[N.B. This post has been revised. The original article referred to these images as “centurions”, but in the comment section, it was noted that neither is a centurion.]
There is a certain well known pencil manufacturer who has often used a graphical image in their products, packaging, and advertising. The details of the image have changed over time, but it remains recognizable.
I just recently bough some pencils from another manufacturer, and to my surprise, they also have a relatively similar figure on their box.
Pencil image No. 1:
Pencil image No. 2:
Can anyone recognize both images?
Pencil Centurion No. 1 has to be Staedtler. No idea on the second one.
Hmmm what can it be? The first one is a greek guy, probably Ares, judging from his helmet. (I know, it is Mars wearing a greek helmet) – the staedtler logo from 1925.
The second one – a medieval knights helmet. Could be anyone – but from the colour scheme I guess it must be some Staedtler too?
However, to the best of my knowledge none of them are centurions in the Roman/Latin meaning of the word.
best regards
Henrik
Thanks Henrik, I was suspecting that “centurion” might not be the right term.
To reveal where the images came from…
The first image is from Staedtler. The image is from the interior of an old box housing a half-gross of Staedtler 2957 pencils. (I’ll probably feature these pencils in a future article.) I think the artwork is great. This of course is not the surprise.
The second image – which to me also evokes Staedtler, even if based on another era of warrior, is to my surprise from General Pencil. It is from the box housing a half-gross of Cedar Pointe pencils (which I’ll also likely discuss at some time).
First of all, thank you for a nice blog. I always read you findings with interest – some of them have inspired me to try pencils I haven’t even imagined existed. Then I hope I haven’t stepped on any toes – but as a teacher I’m afraid I’m in the bad habit of correcting people, unfortunately I can’t promise it won’t happen again :) .
best regards
Henrik
Thank you for the correction – it is appreciated. I did use the word carelessly, and am fortunate that a professional teacher enjoys the blog enough to take some time and point out the error.
I will reword the post.
Blush :)
kind regards
Henrik