Pencil of the Month Club, Vol. II, No. 2 -- Dec. 2007

Jack Boles Wood Spirit hand carved pencil.
Jack Boles is a wood carver living deep in the Ozark Mountains of Arkansas. His passion for wood carving started as a 5-year old lad at the Silver Dollar City County Fair. While the other boys were on the amusement rides, Jack was propped against a tree, fascinated by the woodcarvers! Now a grandfather, Jack loves to carve for the little ones. At the fairs, the adult folks are by the tables browsing his high dollar woodcarvings. But Jack is over yonder, fascinating the children sitting all about him.  He’s carving something they can afford to have as their own -- a Jack Boles wood spirit pencil!

Bridge Scoring and  T I N Y  pencil.
Musgrave Pencil Co. (Tennessee) manufactures these pencils. I don’t get it. What does one do with the tiny pencil, and why do bridge players favor a shorter, smaller diameter pencil? Musgrave’s sales manager, Vicki, despite having over 20 years in the pencil business, is just as puzzled! She advised us, however, to stock up on them because they are becoming popular again. We will, but we would like to know why? Well, have fun – and if you know something we can write about when we post them in the shop, please speak up. We’re pencil stumped!

Snowflakes & Trees pencil.
Twist this attractive pencil in your fingers by a bright light. See the twinkling falling snow! Most pencils are rather plain. Yet, it is a particular pleasure to view and use a picturesque pencil. They attract your eye at the drug store, although you pass them by for quality reasons. But, this is a well-made school/office grade pencil, one of over 800 special enhanced graphics pencils en route to PencilThings. It’s the kind of pencil that, when you take it out around others, you will receive nice comments. So, being the pencil ambassador you are, enjoy it for a brief time. Then brighten another person’s day with a nice pencil gift!

Rhodia 3 x 4 ¾ notebook. Gift to Club Members from Exaclair, Inc.
Here’s a simple staple-bound notebook. And yet, with its characteristic eye to quality, Exaclair uses their extra white, 80 g., acid free, pH neutral smooth finish paper. The 12 sheet folio (48 pages) is set between coated and waterproofed card covers. I always keep one on hand to supplement my photographic memory. (Yeah, right!) By the way, RhodiaDrive.com is a classy BLOG that may interest you. I found the November 21st feature a pleasant reminder of the first Thanksgiving. I’m also trying out a few of the techniques featured on the GTD+R (Getting Things Done + Rhodia) blog mentioned at RhodiaDrive.com.

Limited Edition Subscription:
Staedtler yellow pencil 134-HB. You’re holding one of only 288 of these pencils in the United States. This is a staple school and office pencil in Germany. Staedtler doesn’t sell them in the United States, probably calculating that there is not a sufficient market for another yellow school pencil. I’m not so sure about that. Look at the beautiful finish – a little brighter than “school bus yellow” and definitely sporting more lacquer coats than typical school/office pencils. The eraser works well, and the black ferrule is distinctive. This pencil, in its elegant simplicity, is a nice companion to the flashy Staedtler Cadet.

Comments

[jakestown]

Back in the '70's, 'Time' magazine would send out those little tiny red pencils with their subscription cards - I guess they figured if you had a pencil in hand, you'd subscribe immediately. They even had 'Time' printed on the pencil. I always thought they were nifty.