Staedtler

The Noris, then and now

15 Comments / Pencils, Seen in the wild, Staedtler / / , , , ,

Now that Pencil Revolution mentioned my blog posts featuring pencils on telly I feel I should add some more. Speaking of the Pencil Revolution: I also noticed pencils on Revolution – and I was shocked how carelessly they use the pencils as well as other sparse resources …but then they also didn’t really honour their irreplaceable pencils in Stargate Universe.

You might have noticed that my “Seen in the wild” pencils often mention my favourite pencil, the Noris. This is just because this pencil isn’t that often on TV. If I’d focus on the Ticonderoga I’d have a lot of screenshots to show – a big proportion of Malcolm in the Middle and The Big Bang Theory episodes feature this nice pencil.

So, today the focus is on the Staedtler Noris.

Not yet posted on Bleistift and in chronological order:

 

1975: Fawlty Towers (British TV series)

Fawlty Towers - Episode 2
Fawlty Towers – Episode 2 (Image © BBC)
Fawlty Towers - Episode 4
Fawlty Towers – Episode 4 (Image © BBC)

In episode 1 they are mainly using Staedtler’s Tradition. In later episodes the Noris is more common. In the second screenshot you can see Basil Fawlty (John Cleese) sharpening his Noris with a knife.

 

1977: Der Alte (German TV series)

Der Alte - Episode 2
Der Alte – Episode 2 (Image © Neue Münchner Fernsehproduktion / ZDF ORF SRG)

In episode 7 you can see Chief Inspector Köster using a pencil that looks like a Castell 9000, but today is Noris day, so I won’t show the Castell 9000.

 

1990: House of Cards (British TV series)

House of Cards - Episode 2
House of Cards – Episode 2 (Image © BBC)

They also had some really nice pen trays in House of Cards.

 

2008: Commissario Montalbano (Italian TV series)

You can see the Noris being used in the Commissario Montalbano episodes Le Ali della Sfinge / The Wings of the Sphinx and  La Pista di Sabbia / The Track of Sand in this blog post.

 

2008: Tatort (German TV series)

You can see the Noris being used in the Tatort episode Liebeswirren in this blog post about the Noris.

 

2009: Fangavaktin (Icelandic TV series)

You can see the Noris being used in the second episode of Fangavaktin (The Prison Shift) in this blog post.

 

2009: The Armstrong and Miller Show (British TV series)

You can see the Noris being used in the second season of The Armstrong and Miller Show in this blog post.

 

2010: Borgen (Danish TV series)

Borgen (image cropped) - Season 1 Episode 1
Borgen (image cropped) – Season 1 Episode 1 (Image © DR1)

The Danish Prime Minister and his advisor on a trip to England. Each of them has a Staedtler Noris in front of them on the table.

 

2011: Outnumbered (British TV series)

Outnumbered – Season 4 Episode 5 (Image © BBC)

There is a very small chance that this is a Fox Essentials copy, but I think it’s a Noris – The Fox Essentials has a white eraser.

 

2012: Episodes (British TV series)

Episodes (cropped) - Season 2 Episode 2
Episodes (image cropped) – Season 2 Episode 2 (Image © Hat Trick / BBC)

Episodes – again.

 

2012: Quartet (British film)

Quartet (2012 film directed by Dustin Hoffman)
Quartet (2012 film directed by Dustin Hoffman) (Image © Headline Pictures / BBC Films / DCM Productions / Finola Dwyer Productions)

I haven’t watched this film, but Sean was kind enough to tell me about it and to send me this screenshot.

 

 2012: The Bletchley Circle (British TV series) (added after this blog post was first published)

The Bletchley Circle (Image © ITV)
The Bletchley Circle (Image © ITV)

Comrade John from the Pencil Revolution sent this screenshot from The Bletchley Circle, a murder mystery set in the famous [1]If you’re into Cryptography or Computer Science you will have heard about it. Bletchley Park in 1952. I’m not sure though they would have used a Noris in H there [2]OK, it doesn’t have to be H – the Malaysian Noris has shown that same colour doesn’t necessarily indicate the same pencil grade. – Staedtler took the Royal Sovereign Group over in the 1970s, so the code breakers would have been more likely to use Wolff’s Royal Sovereign.

 

2013: Bach: A Passionate Life (British TV documentary) (added after this blog post was first published)

Bach: A Passionate Life (image cropped) (Image © Leopard Films)

I haven’t watched this documentary either, but Sean was kind enough to tell me about it and to send me this screenshot.

 

2013:

If you want to see a Noris being tortured you should head over to Bodyform‘s video (if you don’t want to see the horrible bit, skip a few seconds around 1:13). Rad and Hungry‘s boss Hen Chung posted this video on her Facebook page , which was then also shared on Bleistift’s Faceboook Page [3]The one I haven’t mentioned on this blog yet..

