Summer is in full swing in NYC and we've had an eventful few days. I've returned to the shop from a brief stint in the hospital. Though it's not ideal to hobble around the shop in a leg brace I'm managing in part because of all of the love and cards and flowers I've received. Thank you pencil friends! Here are some high points from the week: 

We're especially excited because we have lots of cool new things this week.   From Portugal we received a fresh box of Emilio Braga notebooks in new colors. We also have the new Blackwing Volumes pencil and the Mitsu-bishi 4B Penmanship pencil (which we're totally obsessed with!). 

If you've been one of the many people who have inquired about this you'll be pleased to hear that we now stock Blum eraser caps/point protectors. The eraser is better than your average pink school topper and the extra length on the pencil holder part of it does indeed make for a pretty good point protector. We're still searching for a truly excellent eraser cap but until then these are more than enough to satisfy your frantic erasing needs. 

More about the Mitsu-bishi Penmanship pencil though--it's super dark, super slick, super pretty and just an all-around winner for all of you soft pencil people. You can find it here but if you come into the shop this weekend it's likely that either Caitlin or I will point it out to you before you even have the chance to ask for it. 

Today we received a mysterious FedEx envelope from Japan which contained a copy of Madame Figaro in which we found our shop (pictured above)! We're delighted but also sad because we can't read what it says. 

If you're in the shop in the coming weeks you might notice a few new faces. We've hired some extra help for the summer and we'll be sure to post profiles for everyone on our team soon. 

Happy weekend!

CW

PS. Expect more regular blog posts. Caitlin and I made a list of things you need to know about including pencil grading by brand (because not all HBs are created equal), situational pencil recommendations and the best pages from our test books. Let us know if there's anything you want us to write about!

As you have probably heard, I opened a physical incarnation of CW Pencil Enterprise in New York City last week. It's been a very busy few days as I've been trying to solve internet problems, figure out my 1960s Kingsley hot foil machine and constantly refilling pencil displays. There's been a lot to sort out, to say the least. I'm not quite used to the 'shop-keeper' job title but I like it. I like it a lot. Best of all, I get to meet all of you and talk about this stuff in person. 

Once I get a routine established I'll blog more--there are so many things I want to talk about. For now, here are the things I've learned by running a pencil shop for a week:

1. EVERYONE loves pencils, they just might not know it yet. 

2. 'Made in America' is something people often take for granted--most are surprised when I tell them that there are only 3 running pencil factories left in the US. 

3. Kids love to play with sharpeners, especially the red Classroom Friendly on my pencil testing station. 

4. I don't know as much about erasers as I should. 

5. Having a bowl of Lemonheads on my desk makes people really happy. 

6. Customers love to talk, they want to hear stories and know about why this little place exists--and I'm thrilled because this is my job and I love talking about it. 

7. This shop not only exists to show off all of the wonderful graphite things in the world but also as a form of personal expression--as my second home. There are things that might not make sense, but they're here because I love them. 

8. Everyone is a kid again when they're under the influence of a pencil scented room. No one has used the antique advertising pencil vending machine without expressing complete joy. 

9. Nostalgia is an enormously powerful thing.

10. I am really happy to be the crazy pencil lady of this crazy city. 

For quite a while every stationary item I came across and loved was Portuguese. Often it was the packaging, usually honestly old fashioned and beautifully made. I'm not sure what it is but there is something so genuine about Portuguese stationery. The notebooks serve a purpose but are never an eye sore and the pencils are simple but function perfectly. As a shop owner, I am thrilled to stock both of my favorite Portuguese brands. 

Emilio Braga notebooks, for one are something I've coveted for a long while but have often had trouble finding. Founded in 1918 by Emilio da Silva Braga, this stationer became known for his well bound notebooks and cloud print which is not dissimilar to what we see on a composition notebook. They may not be the largest or finest stationery manufacturer in Portugal anymore, but their cloud notebooks are still as beautiful. They're made 75% without the touch of a machine and feature details often missed by more modern brands. 

Another brand I love is Viarco. You've probably heard of them or used their pencils but what strikes me most about this company is their commitment to heritage and quality. They were founded by French industrialists in 1914, and after the interruption of World War I started producing pencils under the Viarco name in 1936. As it stands, Viarco is the only remaining pencil manufacturer in Portugal and now produce art materials as well. They still make copying pencil and often release dead stock of vintage items for sale to the general public. What I love most are their scented pencils, the name for which translates to "The Backyards and Gardens of Portugal". Each scent is soaked into the cedar of the unfinished pencil and they really truly do smell of the native flowers they're named after. Their products are made honestly, without compromise and maintain the level of dignity that a pencil deserves. 

Not only are both of these brands Portuguese icons, they are also both rare types of businesses whose roots have remained unchanged over nearly a century, who haven't been bought and sold and bought and sold again, who manufacture the same way they always have and who don't ignore what's modern about manufacturing but manage to work with it and around it with grace and integrity.

There's a new brand that I'm selling and it's one you might not have heard of. There are so many brands that we've become used to hearing about, ones that have reached pencil collectors globally. This one isn't quite that. You will know it if you're from or familiar with Southeast Asia. You've maybe read about it on one of the very very few blog who've covered it. Chances are, you've never written with it. 

