Pencils remain a must-have for students, artists, and inventors. Enjoy these pencils and pencil boxes in our collections. National Museum of American History pencil, packaged set National Museum of ...

Pencil-making began in the U.S. around 1812, and early industry leaders included John Thoreau of Concord, Massachusetts, and his son Henry David, the great American activist and essayist.

The pens and pencils that we write with are so important to our every day lives, we tend to forget how much history and thought there is behind them. Here are some fun facts about the things we ...

The pencil “lead” is actually a mixture of graphite and clay. More clay in the mixture makes the lead harder. A harder lead has a higher number. Pencils are numbered from 1-3 but most people use a ...