The Blackwing 602 is more often thought of as being a “modern” pencil, rather than being associated with vintage pencils such as the Van Dyke or Microtomic. Perhaps this is because it was manufactured up until 1998 and the stories about its demise are centered in the 1990s. Even the briefest encounter with the sleek look and feel of a Blackwing leaves a powerful first impression. But depending which decades color your lenses, the Blackwing’s design has both forward-looking and vintage elements; the perfect recipe for a sense of timelessness.
However, reckoning from its trademark application, the Blackwing 602 first appeared in the Eberhard Faber catalog sometime between 1933-34. This means it had a lifespan of approximately 65 years. Its product number—602—followed a well-known and popular pencil, the Van Dyke 601. It would be followed by an equally well-known pencil, the Microtomic 603. While the Blackwing shares the same form—a shortened barrel, an elongated ferrule, and an adjustable eraser—that’s about all it had in common with the Van Dyke and Microtomic. The Blackwing was not marketed as a “drawing pencil”, which means it was never offered in varying degrees. It was a one-off. An anomaly.
In the decades that followed, the Blackwing would not be the (advertised) recipient of Eberhard Faber’s “microtomic” enhancements as was the Van Dyke line, which eventually lost its name to this new and improved graphite refining process. Nor was the Blackwing advertised as having the “complastic” lead featured in other Eberhard Faber products such as the Mongol. I should qualify these contentions by saying that I haven’t yet seen any such advertisements—in fact, print advertising featuring the Blackwing is much less common than, say, the Mongol. Is it possible that for 65 years the Blackwing wasn’t updated in any significant way? Though some small aesthetic changes would be made, e.g. the barrel imprint and color of the ferrule, it seems as if the Blackwing was fully-formed at the start. It’s almost as if it was designed as the solution to a counterintuitive problem: can a pencil write with the softness and smoothness of a 3B or 4B lead, but have a rate-of-wear more like that of an HB?
How Popular Was the Blackwing 602?
Until more can be explained through period advertisements, I have the impression that the Blackwing lived a comparatively low-key lifestyle compared to the Mongol, Van Dyke, Microtomic, etc. But with so many Eberhard Faber pencils promoted as being excellent writers, why not showcase the Blackwing 602? Perhaps it was meant to be a niche product from the start—something for those whose taste in pencils exceeded the more commonplace Mongol or Microtomic. But who would that be? Blackwings were more expensive, so it’s unlikely they were thinking of students. Artists and architects? No, there were other more complete lines for them. Secretaries and stenographers? No, there were other pencils tailored for office-related tasks, which often had round barrels rather than hexagonal ones. Animators gravitated toward the Blackwing by the 1950s, but I have yet to see advertising copy that promoted its merits for animation work. In other words, the Blackwing never seemed to be the such-and-such pencil, it was more like, the pencil.
It’s easy to think, because of the Blackwing’s current cult-like status and the high prices they can command, that they were always highly-prized, commonly-used, and widely available. But it may have been just the opposite. Perhaps they were just known within certain professional circles, sold in enough volume to keep them in the catalog and therefore were not heavily advertised. Perhaps they were one of the first “boutique” woodcase pencils for those in-the-know; simply a high-quality item for the discerning connoisseur. But at the same time, it was also one of the first pencils that fostered such intense devotion that its discontinuation actually caused a public outcry among its most ardent admirers, despite how (relatively) small those numbers may have been.
But, find out for yourself. Ask any Blackwing fan “what was the big deal about this pencil?” He or she just may pause, look wistfully over at their dwindling supply, then channel Gloria Swanson and say: “The Blackwing is big. It’s pencils that got small.”
A great post, thank you! You mentioned availability near the end of the post. I really wonder what market share Eberhard Faber had and how important the Blackwing was for them (probably not very important) and what kind of shop would stock the Blackwing.. I’d imagine that a stationery shop near a university might have stocked them. On the other hand – what shops stock these days seems to be dictated by the promotions are available from the manufacturers. In the USA of the 1990s it might have been similar and that’s maybe why the Blackwing disappeared?
In stationery shops near the local university more and more shelf space seems to be taken by special promotions, often from Pentel or uni Mitsubishi and nice products seem to be disappearing because of this…
Could the Blackwing have survived if they had promoted it more? i.e. would it then have been worth fixing the machines when they broke down, because the sales figures would have been better?
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Thanks, Memm. You’re question is an interesting one. I think that when EF became part of the Newell/Rubber Maid conglomerate, no one in particular was interested in keeping the Blackwing (as well as many other iconic pencils) in production. I don’t think we can pick out the Blackwing as being the poor performer since many other pencils were discontinued as well. Come to think of it, which pencil(s) line(s) made it through? Sure sales were low and the machine broke, but it’s not as if they couldn’t fix it. CalCedar’s pencils have all but proven this. It was just another reason to dump those pencil lines.