It comes from India, from Nataraj--a Mumbai based pencil company who boast being the #1 pencil manufacturer in India. Started in 1958, Nataraj prides itself on making sustainable, affordable, good quality pencils. Below you'll find an early video advertisement and also a new version of the same commerical: 

If you YouTube 'Pencil commercial' you'll mostly only find videos for Nataraj. I wish I knew why these wonderful little videos can exist in India and not anywhere else, but that's something for all of us to ponder. I've been writing with the Nataraj 621, the classic advertised above and I am pleased to admit that it does what it promises. The wood casing is made from Indian vetta and the graphite core is smooth and break resistant. Every country has its standard, for us it's often considered to be the Ticonderoga, for India it's Nataraj and I am so very thrilled to be offering them. 

I am asked daily about pencils. Not by customers or people I know in the pencil community, but rather by those who notice the tattoo on my arm or those who I meet in passing at a bar or a shop. Once they get over the peculiarity of my chosen profession they always ask why. Sometimes they even get really excited and share with me their obsession, often as if they've been embarrassed to admit it to anyone else before. 

To me it's simple. Pencils are one of the few objects which are totally universal. And by that I mean that they vary only marginally in design and manufacture no matter where they're made in the world or what era they were made in. They are necessary but also pleasurable. They engage the senses in a way a mechanical pencil can't. They tell a story of where they came from or when they existed. They smell like freshly cut wood every time you sharpen them. They fit perfectly into a human hand without any clips or grips or fuss. They contain thousands of words that haven't been written yet. 

The one thing I haven't been told is that I'm old-fashioned. In a world where we can have everything, the general consensus seems to be that it's an admirable thing to appreciate something simple and specific. All of that said, I am pleased to announce that Caroline Weaver Pencil Enterprise will officially take physical form in the Lower East Side of Manhattan in the wonderful New York City at the beginning of February 2015. My only hope is that I can create a worthy home for the object I love so much and that like-minded visitors feel at home as well. 

Copying pencils. They look like a pencil, generally smell like a pencil but have a magic function which is widely unnecessary in the modern world. Write with it, place a damp sheet of tissue or tracing paper on top and press it and you'll get a wet copy of the original text. I told you, magic! 

 It's not quite that simple. Copying pencil lead is a combination of graphite, clay, aniline dyes and silver nitrate. They were unerasable until the advent of the vinyl eraser and appreciated for their permanence. The copying pencils of the 19th and early 20th century are quite different from the ones found today, as their predecessors have been found to be mildly toxic. Though modern versions may not be quite as effective, they still have a place with artists who are looking for a strong, permanent mark. 

 You might ask why someone would want to use something that's toxic, old, and irrelevant. Historically, copying pencils were associated with conductors and referred to as 'railroad pencils'. During WWI they were used by British and American troops for war related paperwork as copies could be made and because they were less fussy than a pen and ink. Sadly, they fell in popularity shortly after the war when the ballpoint pen came to be. 

Try one--aside from all the history and science they're just really fun to play with, especially when you consider that once upon a time they were considered to be so very convenient. 

I am twenty-three years old and I'm certain that in my lifetime I've never seen a print advertisement for a pencil. Maybe its because we're stuck looking at ads for electronics and expensive pens instead. Or maybe it's because there isn't enough mainstream competition anymore. Just got to any Staples or Target and you'll find that you have no more than two or three options. I'm not going to say that its sad that pencils aren't advertised like they used to be because really, they don't need to be.

Even before cheap mechanical pencils and other writing instruments rose in popularity pencils weren't commonly advertised, especially after the 1940s. Most of them were published in magazines like Forbes or the Saturday Evening Post and were targeted towards artists and designers. You might recognize the ones for Mongol with the cute girl or the standard ones for Eagle or Ticonderoga but my favorites were for Venus Velvet in the mid-1930s. They satisfied all of the advertising standards of their time, including the essay long description of the product and the detailed and very literal illustrations. The thing that sets them apart is the simplicity of their message " ______ was started with a pencil". Fill that blank in with the Empire State Building, the Queen Mary, Pan Am and many other culturally significant mid-century things. Something about it still seems very current and I wonder what would happen if we turned the page in Vanity Fair and found and ad that read "The iPhone was started with a pencil". Really though, isn't almost everything started with a pencil?

Developed by IBM in 1937 in conjunction with the first test scoring machine, the IBM Electrographic mark sensing pencil came to be. The core was made from electro graphite—artificial graphite made by heating carbon in an electric furnace (otherwise known as graphitized carbon). Not only did this make the electrons in the graphite smaller and therefore easier to pick up by the machine, it also created a darker, shinier graphite. These days tests are taken with #2 pencils which effectively do the same job on modern, less sensitive machines but enthusiasts still love the line that the old test-scorers allow. 

There are still two official test-scoring pencils made in the US, one by General’s of Jersey City, New Jersey and one by Musgrave of Shelbyville, Tennessee. They might not be quite as sophisticated as their predecessor, but do they really need to be? 

Let’s talk about these pencils.  Upon first use, the Musgrave Test Scoring 100 model feels more noticeably smoother and darker than any old pencil and does leave a bit of a sheen. It sharpens well and retains its point excellently, though the design of the pencil may be a bit of an eye-sore with its sloppy silver paint and spread-out text. Many users complain about the sharp hexagonal barrel being uncomfortable, and after writing with it for a straight 20 minutes or so I can attest that this is very true. 

As for the General’s Test Scoring, it does the job but to the untrained pencil user feels and looks the same as your trusty #2. However, aesthetically it’s simple, nostalgia-inspiring and is superior to the Musgrave in wood quality, sharpenability, point-retention and eraser quality. 

But really, as far as test-scoring pencil go you can’t beat the genius and writing ability of IBM. Aside from that, it was first and only pencil to ever be developed by a tech company and its place in pencil history is truly irreplaceable. 

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