The screenshots in this blog post have been taken from different TV series and films, as stated above. I believe that the use of the screenshots shown in this blog post falls under “fair dealing” as described by the UK Copyright service.

I’d like to thank Sean for the Quartet and the Bach: A Passionate Life screenshots.

I’d like to thank John for the The Bletchley Circle screenshot.

You can see more pencils in the wild by following this link.

References

References
↑1 If you’re into Cryptography or Computer Science you will have heard about it.
↑2 OK, it doesn’t have to be H – the Malaysian Noris has shown that same colour doesn’t necessarily indicate the same pencil grade.
↑3 The one I haven’t mentioned on this blog yet.

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The Snowman and The Snowdog

2 Comments / Derwent, Seen in the wild / / , , , , , , , , , , , ,
Pencils sorted by colour (© Rare Day)
Pencils sorted by colour (Image © Rare Day)

The Snowman

I know, Christmas is over, but the weather is still fairly wintery and it’s just starting to get warmer now, so you might forgive me if I wrote about snowmen. Since 1982 Channel 4 has been showing The Snowman every year for Christmas. It’s a 26-minute animation drawn using pencils.

A blue Prismacolor pencil at work (© Rare Day)
A blue Prismacolor pencil at work (Image © Rare Day)

I don’t think The Snowman is very well known outside the UK, but if you’re not on the British Isles you might know another animation from the author Raymond Briggs: When the Wind Blows.

Are these Caran d'Ache pencils? (© Rare Day)
Are these Caran d’Ache pencils? (Image © Rare Day)

According to the Cumberland Pencil Museum, where you can see a making of video, it has been drawn using Derwent Cumberland pencils.

A Mars Lumograph in the Lupus Films Studio (© Rare Day)
A Mars Lumograph in the Lupus Films Studio (Image © Rare Day)

The sequel

To celebrate the 30th anniversary of the animation Channel 4 made a sequel: The Snowman and The Snowdog. When I first heard about the sequel I was sceptical and didn’t expect it to be hand drawn using pencils, but to my surprise it’s hand made using pencils. The sequel cost £2 million and according to a documentary about the making of the sequel 200 000 sheets of paper and 5000 pencils were used.

Prismacolor 20044 blue (© Rare Day)
Prismacolor 20044 blue (Image © Rare Day)

In a documentary, also shown on Channel 4, you can see all sorts of pencils being used in the studio in North London where the cells were hand drawn. I was surprised to see fairly few Derwent Cumberland pencils [1]I would have thought that Derwent Cumberland would have an interest in sponsoring this movie – 5000 pencils wouldn’t have been a lot for them.. The pencils visible in the documentary don’t have to be representative of those used for the animation, but the pencils you get to see in the documentary are not from Derwent – they are mainly Prismacolor pencils. The 20044, an eraser-tipped blue pencil, seems to be particularly often used for outline animations [2]If that’s the right word. . I believe the reason blue is being used is because cameras or copiers will ignore this colour or shade of colour, so that sketch lines don’t need to be erased and the final black lines can just be drawn over the sketches [3]I first read about this when I discovered Staedtler’s non-photo-blue pencils.. You can also see some Caran d’Ache pencils, Staedtler’s Mars Lumograph and two mechanical pencils, which I think were both Pentels.

Some of the pencils in the home of Raymond Briggs (© Rare Day)
Some of the pencils in the home of Raymond Briggs (Image © Rare Day)

Some scenes were filmed in Raymond Briggs’ House where many Derwent Cumberland pencils were visible and where you can also see him using a Staedtler Mars Lumograph.

 

Composer Ilan Eshkeri is using a red and blue pencil during recording at Abbey Studios (© Rare Day)
Composer Ilan Eshkeri is using a red and blue pencil during recording at Abbey Studios (Image © Rare Day)

The images in this blog post have been taken from Rare Day‘s documentary How the Snowman Came Back to Life. I believe that the use of the images shown in this blog post falls under “fair dealing” as described by the UK Copyright service.

The Snowman and The Snowdog (© Lupus Films, Rare Day)
The Snowman and The Snowdog (Image © Lupus Films, Rare Day)

References

References
↑1 I would have thought that Derwent Cumberland would have an interest in sponsoring this movie – 5000 pencils wouldn’t have been a lot for them.
↑2 If that’s the right word.
↑3 I first read about this when I discovered Staedtler’s non-photo-blue pencils.

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Sharpening a Wopex …again

10 Comments / KUM, Pencils, Sharpeners, Staedtler / / , , ,

My previous experience with KUM sharpeners wasn’t very good. Some of the models I have are good, some are not so good and overall I usually prefer sharpeners from other brands.

You might remember that the Staedtler Wopex is a difficult pencil to sharpen. Nevertheless, I like it so much that on an average day it is my most used pencil. Even though sharpening it with a knife yields good results I thought I should try sharpening the Wopex in KUM’s Automatic Long Point 2M, a sharpener I haven’t used in a while because of the unsightly marks it leaves at the base of the exposed graphite [1]These marks are one of the reason why I prefer the Deli 0635 or the Eisen 402.. To my surprise I got fantastic results when I used it to sharpen a Wopex.

