One of the most notable changes in the design of the Eberhard Faber Blackwing was when the company stopped painting the black band around the neck of the clamp eraser ferrule. They were still being painted after the company’s move to Wilkes-Barre in 1956/57 but I have yet to determine the exact year this change occurred. It seems that it can be narrowed-down to the same time of this packaging style, but it wasn’t only the black band that changed.
The boxes pictured above (older on top, newer on the bottom) are nearly identical: the main difference is the addition of the PMA logo in the lower-right. But that’s not all.
The older box closes by way of an elongated flap, whereas the newer box has a shorter flap that tucks into the top of the box:
The printing on the flaps themselves remained the same:
It was the older box, however, that was used for the banded pencils. The newer, PMS-stamped box, was for the non-banded pencils.
I’ve always thought that the loss of the black band had everything to do with cost, but it’s interesting that the PMA approval is found on the packaging used for the non-banded pencils — in other words, did the PMA approval force the issue?
I’m currently unfamiliar with what was needed to earn PMA approval back then but I’m beginning to wonder if there wasn’t something about the paint used by the Eberhard Faber Company for the black band that was a concern. Then, faced with having to research an alternative, the company decided to discontinue the practice altogether.
Apart from the black band the pencils are identical (to the eyes at least), and there was only a slight update to the functionality of the box. Rather than being the result of inspiration though, the changes are starting to seem more like an accommodation.
Great article. I agree about the cost cutting and I also think changes in products, not just pencils, especially this subtle and small, occur because of an inability to procur the materials previously used. Maybe that paint, used for the band, was no longer available from the company that supplied it.
Also, in accordance with cost cutting, to my old eyes, the PMA box looks slightly smaller.
Maybe the machine that added the band, broke down, and never got fixed.
What is the PMA? Were they beginning to regulate the amount of lead in paint at that time?
Do you have any thoughts about why some of the pencils have the word Blackwing near the ferrule and others near the tip?
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Thanks, Joyce. PMA = Pencil Makers Association, a governing body that regulated standards, especially with regard to toxicity.
RE: the placement of the logo, do you mean some with the ferrule on the opposite end? I think they were just turned around somehow during the manufacturing process. I have a few of those “lefties” as I call them, and they were in boxes where the rest of the pencils were ‘normal’.
PS: It’s worth noting that the non-banded pencils in the PMA box could be an anomaly for all I know. Maybe that day they were out of paint, and all this speculation is, well, just speculation. The one thing I’ve learned about this company is, it was not unusual for them to work with whatever materials they had (or didn’t have) on hand at any given time.
I wonder if the black band on the Microtomic disappeared at the same time.
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Sean…I like the ones with the bands better for some reason. They look “dressed up”.
Regarding placement of the logo…I meant that the word Blackwing sometimes is written or appears near the ferrule as in your photos, but sometimes it’s written in front of “Eberhard Faber ” and then the number 602, closer to the writing tip end. I think the ones in your photos are earlier production than the other.
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So this packaging is where the idea for dot grid notepads came from ;^)
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