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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