chatelaine, pencil
date: label: date made
content: 1890-1920
label: date made
content: 1890s-1920s
notes: label: Description
content: The loop on the end of this mechanical pencil suggests that it was worn on a chain or a ribbon around the neck, while its design indicates its use by a woman, perhaps during office work. It is both a tool—a writing instrument useful to have at hand as a person moves around—and a decorative personal accessory. Made of silver, if worn around the neck this small pencil would be visible in ways that signified the position and work of its wearer while also registering almost as jewelry, an expression of individual style. It could have been given as a gift for the long service of a professional secretary or to a school teacher.
label: Description
content: Retractable, mechanical pencils like this have a long history, but became mass produced during the last decades of the 19th century. Their manufacturers claimed they would improve the efficiency of office workers because they did not need to stop work to sharpen them. They were ever-sharp. Nicer versions made of sliver, glass, enamel or even gold were often given as gifts.
label: Location
content: Currently not on view
topic: label: general subject association
content: Women's History
label: general subject association
content: Jewelry
label: general subject association
content: Fashion
setName: label: See more items in
content: Work and Industry: Mechanisms
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of American History
identifier: label: ID Number
content: ME.200122.1419
label: catalog number
content: 200122.1419
label: accession number
content: 200122
objectType: label: Object Name
content: chatelaine, pencil
physicalDescription: label: Physical Description
content: silver, pencil lea (overall material)
label: Measurements
content: overall: 3 3/8 in x 1/2 in; x 8.5725 cm x 1.27 cm