Faber Circular Erasers

Comments from the previous post got me wondering about circular erasers. Whether for typewriters or pencil, the shape was supposed to offer a consistently thin edge. Here is an advertisement from 1890 for E. Faber’s new circular erasers:

I wonder, though, how well this kind of eraser worked on typing paper. Perhaps if you acted quickly before the ink set, you could do better than just smearing it around. Still though, they were likely borne of that same wishful thinking that accompanied the erasers found on ballpoint pens during the ’70s and ’80s.

The 6580 was in the Eberhard Faber catalog for decades. Eventually it would be absorbed into the Van Dyke line and given a brush, as seen in the 1923 company catalog:

Though you’re not likely to see many new typewriter erasers these days, the form factor continues to live on in the Faber-Castell “UFO” eraser, and the Graf von Faber-Castell circular eraser. The center is platinum-plated and the eraser itself is made from natural rubber:

Maped also offers a circular eraser and there are likely more out there to be found. It really is a handy shape, typewriter notwithstanding.