Eversharp Pencils: The Operator`s Guide

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Eversharp Pencils: The Operator's Guide
by Jim Mamoulides 3/25/03 - Updated 9/4/04
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The Original Eversharp Pencil
Gold-filled Eversharp pencils seem to turn up everywhere vintage fountain pens do. This
simple pencil became so successful that by the early 1920s literally millions were being
made, to the point where the word Eversharp became synonymous for any mechanical
pencil. The simple design for the original Eversharp propel-only pencil was conceived in
1913 by Charles Keeran of Bloomfield, Illinois, who in late 1915 went to the Chicago based
Wahl Adding Machine Company to mass-produce his invention. Wahl wrestled ownership
from Keeran and the new pencil quickly became the flagship product of the company,
launching Wahl into the writing instrument business. The Eversharp pencil was produced in
a multitude of sizes, decoration, and materials.
Since many Eversharp pencils turn up in the pen collecting world, most without any
operating instructions, and in some cases are not intuitive to 21st century users, I thought it
would be valuable to composite use instructions for them in one place for easy reference.
The Simplest One Of All
A 1920s Vintage Large Eversharp Ripple Pattern Pencil Open And Ready To Be Filled
Though it was the dominant brand, Eversharp supplied its dealers with feature guides
pointing out the simple operation and maintenance of the pencil. During the 1920s
competition rose from other major pen and pencil makers with new and in many cases,
superior, designs. These pamphlets helped the dealer walk through with a customer why
the Eversharp pencil was the one to buy.
The six main features emphasized both here and in advertisements were:
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Rifled tip - which helps grip the lead tightly in the barrel
Extra lead storage in the barrel - easy to access by pulling up the cap
Easy to fill - "one pull - insert the lead - one push - one turn" - which also revealed the
simplicity of the design
Replaceable eraser
Improved clip
Every part interchangeable - for quick and easy repair by the dealer - removing the
need to send the pen back to Eversharp
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A 1920s Eversharp Dealer Pamphlet Showing The Features Of The Pencil
The original Eversharp pencil is very easy to use and refill. Twisting the crown clockwise
advances the lead. The mechanism is advance only. Pulling back the crown opens a slot in
the barrel to drop in new leads. The crown cap itself hides an eraser. Replacement leads
for these pencils are 1.2mm and can be found through many vintage pen dealers.
Early Twist-Fill Eversharps
Even though the Eversharp pencil dominated the market well into the 1920s, other
manufacturers were busy making improvements to simple propel only designs. The
weakness of the design is that the pencil can't retract the lead, leading to breakage, and the
pencil has a tendency to clog. By the mid-1920s, competitors were beginning to offer better
working propel-repel-expel designs that were starting to eat into Eversharp sales. By 1928,
Eversharp had introduced a twist-fill continuous feed rifled tip pencil as an improvement.
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Eversharp Rifle-Tip Instructions c1929 - Sized For Printing
Propel-Repel-Expel Eversharps
By 1929, Eversharp finally introduced a propel-repel-expel pencil. This design appears in
the 1929 catalog with the Equi-Poised line and follows with the Dorics.
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Eversharp Propel-Repel-Expel Instructions c1929 - Sized For Printing
The Eversharp Repeater
In 1936, Eversharp introduced a new automatic pencil design that advanced the lead by
pressing a button on the cap. Eversharp called these pencils Repeaters and used machineguns and automatic pistols in advertisements to make the point of how they worked and as
a play on the "click-click-click" of advancing the lead. This particular design was used from
the late Dorics, through the Coronet, Pacemaker, Skyline, Fifth Avenue, and Symphony.
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A Set Of Eversharp Repeaters (Left to Right) - Coronet / Skyline / Symphony
As with the early Eversharp pencil, Eversharp made many different Repeater models,
including designs that were not paired with a fountain pen.
Eversharp Repeater Instructions c1940 Front Side
Repeaters use up to 16 short "Red Top" leads that can be found often through vintage pen
dealers.
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Eversharp Repeater Instructions c1940 Back Side
Eversharp also made simple twist fill propel-repel pencils. These can often be seen with
late inexpensive models from the late 1940s until the demise of the company in the late
1950s.
Comments on this article may be sent to the author, Jim Mamoulides
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Last Update 9/4/04
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2010-12-03