# Erasers on pencils **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [March 30, 2016, 11:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/erasers-on-pencils/750624 "2016-03-30T11:37:57Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Francis\_Vaughan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/francis_vaughan/32/3093_2.png) [@Francis\_Vaughan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Francis_Vaughan)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2016, 2:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/erasers-on-pencils/750624/41 "2016-04-01T14:36:44Z")
Petroski does indeed touch on the difference in US and European use of erasers on the end of pencils. However he doesn’t provide much additional information but to note the difference. He does provide a few quotes from earlier times discussing the merits and otherwise of the eraser equipped pencil. The design was not universally liked, and was often associated with cheap pencils. Interestingly the patents for an eraser on a pencil were soon thrown out by the supreme court, as the union of the pencil and eraser didn’t create a new device - one with new capability, merely union of two existing things - something that can’t be patented. One thing he notes - the ferrule became something of a branding device for US made pencils, whereas in Europe the finishing of the pencil with paint, with a rounded end was the vehicle for much branding. Personally, I still like and use pencils, and have always had a dislike of erasers on the end. ---
**Author:** ![lynne-42](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lynne-42/32/3138_2.png) [@lynne-42](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lynne-42)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2016, 2:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/erasers-on-pencils/750624/42 "2016-04-02T02:56:19Z")
> [@Nava](#): > > Oh, it’s not a matter of brand… The pencils those guys are most famous for are watercolors. You can use them dry (and they behave like any other color pencil) or wet (and they behave like a watercolor thin-to-medium brush depending on angle and pressure). I find that paintbrushes tend to be too thin for my fingers (and that’s with tiny hands!), these pencils are very nice to hold. > > I gave myself a box a couple of years ago as a self-present, after decades of carefully not drooling over them in stores. One of the Spanish expressions for utter happiness is “as happy as an idiot with a box of Alpinos”: I don’t know if I’m an idiot, but I love all those colored sticks… is it bad, if you’d rather get colored sticks than flowers? Oh dear. The budget just gave up, and walked out the door crying. I shall investigate further (the pencils, not the budget). ---
**Author:** ![lynne-42](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lynne-42/32/3138_2.png) [@lynne-42](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lynne-42)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2016, 2:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/erasers-on-pencils/750624/43 "2016-04-02T02:59:57Z")
> [@PatrickLondon](#): > > Enthusiasts should not miss: > > [http://www.pencilmuseum.co.uk/](http://www.pencilmuseum.co.uk/) And then there are pencil sculptures: [http://www.visualnews.com/2012/10/30/pencil-sculptures/](http://www.visualnews.com/2012/10/30/pencil-sculptures/) ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2016, 5:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/erasers-on-pencils/750624/44 "2016-04-02T05:54:02Z")
Who would name their kid Hymen? ---
**Author:** ![Green\_Bean](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/green_bean/32/1760_2.png) [@Green\_Bean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Green_Bean)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2016, 1:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/erasers-on-pencils/750624/45 "2016-04-02T13:28:44Z")
> [@lynne-42](#): > > Now, a very nice fountain pen - ah that’s tempting. Very tempting. I might have to leave this conversation before the budget dissolves. And a book all about pencils. Oh dear. **KayT,** you’ve really caused problems now with your OP. 🙂 Pssh. You don’t need pay that much to get a nice fountain pen. Get yourself a Pilot Metropolitan. 15 bucks, and behaves like somethng much more expensive. (Which is not to say rhe expensive ones aren’t worth it too!) Seconding the recommendations for Henry Petroski, Dixon Ticonderogas, and whie plasticky erasers. One can use both types, you know! ---
**Author:** ![UncleFred](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/f0a364/32.png) [@UncleFred](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UncleFred)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2016, 1:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/erasers-on-pencils/750624/46 "2016-04-02T13:36:15Z")
> [@Francis\_Vaughan](#): > > Heh, I have a Caran D’Ache fountain pen. It is lovely. It is my main writing implement. > > I an surprised no-one has mentioned Henry Petroski’s seminal work [The Pencil](http://www.amazon.com/Pencil-History-Design-Circumstance/dp/0679734155/ref=asap_bc?ie=UTF8). > > Everyone should read at least one of his books. To Engineer is Human is perhaps the key one, but The Pencil is a wonderful read. Probably answers the OP’s question. (My copy is at home, I might try to find it in the mire later.) I have maybe a half-dozen of his books, including “The Pencil”. He has an amazing ability to take an obscure but mildly interesting topic and make it truly dull. Really. You’ve got to struggle through his writing style to get the satisfaction of the content. Still, I did buy all those books, which is what probably counts. ---
**Author:** ![UncleFred](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/f0a364/32.png) [@UncleFred](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UncleFred)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2016, 1:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/erasers-on-pencils/750624/47 "2016-04-02T13:45:44Z")
> [@lynne-42](#): > > My pleasure. Lovely to meet a fellow stationery fetisher (no idea what the correct word is). I’d forgotten the highlighters. They’re wonderful too. > > Only one of each? Tut. Tut. I have them in my study, handbag, next to the lounge chair where I read … Stationery Fetishists - You may wish to checkout the books of James Ward (Motto - “I like boring things”) including “Adventures in Stationery”, “The Perfection of the Paperclip” and more at his blog [http://iamjamesward.com/](http://iamjamesward.com/) ---
