Object ID
2014.1.9
Object Name
Pencil, Mechanical
Date Created
1920s
Material
Metal
Object Entities
Papachristos, Spiros (owned by)
Papachristos, Katherine (is related to)
Papachristos, Zack (is related to)
Papachristos, Spiros (is related to)
Access Points
Object Description
The mechanical pencil is silver colored with tarnish throughout the body. On the body there are flowers, branches, and leaves engraved. There is a small metal clip at the top of the pencil. At the top of the pencil "Whal Eversharp patented sterling" is engraved.
Origin
George and Spiros Papachristos immigrated to the U.S. from Greece in 1912 at the age of 16 or 17. They went back to Greece in the late 1930's. After WWII they moved to Utah. After living in Utah they moved to Chicago. According to the donor, this pen was owned by Spiros.

Eversharp pioneered the manufacture of mechanical pencils. The Eversharp pencil was a huge success. By 1921 over 12 million had been sold. The Eversharp allowed Wahl to become one of the leading manufacturers of both pencils and pens, its entry into the fountain pen business in 1917 also facilitated by Charles Keeran, through purchase of the Boston Fountain Pen Company. Somewhat confusingly, the Wahl Pen Company used the Wahl name for its pens and the Eversharp name for its pencils. At the end of the 1920s, however, the company renamed itself Wahl-Eversharp, and all products, pens and pencils alike, were marked accordingly. In 1941 the company renamed itself yet again, this time as Eversharp. It remained a major player throughout the 1940s, but a series of missteps in its attempts to enter the then-new field of ballpoint pens hurt the company badly. In 1957 the Parker Pen Company acquired Eversharp. The Eversharp name was used for a time, but within a few years the production of Eversharp pens and pencils had come to an end.
Rights and Reproduction
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Citation
Pencil, Mechanical, 1920s, National Hellenic Museum, https://collections.nationalhellenicmuseum.org/Detail/objects/10211. Accessed 04/24/24.