Pencil

choi

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Daniel Michaels, As Pencil Makers Push the Envelope, Age-Old Rivalry Stays Sharp; Battle of German Brands Lasts Centuries; Going to Court Over Bragging Rights. Wall Street Journal, Sept. 29, 2010.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703694204575518001143593666.html

Quote, about timeline:

"City [Nuremberg] records from 1662 list a pencil craftsman named Friedrich Staedtler, to whom today's company traces its lineage.

Count von Faber-Castell returned to the town of Stein, "where cabinetmaker Kasper Faber in 1761 had escaped nearby Nuremberg's stifling guild system to register a pencil workshop."

Note:
(a) surnames:
(i) Faber (Latin for craftsman): a smith or ironworker
(ii) Castell (Late Latin castellum castle (a diminutive of Latin castrum fort, Roman walled city)
(iii) Marx is a variant of Marks--addition of "s" to personal name Mark.
(iv) Casper (Persian for treasure bearer; ascribed by popular tradition in Europe to one of the three Magi)
(b) Anton is German and Russian form of Anthony.
(c) implement (n): "a device used in the performance of a task : TOOL, UTENSIL"

All definitions are from www.m-w.com.
(d) Borrowdale
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Borrowdale
(e) joiner (n): "a person whose occupation is to construct articles by joining pieces of wood"
(f) The adverb "sorely" in "I sorely disliked it": "VERY, EXTREMELY  <sorely needed changes>"



(2) Faber-Castell  | The future of the pencil; An eight-generation family firm shows how innovation need never stop. Economist, Sept 16, 2010.
http://www.economist.com/node/17043890?story_id=17043890&CFID=145152046&CFTOKEN=29556434

Quote:

"Perhaps 15 billion-20 billion [pencils] are made each year, roughly half of them in China.

"Lothar von Faber, the great-grandson of the company’s founder, took over in 1839 and invented the hexagonal pencil. By cutting the edges off a cylindrical one, he stopped it from rolling off a table.

My comment:
(a) Its web site:
http://www.faber-castell.com/

The company has a branch in Taiwan but not in China.
(b) The article also stated, "The count’s second innovation was to introduce an ergonomic triangular shape that is popular with children."

(i) This is what the WSJ report, see top, says, "It [Faber-Castell] developed a line of ergonomic pencils with three sides and patented grip dots."
(ii) An illustration: Faber-Castell grip pencil 2001 series
http://www.artmaterials.com.au/images/fab_grip300.jpg

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