**Author:** ![UncleFred](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/f0a364/32.png) [@UncleFred](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UncleFred)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2016, 1:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/erasers-on-pencils/750624/48 "2016-04-02T13:51:20Z")
> [@kayT](#): > > Not sure if this is really a GQ but we’ll try it here. Today’s Writer’s Almanac had the following: > > On this day in 1858, Hymen Lipman of Philadelphia patented the first pencil to have an attached eraser. The eraser-tipped pencil is still something of an American phenomenon; most European pencils are still eraserless. > eraser? Or do Europeans not make mistakes? EuroDopers, please explain. Coming at this from a different angle, I am amazed that he was able to get a patent. I’ve been involved with patents for years (got 6 of them) and one rule is something like "You can’t patent sticking two existing things together unless it introduce some new feature or function (other than the convenience of having them in the same place.) The oft-given example is “You can’t patent sticking an eraser on a pencil” although that would seem to be untrue. Perhaps the rules for patent were more lenient back then. ---
**Author:** ![Francis\_Vaughan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/francis_vaughan/32/3093_2.png) [@Francis\_Vaughan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Francis_Vaughan)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2016, 2:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/erasers-on-pencils/750624/49 "2016-04-02T14:11:21Z")
> [@UncleFred](#): > > …The oft-given example is “You can’t patent sticking an eraser on a pencil” although that would seem to be untrue. Perhaps the rules for patent were more lenient back then. As I noted above, the patent was overturned for just this reason a couple of years later. It seems that the laxness of the patent office has never changed, and unpatentable things are allowed patents all the time, and remain so patented until a legal challenge points a spotlight on them. ---
**Author:** ![lynne-42](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lynne-42/32/3138_2.png) [@lynne-42](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lynne-42)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2016, 2:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/erasers-on-pencils/750624/50 "2016-04-02T14:29:02Z")
> [@UncleFred](#): > > Stationery Fetishists - You may wish to checkout the books of James Ward (Motto - “I like boring things”) including “Adventures in Stationery”, “The Perfection of the Paperclip” and more at his blog > > [http://iamjamesward.com/](http://iamjamesward.com/) Thank you. How intriguing - I’ve only looked at “Adventures in Stationery” so far. So don’t Americans use the term “stationery” or use pencil cases? Just the blog ad for it has been illuminating. ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2016, 2:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/erasers-on-pencils/750624/51 "2016-04-02T14:33:11Z")
> [@lynne-42](#): > > Thank you. How intriguing - I’ve only looked at “Adventures in Stationery” so far. So don’t Americans use the term “stationery” or use pencil cases? Just the blog ad for it has been illuminating. I haven’t seen a pencil case in the wild since I was in third grade. I mean, I have plenty of them myself, and I know artists who use them, but not among the general public. “Stationery” is very well known in America, but it means things you write _on_, not things you write _with_. A piece of paper is stationery. A pencil is not. ---
**Author:** ![Bullitt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bullitt/32/5725_2.png) [@Bullitt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bullitt)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2016, 2:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/erasers-on-pencils/750624/52 "2016-04-02T14:33:33Z")
Yes we do use both. Ninja’d by **Ascenray**. Agree with **Ascenray** ’s post, but also, pencil cases also come in soft form these days, e.g. a zippered pouch meant to hold pencils and other writing instruments, to be tossed into a brief case or backpack. I have some of those. ---
**Author:** ![PatrickLondon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/patricklondon/32/4422_2.png) [@PatrickLondon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PatrickLondon)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2016, 2:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/erasers-on-pencils/750624/53 "2016-04-02T14:43:40Z")
Pencil cases are something I associated with school and schoolchildren\*. I’d have thought not many adults routinely need access to a lot of writing implements. \*In my day, it was this sort of thing, rather than today’s zippered fabric: [http://img1.etsystatic.com/011/0/6784727/il\_570xN.463540021\_2eqk.jpg](http://img1.etsystatic.com/011/0/6784727/il_570xN.463540021_2eqk.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2016, 2:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/erasers-on-pencils/750624/54 "2016-04-02T14:45:34Z")
It’s probably been 5 years since I last used a pencil in any form\*. Other than signing my name I probably write barely 10 words per month using a pen in any form. # Keyboards on the other hand … - Upon further reflection I recall I used a carpenter’s pencil to mark a measurement to cut something last month. Before that it was over a year since my last measure-mark-and-cut. Definitely many years since I used a pencil to write a word. Bloody nuisance the things are. ---
