That reputation began with James Raford Musgrave, who founded a pencil-wood mill there in 1916. Kimberly Palmer sorts colored pencils at the Musgrave factory. Harvest pencils in a grader, a device used for quality checks and counting.Īnd so it steadily goes at Musgrave Pencil Company, one of the few pencil manufacturers left in the United States-there are perhaps four, whereas there used to be some two dozen-and certainly the last in Shelbyville, Tennessee, about 60 miles south of Nashville, where the municipal seal bears the words “The Pencil City.” This article is a selection from the July/August 2023 issue of Smithsonian magazine Subscribe Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Danny Watts and Chronicles of a Fountain Pen with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.Subscribe to Smithsonian magazine now for just $19.99 This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from Danny Watts and/or Chronicles of a Fountain Pen is strictly prohibited. So far, so good.Įmail Subscription Follow Chronicles of a Fountain Pen on Tags #42 #52 #fountainpenday #TBT Airmail All American Ambassador anniversary Arnold Benu Bic blogging Casein Challenger Collection Organization Collections Conklin Conway Stewart Death De Atramentis Design Dollar Pen Duofold Ebay Ebonite Eco-Friendly Electroplating Engineering Esterbrook Fountain Pen Geo W Heath Gold Starry Hatchet Hero Hobby Ink Inkographic Inks Journals J series Kaigelu Kaweco Keystone Loss Mabie Todd Majestic Mentmore Montblanc Mystery Nibs Noodler’s Osmiroid Papier Plume Parco Parker Pencils Pilot Platignum Refurbish Remorse Reviews Sadness Scrikss Sheaffer Skripsert Stories tools TWSBI Vintage Pens Wality Waterman Wing Sung Worth Writing Zenzoi COPYRIGHT © 2021-2022 DANNY WATTS and CHRONICLES OF A FOUTAIN PEN. Would you believe it, the icemaker is still working! I found a book ( Moon Magic) on a markdown rack in a bookstore – how could I refuse? When last the icemaker started, I burned some wild sage (from my garden) and recited the “ Banishing Bad” (Moon Rising) spell while I was knocking on wood with my fingers crossed, followed by tossing salt over my left shoulder. Send yours today! The earlier the better.” On a Personal Note USPS Operation Santa is now accepting letters. “Had a rough year? Need some holiday magic? Write a letter to Santa! It may seem too soon, but he starts early. “The Santa Monica home of video game developer Activision Blizzard and prescription drugs savings platform GoodRx was purchased by JPMorgan Chase & Co….Known as Pen Factory, the property was built in 1957 and was previously home to a PaperMate manufacturing facility.” Routine checks revealed that the pen was actually a disguised stun gun in a woman’s carry-on bag.” Self defense pen! “An ordinary-looking pen was confiscated from a passenger at Dulles Airport by Transportation Security Administration (TSA) agents after it turned out the innocuous item wasn’t as harmless as it seemed. In recognition of National Ancestors Appreciate Day, I am presenting the research of two owners. You see, I enjoy the challenge of researching that owner.

Fountain Pen Ancestry II I acquire pens personalized with the owner’s name when appropriate.

Sheaffer Prelude – The Writer’s PenSheaffer Prelude, “the writer’s pen,” is their slogan, not mine but I admit it writes well and is impressive for the price.

I was on holiday, relaxing, pretending to be less active and more calm.

Relaxation (aka on holiday) Maybe I was missed, maybe I was not, but I was absent.

Wahl-E Pencil What do you get when a young man is employed by a Mason jar lid company with an interest in mechanical pencils? Give up? Eversharp.

Also, let’s review how did the pens from last month fared? Plus the obligatory recap of the month’s posts. Let’s see how I started September, I know, with a review of August. It’s a new month, what’s in your pen cup?It’s a new month and time to shelve your current choice of pens in favor of new pens or those that may be long forgotten and feeling neglected.Skillfully crafted by hand from glossy resin with its hand-friendly shape and black decorative ring the Classic Black BENU Skull Pen.“ Did you miss any of the prior month’s blog posts? Welp, here is your chance to catch up… Rebellion and daring design are created for those who share the same ideals. “Inspired by our childhood dreams of piracy and adventures. The pen of the month is an obvious choice, the Benu Skull pen.

Pencil cup factory