Venus Pencils were a brand name of pencil

Pencil

A pencil is a writing implement or art medium usually constructed of a narrow, solid pigment core inside a protective casing. The case prevents the core from breaking, and also from marking the user’s hand during use....

s made by the American Lead Pencil Company starting in 1905. The production of Venus pencils gave the company an early start on other major companies in the move to high-end pencils that were mainly aimed at artists and architects. During World War I

World War I

World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...

 Germany's supply of pencils lost its domination in the US market and allowed US companies to take over. Venus pencils were already being produced before the war and had become very popular during its time.

Varieties

Venus Pencils were produced in a total of seventeen degrees under the categories of very soft, soft, medium, hard, and very hard. They were made with either no eraser, a tip and eraser, or an over sized tip and eraser.

Name Changes

In 1956, the American Lead Pencil Company officially changed their name to the Venus Pen and Pencil Corporation, thus turning their fifty-one-year-old product into the company name. After some acquirements the company name was changed to Venus-Esterbrook in 1967. In 1973, the company was bought out by Faber-Castell

Faber-Castell

Faber-Castell is one of the world's largest manufacturers of pens, pencils, other office supplies and art supplies, as well as high-end writing instruments and luxury leather goods...

and their name was changed for the last time to the Faber-Castell Corporation. This ended use of the Venus name and trademark.

External links

• http://www.brandnamepencils.com/brands/american/index.shtml- An American Lead Pencil Company photo list.
• http://www.pencilpages.com/mfg/amer.htm- A brief description of The American Lead Pencil Company history.
• http://www.leadholder.com/wood-venus.html - Early history of Venus pencils and different varieties of Venus pencils