**Author:** ![UncleFred](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/f0a364/32.png) [@UncleFred](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UncleFred)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2016, 3:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/erasers-on-pencils/750624/55 "2016-04-02T15:17:33Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > It’s probably been 5 years since I last used a pencil in any form\*. Other than signing my name I probably write barely 10 words per month using a pen in any form. > > # Keyboards on the other hand … > > - Upon further reflection I recall I used a carpenter’s pencil to mark a measurement to cut something last month. Before that it was over a year since my last measure-mark-and-cut. Definitely many years since I used a pencil to write a word. Bloody nuisance the things are. Golfers will probably always use a pencil (usually no eraser!) An App just doesn’t cut it. ---
**Author:** ![kayT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayt/32/3633_2.png) [@kayT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayT)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2016, 3:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/erasers-on-pencils/750624/56 "2016-04-02T15:51:37Z")
Don’t you guys ever write a grocery list? Address an envelope? Write a check? Yes, some things are easier to do by hand instead of on the computer. Takes no time at all to write something on a list. And I do write some checks (property tax for one thing. Which is not to say my handwriting is all that good any more. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2016, 4:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/erasers-on-pencils/750624/57 "2016-04-02T16:17:02Z")
> [@kayT](#): > > Don’t you guys ever write a grocery list? Address an envelope? Write a check? Yes, some things are easier to do by hand instead of on the computer. Takes no time at all to write something on a list. And I do write some checks (property tax for one thing. Which is not to say my handwriting is all that good any more. My grocery list is on my phone synced to my other tablets & computers. As are all my other to-do lists & such. That way I always have it / them with me. I have an address document with the handful of places I regularly send snail mail to. I’m already sitting at my computer when writing a check, so why not highlight the address & click “print”?. Much easier than fumbling with trying to write it out long hand. I still need to have the correct address stored someplace and that someplace is my computer, not a paper name/address book. Hand copying something I’m already seeing on my screen is what sounds bass-ackwards to me. Almost all my checks are done through e-bill-pay. I write about 3 physical checks a year. To be sure, these are all choices and one could use a pencil or a pen & paper just as well. I was hand-addressing envelopes and writing paper checks en masse as recently as 5 years ago. And keeping to-do lists in little short-pocket sized spiral-bound pads. Then I changed over to my current approach and haven’t looked back. ---
**Author:** ![lynne-42](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lynne-42/32/3138_2.png) [@lynne-42](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lynne-42)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2016, 12:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/erasers-on-pencils/750624/58 "2016-04-03T00:13:52Z")
I am a writer and have a pencil case with my erasable pens and highlighters inside a pencil case with other stuff like pencils, and eraser, sharpener, scissors, glue and backup memory sticks. That goes with me from the house to my office - which is a study about 20 metres away in the garden. The pencil case is in the basket with my 5 mm grid notebooks, each covered different coloured paper and plastic contact. That basket is my office. I have another pencil case with all sorts of pencils and associated detritus next to my chair so I can draw and scribble when watching TV. There are more pencils and note books next to my bed in case I think of something. I use a paper diary - made myself from a 5mm grid exercise book - because I have never found a commercial one which works for me. I am a technology devotee - my laptop, iPad and iPhone also get a good workout every day. I just love the feel and sound of paper and using these implements. It’s all about feeling creative and enjoying the tools of my trade. I am a non-fiction writer, so reality rules, but I just love my pens, pencils and paper. My publisher gets the manuscript electronically, of course! ---
**Author:** ![Bullitt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bullitt/32/5725_2.png) [@Bullitt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bullitt)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2016, 12:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/erasers-on-pencils/750624/59 "2016-04-03T00:56:27Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > It’s probably been 5 years since I last used a pencil in any form\*. Other than signing my name I probably write barely 10 words per month using a pen in any form. > > # Keyboards on the other hand … > > - Upon further reflection I recall I used a carpenter’s pencil to mark a measurement to cut something last month. Before that it was over a year since my last measure-mark-and-cut. Definitely many years since I used a pencil to write a word. Bloody nuisance the things are. This is a big reason why the teaching of cursive writing is being removed from our schools today. ---
**Author:** ![Francis\_Vaughan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/francis_vaughan/32/3093_2.png) [@Francis\_Vaughan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Francis_Vaughan)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2016, 2:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/erasers-on-pencils/750624/60 "2016-04-03T02:14:40Z")
I write code for a day job. Emacs being my weapon of choice for text wrangling. But I find that I cannot be usefully creative as the paradigm of text editor isn’t flexible enough. Pencil on paper is vastly more flexible. Whiteboards can be good but you need to take photos so they are not self documenting. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/erasers-on-pencils/750624.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/erasers-on-pencils/750624.md?page=4)