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Early Office Museum

Antique Mechanical Pencil Sharpener Gallery
~ 1900-1909 ~

Model, Year, Maker	Click Image to Enlarge
Challenge Pencil Sharpener Patented 1900 Cook & Grover Lynn, MA
Duplex Pencil Sharpener Patented 1900 Charles Babcock, Troy, NY Collection of the National Museum of American History, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC
Elroy Pencil Sharpener Chas. H. Elroy Ovid, MI [Ask Ovid P.L.]
Peerless Easy Pointer Peerless Specialties Co. Sheboygan, WI
Chelsea Pencil Sharpener (a.k.a. Standard Pencil Sharpener) Advertised 1901-10 Chelsea Mfg. Co. Chelsea, MI
Dixon Pencil Sharpener Patented 1903 ~ Advertised 1902 Joseph Dixon Crucible Co. Jersey City, NJ Photographs courtesy of Howard Levin
Lakeside Pencil Sharpener Patented 1911 ~ Advertised 1904-11 Lakeside Specialty Co. Chicago, IL
Climax Pencil Sharpener Patented 1904 (UK), 1906 (US) ~ Advertised 1904-07 J. M. Olcott & Co. (name on top machine) Olcott Mfg. Co. (name on bottom machine and in advertisements) Chicago, IL The models in the top and bottom photos are similar, but the former is heavier ferrous metal while the latter is lighter non-ferrous metal, and the decoration is different.
Little Shaver Pencil Sharpener (a.k.a. Handy Pencil Sharpener) Patented 1904 ~ Advertised 1904-19 E. L. McDivitt Belvidere, IL Top photograph courtesy of Howard Levin
Little Shaver Pencil Sharpener Patented 1904 E. L. McDivitt Belvidere, IL Same as preceding but nickel plated
Pencil Sharpener similar to Little Shaver
Star Lead Pencil Sharpener The Star Novelty Co. Reading, PA Photograph courtesy of Howard Levin
Common Sense Pencil Knife W. R. Mfg. Co. Cincinnati, OH
Perfect Pencil Pointer Johnson, Chicago, IL Separate knife used to shave pencil not shown Photograph courtesy of Antiques of a Mechanical Nature
Universal Pencil Sharpener Patented 1904 Fred P. Lovejoy Springfield, VT
Jupiter Pencil Pointer Advertised 1904-07 Frank Mossberg Co., Attleboro, MA (manufacturer) Guhl & Harbeck Co., Hamburg, Germany (patent holder) Shavings container not shown in lower photo. Lower photograph courtesy of Howard Levin
Littlejohn Pencil Sharpener Patented 1900?*-1903 ~ Advertised 1905-06 Charles F. Littlejohn New Haven, CT *Patent inferred based on comparison of patent and advertising illustrations..
Handy Pencil Sharpener Patented 1905 ~ Advertised 1907-09 A. A. Weeks Mfg. Co. New York, NY Shown without shavings drawer. The genuine machine pictured here has the name Handy and the patent date embossed in the casting. A machine that does not was presumably produced by another company after the patent expired..
Famulus Pencil Sharpener Patented 1906-10 (Germany 1906-1910, UK 1906) Germany	1910 Patent
Whittler Advertised 1906 Gilmore-Gilfillan Co. Chicago, IL      These two 1906 advertisements show two slightly different machines.	Photos courtesy of Lisa Ledger
Peerless Pencil Whittler Commercial Specialty Co. Chicago, IL
Gilfillan Automatic Pencil Sharpener Patented 1906 ~ Advertised 1907 Kidder Novelty Works Chicago, IL Base identical to that of U. S. Automatic not shown
Rockford Pencil Knife Patented 1906 Rockford Pencil Knife Co. Rockford, IL Photograph courtesy of Dennis A. Traverso
Rockford Pencil Knife Patented 1906 ~ Advertised 1907-12 Rockford Pencil Knife Co. Rockford, IL
Jupiter N Pencil Pointer (a.k.a. Jupiter 1 and Jupiter 2 Pencil Pointer) Patented 1906-31 ~ Advertised 1910-63 Guhl & Harbeck Co. Hamburg, Germany
U. S. Automatic Pencil Sharpener Patented 1906-08 ~ Advertised 1907-26 Automatic Pencil Sharpener Co. (APSCO) New York, NY, then Chicago, IL There are two basic models, which are the same except that the later one has an oil cup (see upright located to the right of the chuck in the photos to right).  While most have a decal like the one in the top photo to the right, some have different decals and various metal nameplates. A number of variants were marketed, including a model with a leather covering (lower right) and a model with a sterling silver body.
Angell Pencil Sharpener The Angell Co. Boston, MA
Angell Pencil Sharpener The Angell Co. Boston, MA
Quick Pencil Sharpener (a.k.a. Click Automatic Pencil Sharpener) Patented 1907 ~ Advertised 1910 (Click) Myers-Wolf Mfg. Co, Newark, NJ (Click) Shavings receptacles not shown Quick: Collection of the Thomas A. Russo Museum Click: Photograph courtesy of Howard Levin The cutting mechanism is a rotating multi-blade cutter, which advances toward the pencil and then clicks back when the sharpening is complete.
Conic Pencil Sharpener Patented 1908 ~ Advertised 1908 Roth Mfg. Co. Boston, MA
Junior Pencil Sharpener Commercial Sales Co. Fulton, NY
Peerless Whittler No. 1 Advertised 1909 The Peerless Whittler Co. New York, NY The appearance of the No. 2, also advertised in 1909, is identical.
Peerless Whittler No. 3 Advertised 1909 The Peerless Whittler Co. New York, NY
Everett Pencil Sharpener Patented 1909 ~ Advertised 1910 Everett Specialty Co. New York, NY You can see an Everett in action in our Museum Lobby.
Pencil Sharpener Prototype

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