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Early Office Museum

Antique Electric Pencil Sharpener Gallery

Model, Year, Maker	Click Image to Enlarge
Forrester Pencil Sharpening Machine c. 1910 Samuel Forrester, Allegheny, PA. This machine was used to sharpen pencils at a pencil factory.
"He's a Sharp Lad When It Comes to Pencils" "Thomas Hefferman has made an art of pencil sharpening. An important member of the Long Lines Traffic Co., New York City, is Tom. On average he sharpens a lead pencil over two miles long every month -- twenty thousand pencils seven inches long are used every thirty days by firm members. He thrusts a dull pencil into the electrically driven sharpener. For a brief moment it is held in place, then at exactly the right moment, without hesitation or a false move, the pencil is withdrawn, topped by a perfect point." Photograph by Keystone View Co. Inc., New York, NY, no date. AT&T reports: "1914: The headquarters and operations center of the AT&T Long Lines division opens at 24 Walker Street, New York City. Long Lines, a unit of AT&T and the Bell System, builds and operates the interstate long distance network."
"Electric" Pencil Sharpener 1917 Farnham Printing & Stationery Co. Minneapolis, MN Dexter sharpener made by Automatic Pencil Sharpener Co.
Boston Polar Cub Pencil Sharpener 1936 Boston sharpener made by C. Howard Hunt Pen Co., Camden, NJ.  Polar Cub motor made by A. C. Gilbert Co., New Haven, CT. Glass cover not shown.
Pencil Sharpener Chicago Giant sharpener made by Automatic Pencil Sharpener Co., Chicago, IL. Motor made by General Electric.
Electro-Pointer Pencil Sharpener [Patent] ~ Introduced 1940 ~ Advertised 1960 Triple "E" Products Co., St. Louis, MO (1940-51) Subsequently, Stile-Craft Mfgrs. Inc., St. Louis, MO (advertised 1960) Finally, Swingline Inc., Long Island, NY (by 1966)
Igloo Pencil Sharpener Advertised 1940 F. A. Smith Mfg. Co. Rochester, NY
Morrisharp Pencil Sharpener [Patent] ~ 1946 ~ Advertised 1954-61 Bert M. Morris Co. Los Angeles, CA
Point-O-Matic Pencil Sharpener (top)  (a.k.a. Pointmaster Pencil Sharpener) (bottom) Hollywood Specialty Co. Los Angeles, CA
Point-O-Matic Electric Pencil Pointer 1950 Johnson Mfg. Co., Inc. Monroeville, IN Courtesy of Louis Ternet

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