Similar in form to Pastellini colour pencils, Cerelli wax crayons are a fun set of 76 crayons in a cylindrical tin with a clear lid.
Crayons have never looked so fashionable.
Cerelli wax crayons
Lead Box Art
An eBay seller sent me a few “bonus” items with some pencils I bought – vintage lead refills.
The leads are 1.18 mm in diameter. Though once the standard, this diameter is infrequently used today. Unfortunately, I don’t own a pencil that can use this lead.
What has kept me interested is the packaging – these quotidian items have some beautiful graphic design.
The instructions and charts are engaging. (“Rear Drive vs. “Front Drive” – are we conversing of cars or pencils?)
I’m hoping to get a pencil that could use this type of lead.
“Saving forests one pencil at a time” – the Forest Stewardship Council of Canada pencil
I ordered these pencils from the Forest Stewardship Council of Canada after learning of their new marketing initiative. The pencils have an imprinted slogan, “Saving forests one pencil at a time”, which I found intriguing.
I’ve enjoyed using the ForestChoice pencil, and had hoped this might be some sort of equivalent.
The pencils are round with a diameter of about 7.5 mm. They are unfinished, with a silver coloured ferrule, and a lime green eraser.
When I say unfinished, I mean unfinished. While there must have been some fine sanding or equivalent done, since there are no splinters, there is no obvious lacquer, paint, coating, wax, or any other type of finish on this pencil!
The pencil is also aromatic, much beyond typical pencils. Never mind “whiff of cedar”, this is more like “timber mill floor”. I haven’t decided if I like it, but it is strong enough to be distracting at times.
The feel is rough. I suppose this is the trade off for not using any finish.
The lead – it makes a mark, but it’s rough and scratchy, though not crumbly. It’s not going to be the choice of anyone who has ready alternatives.
One of the most interesting aspects of the pencil is it’s adherence to the FSC’s chain of custody policies. The pencil has an imprinted FSC serial number (SCS-COC-00287) which let’s one trace the pencil’s origins. To my surprise, the manufacturer is the venerable Musgrave Pencil Company of Tennessee!
In the end, I’m wondering how many would choose to use a pencil this raw.
Ruwe Pencil Co. 205 No. 7S pencil
You never know what a small city art supply store will offer. Last weekend, I found some pencils for sale from a long defunct Connecticut pencil manufacturer.
Ruwe Pencil Co. was purchased by Dixon in 1988, and I had only heard of them from collecting sites like Brand Name Pencils, so it was surprising to see some Ruwe pencils for sale at retail.
This pencil, the 205 No. 7S, is a “Polyester Drafting Film” pencil. For those of us (including myself) who don’t regularly work with specialty architectural and drafting films, this is a type of matte surface film with a number of properties that support drawing. You can see it for sale at Dick Blick for example. Staedtler and others do mention that their pencils work on drafting film.
The pencil also has markings from Keuffel and Esser, an engineering and drafting supplies firm. Perhaps the pencil was made for them.
A page at the Smithsonian website suggests K&E’s demise was in 1969, so this pencil might be much older than 1988.
A nice link to the past for only thirty cents.
Results (The Great Debate III: The shape of pencils)
Thank you to everyone who voted and/or left comments in this latest poll.
The final results left no doubt that the preferred pencil shape is hexagonal:
Hexagonal: 31
Round: 2
Triangular: 10
Comments reflected the personal nature of choosing a favourite writing implement. It was noted that the offerings are far fewer in the round and triangular shapes.
Combining the three polls so far, the most desired pencil style would be hexagonal in shape, without an eraser, and sold unsharpened. This is quite interesting – in North America, there aren’t many pencils sold at retail in this format. Satisfying two of the three criteria is much more common.
The Great Debate III: The shape of pencils
Following our previous polls, on pencil pre-sharpening and the question of eraser attachment, this weekend we will consider the shape of pencils.
Today, the majority of branded pencils from all parts of the world are sold in a hexagonal shape. Yet round and triangular pencils carry on with many adherents.
What do you prefer? Feel free to leave a comment as well as vote in this poll.
{democracy:3}