Welcome back to another edition of Things We Love. This time around we’re turning our attention to something that might seem like an odd choice given how prevalent digital technologies are these days. As you an tell from the title of this post, we’re talking, of course, about pencils.
Yes, that’s right, pencils. An artifact created in a time before iPads, iPhones, computers and most any other form of technology designed to help you create, remember things or get things done. They’re still in use today and more popular than ever. There’s even a podcast dedicated to them.
The pencil is generally credited to people such as Nicolas-Jacques Conté, who figured out how to mix graphite to mold it into a strong core, Joseph Dixon, who developed methods to mass produce pencils in the classic hexagonal shape they are known for today and Hymen Lipman, who was the first to attach an eraser to one end. According to pencil collector and expert Caroline Weaver in her TED talk about this very subject (which you can watch in its entirety below), this is a major factor in what makes the pencil special.
“. . . it’s that long history of collaboration that, to me, makes it a very perfect object.”
She makes a compelling case for the pencil during her talk and you should definitely watch the video. It’s pretty cool.
Now that we (and Ms. Weaver) have convinced you pencils are awesome, where do you go to get some for yourself? Well, we mostly go to these places:
Some of our favorites include the Blackwing 602, the General Pencil Test Scoring 580, the Musgrave Tennessee Red, the ForrestChoice #2 and, for you mechanical pencil fans, the Pentel P205 and Rotring 600.
These are just a few of our favorites and some of the places we go to get pencils. Many of these are also available at Amazon.
So, why not give the pencil a try? You just might love it as much as we do.
Do you ever use pencils or other analog tools in your daily life? If so, what are some of your favorites? Let us know in the comments or hit us up on Twitter, Facebook or Instagram.
Image: Blackwing
Video: TED
Note: This post contains affiliate links.
