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Early Office Museum

Antique Mechanical Pencil Sharpener Gallery
 ~ 1860-1899 ~

This page illustrates all machines with moving parts known to have been sold for sharpening wood-cased lead pencils prior to 1900. This page also includes all US and German patents issued by 1885 for machines for sharpening lead pencils. Many additional patents for pencil sharpeners were issued during 1885-99; we have not included these because we have not (yet) found evidence that corresponding machines were produced. Finally, this page also illustrates two devices that were designed to hold pencils while they were sharpened with a knife.

Model, Year, Maker	Click Image to Enlarge
Haskell Pen Rack, Cleaner, and Pencil Sharpener Patented 1860 by Henry C. Haskell, Marshall, MI  The pencil was inserted into the cone with the red dot. There is no evidence whether this was marketed.
Woodcock Pencil Sharpener Patented 1869 by Shepherd S. Woodcock, Somerville, MA There is no evidence whether this was marketed.
Livingston Pencil Sharpener Patented 1878 by Francis Livingston, Newark, NJ There is no evidence whether this was marketed.
Sievert Pencil Holder Patented 1878 by Max Sievert, Germany There is no evidence whether this was marketed.
Patridge's Patent Perfect Pencil Pointer Advertised 1880 Philip W. Harris, Manufacturer's Agent Boston, MA This is the earliest advertisement we have found for a mechanical pencil sharpener, that is, a sharpener with parts that move while the pencil is being sharpened. While the 1880 illustrated advertisement identifies this as "Patridge's Pencil Pointer," some publications from 1880 refer to it as "Partridge's Pencil Pointer" (with an "r" after the "Pa"). We have not found a US patent.
Rice Pencil Sharpener Patented 1880 by Henry C. Rice, Easthampton, MA In 1886, in describing the planetary cutting mechanism of the Acme pencil sharpener (see below), the inventor of the Acme made the following comments on the Rice pencil sharpener and on the Hoffman pencil sharpener (see below), indicating that these machines were produced but had deficiencies that limited their commercial success. "[T]he cutter acts or cuts in a direction nearly if not transverse to the grain of the wood of the pencil, the consequence being that the fibers are torn or broken rather than smoothly cut, and the lead itself by the same action is cracked and broken.  So pronounced, indeed, are these defects that they practically forbid any extended use of such machines, the consequence being that few, if any, of them are now found in the market."
Van Houser Pencil Sharpening Machine Patented 1880 by Henry Van Houser, Dayton, OH There is no evidence whether this was marketed.
Eagle Pencil Sharpener Advertised 1882 Eagle Pencil Co. New York, NY
Schmarje Pencil Sharpener Patented 1882 by J. Schmarje, Germany There is no evidence whether this was marketed.
Hambruch Pencil Sharpener Patented 1882 by H. F. Hambruch, Germany There is no evidence whether this was marketed.
Schaller Pencil Sharpener Patented 1883 by Franz Schaller, Germany There is no evidence whether this was marketed.
Pistotnik Pencil Sharpener Patented 1883 by Edmund Pistotnik, Germany There is no evidence whether this was marketed.
Ehrhardt Pencil Sharpener Patented 1883 by Friedrich Ehrhardt, Germany There is no evidence whether this was marketed.
Sibley's Pencil Sharpener Patented 1884 ~ Advertised 1884-90, 1894 Willard E. Sibley Waltham, MA The catalog of an 1884 exhibition states that Sibley exhibited a "Lead and Slate Pencil Sharpener. -- This is an ingenious and quite effective device for sharpening pencils, and is designed mainly for schools.  It consists of a belt of sand-paper, so geared and belted that while it moves by one revolution of the crank in one direction, about five feet, the pencil is revolved fifteen times in the opposite direction, and so rapidly grinds away the pencil to a point."  Fifteenth Exhibition of the Massachusetts Charitable Mechanic Association, Boston, 1884, p.101. According to an Oct. 1894 publication, which also contained an illustrated review of this machine, "A large number of school and principals' offices were equipped last month with the Sibley pencil sharpener, manufactured by Walter E. Sibley, Waltham, Mass. American School Board Journal, Oct. 1894, v. 6, p. 58.
Hoffman Pencil Sharpener Patented 1884 by Joseph Hoffman, New York, NY. See discussion under Rice pencil sharpener (above).
Stimpson Pencil Sharpener Patented 1884 ~ Advertised 1885 George Frost & Co. Boston, MA
Keller Pencil Sharpener Patented 1884 by F. G. Keller, Germany There is no evidence whether this was marketed.
Moore Pencil Sharpener Patented 1884 by Thomas Moore, London, England There is no evidence whether this was marketed.
Keller Pencil Sharpener Patented 1884 by F. G. Keller, Germany There is no evidence whether this was marketed.
