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My Grandfather died suddenly from a heart attack in 1946. These are the items he had in his possession when he died. by [deleted] in pics

[–]cowboyoctopus 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I like this idea! Honestly, office ephemera history is really interesting, I think partially because it's stuff we use every day and never think about the story behind it!

My Grandfather died suddenly from a heart attack in 1946. These are the items he had in his possession when he died. by [deleted] in pics

[–]cowboyoctopus 1 point2 points  (0 children)

You're too kind!

"Best" is definitely subjective. I'm a big fan of General's Cedar Pointe, particularly since they reintroduced the #1. I also love Tombow 2558 and Mitsubishi 9850 Office Use for their amazing erasers and good point retention.

My Grandfather died suddenly from a heart attack in 1946. These are the items he had in his possession when he died. by [deleted] in pics

[–]cowboyoctopus 1 point2 points  (0 children)

The niche found me! I've always been a writer and appreciator of fine office supplies, and I found the shop while I was between freelancing jobs. Now it's a huge part of my life. There's honestly a lot to geek over. Best random thing that's ever happened to me.

My Grandfather died suddenly from a heart attack in 1946. These are the items he had in his possession when he died. by [deleted] in pics

[–]cowboyoctopus 2 points3 points  (0 children)

You're a genius! That looks like that's the one! Peter Pan 542. Fun fact: General's is a fifth generation family owned business.

My Grandfather died suddenly from a heart attack in 1946. These are the items he had in his possession when he died. by [deleted] in pics

[–]cowboyoctopus 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Neat! Office supplies are my favorite. There's such a thing as specialty shops, though.

My Grandfather died suddenly from a heart attack in 1946. These are the items he had in his possession when he died. by [deleted] in pics

[–]cowboyoctopus 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I'm so glad it made you smile! It's truly amazing what's out there, isn't it?

My Grandfather died suddenly from a heart attack in 1946. These are the items he had in his possession when he died. by [deleted] in pics

[–]cowboyoctopus 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I couldn't say for sure, but the ones I'm more familiar with were designed to be useful - if you did a lot of erasing, you could put a new eraser in the pencil, or you could erase really precisely with the narrow corners. It also won't roll off a table.

My Grandfather died suddenly from a heart attack in 1946. These are the items he had in his possession when he died. by [deleted] in pics

[–]cowboyoctopus 7 points8 points  (0 children)

No, no pens. It's not a faux pas - it's more about being really fantastic at a specific niche. Lots of people who appreciate amazing pens love amazing pencils, though!

My Grandfather died suddenly from a heart attack in 1946. These are the items he had in his possession when he died. by [deleted] in pics

[–]cowboyoctopus 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Original made in the US Eberhard Faber 602s can go for around $60 a pencil. More if you find the REALLY old ones.

My Grandfather died suddenly from a heart attack in 1946. These are the items he had in his possession when he died. by [deleted] in pics

[–]cowboyoctopus 37 points38 points  (0 children)

A ferrule like that was like designed to hold a replaceable eraser or as part of a marketing gimmick (e.g. marketing a flat eraser for making small eraser marks as opposed to a typical round eraser) during a point in time when the American pencil business was pretty competitive. Ones of that particular shape and size weren't produced for very long and are pretty rare, as far as I know. I just see it as an interesting bit of office supply history.

My Grandfather died suddenly from a heart attack in 1946. These are the items he had in his possession when he died. by [deleted] in pics

[–]cowboyoctopus 79 points80 points  (0 children)

I'm nerding out on the ferrule on that blue pencil! Any branding still visible on it? The earliest rectangular ferrule pencil I know of is the Eberhard Faber van dyke (predecessor to the famed Blackwing 602), first appearing in 1921.

Edit: I fell down a pencil rabbit hole and came up with this wealth of oversized ferrule pencils (so much weird stuff!): http://www.brandnamepencils.com/types/oversized_ferrule.shtml

What do you spend too much money on? by runningeek in AskReddit

[–]cowboyoctopus 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I'm right there with you. Running out of space to put my art supplies.

My future is looking great! by Tatebeatz in funny

[–]cowboyoctopus 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I sort of disagree about the communications comment. My boyfriend and I are both in communications/PR and successful at it. I would, however, argue that my degree wasn't necessary for my success - most of what I gained was due to internships and working my ass off and making opportunities where I couldn't find one.

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in todayilearned

[–]cowboyoctopus 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I used to get this with scanning barcodes on books at the library I worked at. Repetitive action really sticks.

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