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Eraser pencil12/29/2023 Block says that school teachers feared an increase in carelessness in children’s work due to the extra appendage on the pencil. Yet, at one time this addition to the classroom was considered controversial. Throughout childhood the pencil-eraser combination has been the standard writing utensil, allowing for the mistakes that children will most certainly make while learning new concepts. Still, Hyman Lipman greatly contributed to the prevailing design of our beloved pencil and without his contributions bread might still be the norm for correcting mistakes! Lipman invented neither the pencil nor the eraser, he simply combined the two so the invention was considered invalid. Unfortunately, Robert Lunsford notes that the patent was later revoked by the Supreme Court when it was challenged by a German firm, Faber-Castell, that attached the eraser using a metal ferrule. Reckendorfer states, In making mathematical, architectural, and many other kinds of drawings in which the lines are very near each other, the eraser is particularly useful, as it may be sharpened to a point to erase any marks between the lines and should the point of the rubber become soiled or inoperative from any cause, such cause is easily removed by a renewed sharpening, as in the ordinary lead-pencil. By constructing the pencil this way either end could be sharpened. On the other end of the casing a wider groove is carved and a stick of rubber eraser is laid and glued. Basically, at one end of the wood casing the lead or graphite is laid in a hollowed out interior groove, forming what would be considered half of a modern pencil. The patent was then bought by Joseph Reckendorfer, who, in his patent application, explained the construction of the pencil. On March 30, 1858, Hymen Lipman was granted a patent for creating the first wood- cased pencil with an attached rubber eraser, revolutionizing classrooms and art studios alike. Hymen Lipman of Philadelphia patented the first combination pencil and eraser. It was not until one man from Philadelphia, decided that he did not want an old loaf of bread on his desk any longer that a pencil with an attached eraser was born. By rubbing the bread against the paper it removed the graphite from the surface, much like an eraser would today. He also mentions that the earliest erasers were loaves of bread. They used this material to mark their sheep and created their pencils by wrapping a slice of graphite in string. Shepherds there discovered large deposits of pure graphite and found that it was easy to cut and wrote very well. On the contrary, today the pencil is such an integral part of our routine lives that we do not even give it notice.Īccording to Ben Block, author of “Life-Cycle Studies: Pencils,” the closest ancestor to our well-known graphite companion was made from graphite found in Borrowdale, England. It is interesting to note that both Mathesis and Gesner were so overwhelmed by the discovery of this new writing tool that they saw fit to include it in their writings. Neither of these men received credit for the invention of the pencil they were simply noting the incredible benefits this discovery could give to a scribe or even ordinary person in the late sixteenth century. Petroski also mentions though that a wooden graphite pencil was likely used before this illustration, as there were references to a “new discovery for writing” by Johann Mathesis the previous year. Petroski describes Gesner as a very educated man whose life was centered around reading and writing. It is not known precisely when the first graphite pencil was invented, although one of the first true descriptions and a picture of one comes from physicist Konrad Gesner in 1565. This brush, constructed of a hollow wood tube filled with neatly arranged animal hairs, could be used to write and draw thin lines. According to Henry Petroski, author of The Pencil: A History of Design and Circumstance, the Latin word penicillum was used to describe a small brush that closely resembled what is now known as a pencil. The earliest form of a pencil was much closer to a paintbrush than the modern day interpretation. However, it is often forgotten that before the invention of a wood cased pencil with an attached eraser in 1858 by Hymen Lipman, things were not done quite as easily. Thus, the pencil is the go to medium for most artists and architects beginning a new work. With a few simple flicks of the wrist, lines are erased never to be seen again. This graphite utensil, or more accurately the little rubber bit connected to it, is best known for its forgiveness to perfectionists, artists, Sudoku enthusiasts, and test-takers alike. Perhaps, however, it is actually the well known but often neglected cousin of the pen that is the mightiest of all. It was once said that the pen is mightier than the sword. Pencils come in a wide variety of colors, shapes, grades.Ĭlick to see any picture in a larger size.
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