How long has it been since you last used a pencil?

Who would have thought that a graphite core closed inside a wooden casing could perform such numerous and extremely important tasks? 🧐

Today is National Pencil Day. Offering the perfect opportunity to appreciate these timeless writing instruments, this humble tool has been an invaluable asset to humanity, serving as a vehicle for self-expression, a catalyst for creativity, and a faithful companion for everything from meticulous notes to whimsical sketches.

✍ Here's a fascinating tidbit: A single pencil can etch approximately 45,000 words onto paper. While pencils have evolved through centuries of design refinements, one particular innovation stands out - the brilliant marriage of eraser and pencil. Credit for this life-changing combination goes to 19th-century inventor Hymen Lipman, whose practical solution continues to simplify our lives generations later. This annual celebration honors not just the pencil's enduring legacy, but the remarkable ingenuity behind its most user-friendly adaptation.

From this interesting perspective, the pencil set with eraser tool produced by Eagle is more in line with the traditional usage habits of enthusiasts and suitable for people of all ages.

By using our Eagle Wooden Pencil, you will experience:

Color indicates quality——Pencils in the U.S are painted yellow to indicate the best quality pencils.

At the same time, we cannot forget the amazing history of this small production tool.

History of National Pencil Day

Before the invention of the pencil as we know it, people still wrote, only, they used things like a fine brush of camel hair or the stylus (ancient Romans). Back in the 1st century B.C., the Greek poet Philip of Thessaloníki wrote about ‘leaden writing instruments’.

Pencils are one of the first writing tools and they are known to have originated in the 16th century when the world discovered graphite. This crystallized form of carbon was found somewhere around 1565 or even earlier, near Keswick, England. Legend says a storm uprooted a tree here, and clinging to the tree roots was a shiny black substance — graphite! There is no evidence that this is how graphite was discovered; what we do know is that this site was transformed into a commercial graphite mine a few decades later. This is around the time people began using a piece of graphite wrapped in a string to write.

18th-century German chemist A. G. Werner was responsible for naming it ‘graphite’, from the Greek word ‘graphein,’ which means ‘to write’. In the early days after the discovery, local shepherds were the only ones using graphite to mark their sheep. Because it looked so much like lead, people would call it plumbago — the Latin word for lead, i.e., ‘plumbus’ — or even ‘black lead’. This connotation stuck to graphite, and consequently, pencils too.

After Swiss naturalist Conrad Gessner published his drawing of a strip of graphite inside a tube of wood, the ‘pencil’ began to spread throughout Europe. Britain still had a monopoly over pencil making, and graphite, at this time. By 1794, however, France was cut off from this supply of pencils due to their war with Britain. Thus, French engineer Nicolas-Jacques Conté was responsible for inventing ‘Crayons Conté’, which was low-quality graphite mixed with clay, shaped into rods, and baked. Continental pencil makers no longer needed to rely on the British for pencils.

Conté's invention spurred more innovation in the world of pencil making. Germany, France, America — each country conducted their own experiments, and pencil making became commonplace around the globe. These pencils were great, but the wood around was not. In fact, it was often of low quality. Soon, people hit upon the idea of painting pencils to mask the quality of the wood. Only the fanciest pencils went unpainted. And then, at the 1889 World’s Fair in Paris, an Austro-Hungarian pencil company unveiled a new luxury pencil — which was painted yellow. It was named Koh-I-Noor after the largest and best diamond in the world. Because of this, yellow came to be associated with quality, and many other pencil makers picked up this color to adorn their pencils. Even today, the U.S. paints pencils and other writing instruments yellow to represent quality.

And what about, the mistakes people made while writing? Before there were erasers, people would rub out mistakes using balled-up lumps of old bread. Then, in 1770, a clergyman-chemist named Joseph Priestley noticed the gum harvested from trees in South America was very good at removing pencil marks. Because people had to rub to remove the marks, this gum was named ‘rubber’.

Germany gave birth to the mass-production of pencils, with companies like Faber-Castell, Staedtler, and Lyra that produced pencils in bulk. In Massachusetts, the Dixon Ticonderoga Company began manufacturing pencils in the 19th century. By the late 19th century, pencils were widely being used in the U.S. The most famously used wood for pencils was red cedar because of its aroma and quality.

On March 30, 1858, Hymen Lipman patented the ‘modern pencil.’ It was a wooden graphite pencil with a rubber eraser attached, which he later sold to Joseph Reckendorfer for $100,000.

Since then, the manufacturing of pencils hasn't stopped and there are billions of pencils being made and sold around the world. There are so many types of pencils including graphite pencils, charcoal pencils, grease pencils, and watercolor pencils.

National Pencil Day FAQs

Q: Who invented the modern pencil?

A: The modern pencils were created by Nicholas-Jaques Conte in 1795.

Q: What was used before pencils?

A: A Roman writing instrument called a stylus was used to write before pencils were made. This instrument left a mark that was light but could be seen on the papyrus easily.

Q: Did pencils always have lead?

This is a common misconception. Lead has actually never been used in lead pencils but, in fact, graphite.

Q: Why is there a National Pencil Day?

A: National Pencil Day commemorates the day pencil maker Hymen Lipman received a patent for the ‘modern pencil,’ a wood pencil with an eraser attached. The day itself has been observed since the 1970s, but the founder has not been … found.

Q: How do you celebrate National Pencil Day?

A: There are multiple ways to celebrate this day, including celebrating the pencil itself, reading up on the instrument’s origins, and so on.

Q: When was the pencil invented?

A: A scientist serving in Napoleon Bonaparte’s army, Jacques Conté, invented the first pencil design in 1795, using graphite.

National Pencil Day Activities

1.      Draw a picture without picking up your pencil

      This fun activity is for all artists and non-artists. Draw a picture without picking up your pencil from the paper. You can even draw a picture without looking at the paper. Have fun using this instrument to express yourself.

2.      Find another use for the pencil

     Small plants usually need some support while growing. If you have a small plant at home, you can give it some support by tying a pencil to it. 

     It can also be used to create a DIY school picture frame or as a moth repellent (putting pencil shavings into cloth bags and storing them as satchels in your closet can repel moths.) Find new uses for the humble pencil, then go forth and innovate!

3.      Create your own customized pencils

      Get your own customized pencils with your name on them or any funny phrase written on them. There are many ways in which you can get them made. Search the internet for the best customized pencil supplier in your area.

Conclusion

Every child starts their literacy journey with a pencil. Using pencils helps us learn advanced motor skills, develops our creativity, and allows us to write and draw, non-permanently. Pencils are used by everyone, from toddlers to artists — everyone needs a pencil.

We love what the pencil symbolizes——Life is full of possibilities, and the pencil (with an eraser attached) gives you a chance to start over.

If you want to learn more about our Eagle pencil products, you can click to visit our Eagle profile website. 🥰