KUM’s Automatic Long Point 2M and Staedtler's Wopex

I get best results if I align the Wopex with the top of the sharpener during the second step. If you have a Wopex and the Automatic Long Point 2M try them out. My Long Point sharpener performs much better than the dedicated Wopex sharpeners I have.

Pencil talk has a review of KUM’s Automatic Long Point 2M.

References

References
↑1 These marks are one of the reason why I prefer the Deli 0635 or the Eisen 402.

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350 years pencil making craft

1 Comment / Seen in the wild, Staedtler / / , , , , , , , , ,
Right hand side: Dr. Konstantin Czeschka (Image © Bayerischer Rundfunk)

To celebrate 350 years of Bleiweißsteftmacherhandwerk [1]the craft of making pencils – Bleiweißsteft is what the Bleistift (German for pencil) was called during the 17th century the Franconian and Bavarian regional news reported live from Staedtler’s factory on 25 September 2012. The reports were only a few minutes long.

Leads (Image © Bayerischer Rundfunk)

Dr. Konstantin Czeschka, Chief Technology & Production Officer, and Axel Marx, Managing Director, talked about the history of the pencil and included these interesting details:

 

  • The graphite used for pencil leads is ground to particles whose size is in the range of a micrometer, one millionth of a metre.
  • In 1900 there where 23 companies manufacturing pencils in Nuremberg. They employed 10,000 employees.
  • One machine, shown on TV, can produce 1000 leads per minute.
  • The pencil leads are heated to 1000°C
  • The leads seem to be made in Nuremberg, but the pencils seem to be assembled in their factory in Neumarkt.
    I thought Staedtler’s mechanical pencils are made there, but didn’t expect their pencils to be made there, too. I mentioned Neumarkt in a previous blog post when I wrote about the ONLINE All Wood Marone. ONLINE is based in Neumarkt, too, as is e+m Holzprodukte.
  • Producing a pencil is a fairly automated process. You only need about 1-2 seconds of human labour time. 100 years ago about one minute was needed, 200 years ago it was about an hour.
  • The price of graphite is expected to rise. One of the reasons is that it is needed for manufacturing batteries for electric cars.
The Noris being painted (Image © Bayerischer Rundfunk)

You can find reviews of products from e+m Holzprodukte at Lexikaliker and Lung Sketching Scrolls.

The images in this blog post have been taken from Frankenschau and Abendschau. I believe that the use of the images shown in this blog post falls under “fair dealing” as described by the UK Copyright service.

 

References

References
↑1 the craft of making pencils – Bleiweißsteft is what the Bleistift (German for pencil) was called during the 17th century

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Staedtler Welt

12 Comments / Staedtler / / , , ,

End of July I visited Staedtler Welt, Staedtler’s shop in the centre of Nuremberg.

Mechnical pencils

The weather on the day was great, around 35°C (~95°F), and I even passed Staedtler’s headquarters when I drove into Nuremberg. This was because my wife, I and two friends went to Herzogenaurach first, the city where Adidas and Puma are from, and when you drive from there to the centre of Nuremberg on the Bundesstraße (B road / national highway) you pass Staedtler’s headquarters, a nice surprise and something I didn’t know or expect.

Nuremberg Souvenirs

Staedtler Welt opened in November 2010 and offers a great selection of Staedtler products – obviously the best I have seen so far in a shop, but I was slightly disappointed because there were many current Staedtler products I am aware of that I couldn’t find in this shop. To be honest I was expecting to see more products, but nevertheless, the products available include some items you don’t usually see in shops, like the Mars rasor and even products that are not made any more, like the Mars stenofix.

 

The Mars stenofix was still being sold

 

Most of the space in the shop is used to display stationery, but there is also an area in the back of the shop dedicated to FIMO and related products, like FIMO accessories. In this part of the shop you can even find ovens and an area that is probably being used for FIMO workshops.

The employees were extremely friendly. One of the employees is originally from the UK and started to talk to our British friends who went there with me and my wife. The prices in the shop were similar to what you would pay on the high street or in a typical department store.

The FIMO area is on the left. You can also see an oven.

 

Wopex and the trend line colours are also on display in the shop. These trend line colours, many are different shades of brown, were first released about a year ago. I thought that they were originally colours exclusive to the Wopex range, but I couldn’t find any evidence for this. In any case, you can now find non-Wopex products in trend line colours, too. When they were first released the trend line products were only available in the Staedtler Welt shop, but during my trip to Germany this July I saw trend line products in department stores, too.

 

Most items were reasonably priced. This leather(?) mouse pad was nice, but expensive.

 

I would like to thank Vernon Antcliff for letting me know his camera when we were in Staedtler Welt.

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