Schaller Pencil Sharpener Patented 1885 by Georg Schaller, Zurich, Switz. There is no evidence whether this was marketed.
Lamson Pencil Sharpener (a.k.a. Dixon's Pencil Sharpener) Patented 1885 ~ Advertised 1885-89 Joseph Dixon Crucible Co.  Jersey City, NJ
Stimpson Pencil Sharpener Patented 1886 ~ Advertised 1886 George Frost & Co. Boston, MA
Gem Pencil Sharpener Patented 1886 ~ Advertised 1887-1918 Gould & Cook, Leominster, MA (1887-93) F. H. Cook & Co., Leominster, MA (1893-1902) "Gould & Cook started business in 1884...These gentlemen are the inventors and owners of the Gem Pencil Sharpener, which is considered by teachers, who have the most occasion to test an article of this kind, as the simplest and best in the market." (William A. Emerson, Leominister Massachusetts Historical and Picturesque, Gardner, MA, 1888, p. 271.)
Acme Pencil Sharpener Patented 1886 ~ Advertised 1887 Eagle Pencil Co. New York, NY
Forrester Pencil Sharpener Patented 1887 (US Patent No. 372,258) ~ On market 1887-91 Samuel Forrester, Allegheny, PA There are two earlier Forrester pencil sharpener patents, the first in 1884 (US Patent No. 310,041) and the second in 1885 (US Patent No. 332,146). The patent diagrams are posted below: 1884 Patent Diagram 1885 Patent Diagram The Columbus OH Board of Education spent $126 purchasing 21 Forrester pencil sharpeners during the year ending Aug. 31, 1887. We cannot determine the Forrester patent(s) on which these machines were based. The New York Board of Eduction spent $72 purchasing 12 Forrester pencil sharpeners in April 1889, and the billhead has an image of the model based on the 1887 patent. The Harrisburg Telegraph, Harrisburg, PA, Nov. 7, 1891, states, "The Committee on Supplies recommended the purchase of six Forrester's pencil sharpeners...for use in the schools. Agreed to."	Machine based on 1887 patent
President Pencil Sharpener Patented 1888 ~ Advertised 1890-92 The Baltimore Specialty Co. Baltimore, MD
Dixon's Pencil Sharpener Advertised 1889 Joseph Dixon Crucible Co.  Jersey City, NJ
Unique Pencil Sharpener Patented 1889 ~ Advertised/Marketed 1887-90 E. L. Kellogg & Co. New York, NY and Chicago, IL
Franklin Pencil Sharpener Advertised 1889 New York News Co. (manufacturer's agent)
Unique Pencil Sharpener Advertised/Marketed 1890-94 E. L. Kellogg & Co. New York, NY and Chicago, IL
Perfect Pencil Pointer Patented 1890 ~ Advertised 1890-1913 The Perfect Pencil Pointer Co., Portland, ME (to 1892) Goodell Co., Antrim, NH (1892 on)
Dollar Pencil Sharpener Patented 1890 ~ Advertised 1891-92 Samuel C. Tatum Co. Cincinnati, OH
Mills Pencil Sharpener Patented 1891 ~ Advertised 1891-92 Mills Pencil Sharpener Co. Cincinnati, OH
Perfect Pencil Pointer Advertised 1892 Goodell Co., Antrim, NH Same as 1890 model but metal base. Manufactured with wooden vertical supports (top photo) and metal vertical supports (bottom photo).
Shipherd Pencil Sharpening Device Patented 1893 William C. Shipherd (Patentee), Cleveland, OH Separate knife used to shave pencil not shown Photograph courtesy of Robert Kwalwasser
Andrews Pencil Sharpener Advertised 1893-94 Andrews School Furnishing Co. New York, NY. This machine was designed to sharpen slate pencils.
Andrews Pencil Sharpener Advertised 1895-96 Andrews School Furnishing Co. New York, NY
Peerless Pencil Pointer Introduced 1895 ~ Patented 1896 ~ Advertised 1896-1902 The Walker Mfg. Co. Chicago, IL
Planetary Pencil Pointer Patented 1896 ~ Advertised 1896-1915 A. B. Dick Co. Chicago, IL & New York, NY
Combination Eraser Cleaner and Pencil Sharpener Patented 1897 ~ Advertised 1897-1918 (The eraser cleaner without the pencil sharpener attachment was advertised in 1924.) Lord Manufacturing Co., New Haven, CT Sold with wheel for cleaning blackboard erasers and/or wheel for sharpening pencils.  Photograph shows machine with pencil sharpening wheel. Photograph courtesy of Dennis A. Traverso
Jupiter Pencil Pointer Patented 1897 ~ Advertised 1899-1914 Guhl & Harbeck Co. Hamburg, Germany The US sales agent was Favor, Ruhl & Co, New York, NY
Upright Pencil Sharpener Advertised 1897-1901 Upright Machine Co. Paterson, NJ
Lincoln Pencil Sharpener Patented 1898 Sylvester Decatur Lincoln, Evanston, IL, Inventor Photograph courtesy of Howard Levin
Webster Pencil Sharpener Patented 1900-10 ~ Advertised 1898-1914 F. S. Webster Co. Boston, MA The machine illustrated in the 1892 patent listed on the machine is different; there is no evidence that it was ever marketed.  The models produced are those illustrated in the 1900 and 1910 patents.
Ideal Pencil Sharpener Patented 1900 ~ Advertised 1899 J. M. Olcott & Co. New York, NY
Close But Not Quite
Crayon Sharpener Patented 1899 by J. J. Fraser.  Patent No. 625,878. U.S. Identification by Howard Levin

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