Pencil View
Earlier today I came across a fairly new pencil blog from Austria: Pencil View.
It features nice photos and even videos.
Uncategorised
More Mongols
Well, there are not many blog posts about vintage pencils here, but thanks to Henrik’s comments here’s a quick follow up on the previous blog post and the Mongol.
The Mongol is the pencil that was used for taking notes at the surrender in Reims (ending WWII in Europe), while the Parker 51 was used to sign the actual documents.
If you want to have a closer look at these pencils: Sean has a blog post about the Mongols made in 1944, near the height of U.S. production for the Second World War.
I believe that the use of the image shown in this blog post, falls under “fair dealing” as described by the UK Copyright service.
More Mongols:
Lexikaliker has a nice Mongol ad from the 1920s and on Sola’s blog you can admire some of the Mongol’s great packaging.
…and just earlier this week Jinnie had a look at the Mongol 482
There also more Mongol spotting going on at Orange Crate Art, actually so much that I only picked one to link to. Michael has some great Mongol ads, too. This one is on my wall in the office.
Pencil economics and the Mongol
In Episode 193 of the Pen Addict Brad and Myke mentioned a recent Freakonomics Radio [1]Depsite the name it is a podcast. episode called Who Needs Handwriting?.
I read the Freakonomics book a few years ago. Funnily enough I got it from a friend who I got to know through this blog after posting about a Mongol sharpened with an angle of 14° [2]It’s funny because in the next sentence there’ll be a connection back to the Mongol..
Well, the next episode of Freakonomics Radio looked at “I, Pencil”, the famous economics essay about the Mongol 482. Just like in the previous episode Caroline Weaver from CW Pencils was involved [3]…and to my surprise she says her shop is profitable, which I wouldn’t have expected thinking about how expensive rent in New York must be, as well as flying around the world to the … Continue reading.
One of the best bits of this episode is Tim Harford’s appearance. He’s the guy behind the Radio 4 Programme More or Less, looking at numbers and statistics in the news and everyday life. I listen to every episode of his great programme.
There’s also a great part about the General Pencil Company and how they make their pencils.
Funnily enough the photo of the I, Pencil Freakonomics Radio episode doesn’t feature a Mongol, but the good, old Noris!
References
| ↑1 | Depsite the name it is a podcast. |
|---|---|
| ↑2 | It’s funny because in the next sentence there’ll be a connection back to the Mongol. |
| ↑3 | …and to my surprise she says her shop is profitable, which I wouldn’t have expected thinking about how expensive rent in New York must be, as well as flying around the world to the different trade fairs. |
Pencil economics and the Mongol Read More »
Two and a half Books
Last week I got two books I was very much looking forward to (plus one I ordered because I ordered anyway). Both were books I got to know from Lexikaliker.
First up is Pencils by Marco Ferreri. The book is from 1996 (there was an exhibition, too) and is part of a project that started a year earlier with an exhibition and book about bookmarks. If you like cutlery, he got that covered with another book as well. The book itself is looking at a many different aspects of pencils and has fantastic pictures.
Up next is Bruckmann’s Handbuch der Schrift. I struggle to translate the title, because Schrift in German can mean script, font, scripture, handwriting, … This book covers all of these in great detail and with unusual examples for a book. There are quite a few haptic gimmicks included (examples of Braille, samples of print slides, …). This is certainly one of the best books I own. Unfortunately it doesn’t seem to be in print anymore…
The last book is a children’s book about pencils, ordered from CW Pencils, together with the Ferreri book. I haven’t really had a look yet, but I am sure the little one will like it.
Two and a half Books Read More »
Happy New Year!
Goodbye Year of the Sheep…
…and all the best for the year of the monkey!
