Oh, Canada (II)

Somewhere, nestled amidst the endless tundra (and ubiquitous Tim Hortons) was once the Canadian division of the Eberhard Faber Pencil Company.

This display folio showcases the Microtomic Van Dyke line:

The line was offered in 18 degrees, from 7B to 9H. They are all stamped in silver except for the softest (7B) and the hardest (9H), which are stamped in gold. Perhaps this was an easy way to know the extent of the line. It seems this folio is missing a pencil in H.

The Microtomic Van Dyke—which was once just the Van Dyke and would eventually become the Microtomic—dates back to before 1900, and remained one of Eberhard Faber’s best-known high-quality pencils. They were marketed as drawing pencils for the most part until around 1914, when they went through a rebranding of sorts. Added to the line of drawing pencils was a set of writing pencils in five degrees. In 1921, they became the first pencil tipped with the innovative clamp eraser.

1943

The word “Microtomic” referred to Eberhard Faber’s proprietary method for refining and preparing graphite. And as the Van Dyke became the Microtomic Van Dyke, the pencils would lose their recognizable yellow polish in exchange for something in a grayish-blue. This set resembles those made in the United States in every way, except for the addition of “Canada” on the barrel.

Eberhard Faber Canada Ltd. would eventually be acquired by Dixon in the late 1970s.