14 Wednesday Nov 2018
Posted in Sightings
The local DMV from the show Perfect Strangers seems to have preferred Eberhard Faber Blackwing pencils:
But the employees weren’t the only ones to use them: it looks like they were made available to everyone.
But, is anyone else concerned that all of the paperwork was being filled out in pencil?
Thanks to reader Al for the tip!
30 Tuesday Oct 2018
Posted in Sightings
© Netflix
From the new Netflix documentary Quincy, a young Quincy Jones can be seen using an Eberhard Faber Blackwing 602.
Thanks to Harry for the tip!
24 Wednesday Oct 2018
Tags
Disney, Eberhard Faber, Eberhard Faber Blackwing, Eberhard Faber Blackwing 602, Eberhard Faber Company
Composer Oliver Wallace (1887-1963) is seen using an Eberhard Faber Blackwing in a Disney film from 1956. His task is to compose a song for Daisy Duck. You can just about see the pencil’s logo here:
Meanwhile, animator Ollie Johnston (1912-2008) is putting the finishing touches on Donald Duck:
However, Donald seems to take exception at this:
All images © Disney.
15 Saturday Sep 2018
Posted in History
A selection from the 1965-66 Blackwing campaign launched by Eberhard Faber Inc.
The campaign was the brainchild of Julia Faber, widow of Eberhard Faber III (1893-1945), who became vice president of the company and later a chairman. It marks one of the relatively few times that the company advertised the Blackwing directly (i.e. compared to the Mongol or Van Dyke, etc.).
14 Wednesday Feb 2018
Posted in Sightings
Tags
Eberhard Faber, Eberhard Faber Blackwing, Eberhard Faber Blackwing 602, Eberhard Faber Company, Hogan's Heroes
©CBS
It seems Hogan wasn’t the only colonel at Stalag 13 who used Eberhard Faber Blackwing pencils.
©CBS
And it looks like there were at least four more ready to go in his pencil pot:
©CBS
Given that they were around on set, I suppose now the hunt is on to see how many cast members can be found holding a Blackwing.
©CBS
Thanks again to reader Dan for the tip!
16 Tuesday Jan 2018
Posted in History
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.
