pencil!
Work Cited Page
google. (n.d. 2002). Retrieved from https://www.google.com/
Henry , P. (n.d. 2011). The pencil: A history of design and circumstance. Retrieved from https://www.amazon.com/The-Pencil-History-Design-Circumstance/dp/0679734155
Studio, 6. (10, 24 2012). Pencil history. Retrieved from https://www.pencils.com/blog/pencil-history/