Group of Three Eagle Pencil Company Drawing Leads
date: label: date made
content: 1929-1958
name: label: maker
content: Eagle Pencil Company
notes: label: Description
content: Two of these leads are 5-1/8" in length and are marked: SSWS MADE U.S.A. U.S. PAT. 1,832,654 (/) 3H EAGLE TURQUOISE ® ELECTRONIC 3H. One lead is 4" long and marked: SSWS MADE U.S.A. U.S. PAT. 1,832,654 (/) 2H EAGLE TURQUOISE ® ELECTRONIC 2H.
label: Description
content: Adolf Pischel of New York City and Paul Pischel of London, England, applied in Germany in 1928 and in the United States in 1929 for patents on a process that made a plastic from "earthy matter," graphite, and Turkey red oil, forming the plastic into pencil leads. They assigned their U.S. patent to the Eagle Pencil Company.
label: Description
content: German immigrant Heinrich Berolzheimer opened Eagle Pencil Company as a pencil shop in New York City in 1856, with a factory in Yonkers. By 1880, the firm made mechanical pencils as well as pens and erasers. Its Turquoise line of drawing leads was widely sold in the first half of the 20th century. In 1969 the company changed its name to Berol Corporation, and the Empire Pencil Corporation purchased it in 1986.
label: Description
content: These objects were received and are stored with a set of drawing instruments, 1985.0909.01. The set was owned by Harald Trap Friis (1893–1976), a Danish emigrant who became a prominent radio engineer for Bell Labs.
label: Description
content: Reference: Adolf Pischel and Paul Pischel, "Process for Manufacturing Rods from Plastic Materials" (U.S. Patent 1,832,654 issued November 17, 1931).
label: Location
content: Currently not on view
place: label: place made
content: United States: New York, New York City
topic: label: Subject
content: Mathematics
label: Subject
content: Drafting, Engineering
label: Subject
content: writing implements
setName: label: See more items in
content: Medicine and Science: Mathematics
label: See more items in
content: Pens and Pencils
label: See more items in
content: Science & Mathematics
creditLine: label: Credit Line
content: Transfer from Library of Congress, Exchange and Gift Division
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of American History
identifier: label: ID Number
content: 1985.0909.04
label: accession number
content: 1985.0909
label: catalog number
content: 1985.0909.04
objectType: label: Object Name
content: leads, group of three
label: Object Name
content: pencils
physicalDescription: label: Physical Description
content: plastic (overall material)
label: Measurements
content: overall: 13 cm x .6 cm x .2 cm; 5 1/8 in x 1/4 in x 3/32 in