Re: advertising. I was reading in Petroski’s book (p. 304) that Faber sold directly to distributors rather than to the public, so it was really up to distributors to promote the products. That’s probably why you find so many things like ink blotters with re-sellers names on them. But in 1956 EF launched a major ad campaign, with four-color advertisements which were apparently “unprecedented” in the industry. You can find them in LIFE magazine, and many centered on the Mongol. He also mentioned that up until that point, EF relied mostly on its reputation of producing high-quality products in its previous adverts rather than employing “hard sell” techniques. In this light, it seems easier to understand why the Blackwings (and perhaps many other products) weren’t given much attention in terms of advertising. I imagine a conversation with an EF executive circa 1940 going something like this:
Q. Why don’t you issue print advertisements for the Blackwing 602?
A. What do you mean? It’s a great pencil.
It is also interesting that Petroski mentions the notion that advertisements promoting Teutonic familial history along with boasts of efficiency and quality were falling short on American consumers. This was something from which all the German pencil-makers were suffering, and it seems that Faber was the first to try and remedy this. After two World Wars and the overturning of much of the royalty in German-speaking lands (as well as other countries as well), the little impact that “pencil dynasties” had on American consumers had all but disappeared come 1945 (or even much earlier). Also, during the Second World War, no one could get their hands on the high-quality graphite, cedar, wax, and clay anymore. That, combined with war-time restrictions forced pencil makers to cease production on low-quality or “fancy” pencils. I wonder if the Blackwing was considered “fancy” during those times. One need only look at the “Winner” pencils that Faber issued in America, pushing themes such as the draftsmen designing the ships that were helping the allies to liberate Europe all begin with “Winner Techno-tone” pencils.
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I sent this same comment years ago to the good folks at Pencil Talk, but I can’t find it in their archives. But since it’s my own story, there shouldn’t be any copyright issues.
This is a tale that may haunt any pencil enthusiast, as it has haunted me for decades.
In 1988 I went to work for a school supply company in Birmingham, AL. The original company had been a fixture for kids in the 1960s onward: art supplies, textbooks, office supplies, etc. The name was changed and the owners crafted a new emphasis on teacher materials and parent/teacher products.
All the old inventory, dating back to God knows when, was transferred to a new warehouse and distribution facility. A years-long clearance sale began at that point; at various times we would rummage through the warehouse for old stock and place it on sale tables. You don’t want to know how many vintage office products flew out the doors for pennies. I sold things I had to look up in catalogs just to determine their purpose. Magnetic, portable stenographer desks. Very cool looking 3×2 inch notepads. Specially designed, beginner-handwriting ballpoint pens. Ancient painting, drawing, and sketch kits from Faber, etc.
And of course, box after box after box of Blackwing 602s.
In 1989, there were two “problems” with our inventory of these pencils. First, teachers could not identify them as Yellow Number 2 Pencils, which meant that they did not recognize them as having any utility in the modern classroom.
Second, the several HUNDRED boxes of Blackwings had been stored in the hot, upper portion of a warehouse since Jimmy Carter was president, if memory serves. The erasers were hard and slick. Who knew you could reverse them?
In any event, they sold for ten cents a dozen, or three dozen for a quarter. Think about that for a moment. Or try not to.
The positive side of this tale is that I gained an appreciation for office supplies—pens and pencils in particular. I started collecting a few items then, and in my new career as an editor I have the time (and the actual excuse) to collect and understand the value of a vanishing item.
But I do not own a single Blackwing. I do, however, own a box of American Pencil Company’s Venus Velvet 3557 No. 2 in the lovely, vintage slidecase. This pencil is superior to the Blackwing in some respects (fighting words?), so I have that minor consolation.
David L. Pelfrey
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Thanks, David, for your story.
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I remember reading your story, David. I often think about a warehouse full of Blackwings…it boggles the mind. I think I’d start foaming at the mouth. Funny you should mention the Venus Velvet. I wrote with one a few days back. I wouldn’t go so far as to say it is superior to the original Blackwing, but it is pretty dark and smooth and close to some of the best Japanese pencils, especially the Tombow 2558, which it somewhat resembles in appearance. In my childhood, it was a best-selling office and school pencil. I think I used it back then more than the Mongol or even the Ticonderoga. And it came as you say in lovely slide boxes with an image of the Venus de Milo. The author William Styron used these exclusively. They disappeared, like the Blackwing, in the 90’s, but for some reason they have not become as collectible as the Blackwing or the vintage Mongols. You really can’t beat that name: Venus Velvet!
Matthias: I too wonder where the original Blackwings were sold. I imagine that it was in specialized stationery shops, which were once part of the American landscape and have all but vanished. Art supply stores must have carried them, too. Frankly, I do not recall ever seeing a single Blackwing throughout my childhood or adolescence, ever, though I was probably just not paying attention and they were all around me. It irks me to think that as late as 1995 I could have bought masses of them at fifty cents apiece…The Venus Velvet, however, could sometimes be found in drugstores and dime stores…Those were the days.
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My mother was a journalism writer in NYC in 1940’s, and hung out with some of the erudite circles of writers there. I wonder where and how she was introduced to the Blackwing- and never had the chance to ask hat small intimate question. It was her only writing pencil-and was off limits to us kids. Only when they had been worn down to 3 or 4inches would they be passed on to us, along with a new pink eraser. I came to know their distinctive feel in my early drawings. Only later in art school when I drew with Faber-Castelli art pencils would I recognize the soft lead that characterizes the Blackwing. As to procurement,and distributors, she came from a class of women who ordered stationary from private houses – hers in Boston- and the Blackwings came in boxes to us along with engraved stationary and envelopes.
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Thanks, Hilary, for sharing your story with us!
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