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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
1900_Challenge_Top_View.jpg (45297 bytes)
Duplex Pencil Sharpener
Patented 1900
Charles Babcock, Troy, NY
Collection of the National Museum of American History, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC
1900 Duplex Top SICT.jpg (28891 bytes)
Elroy Pencil Sharpener
Chas. H. Elroy
Ovid, MI

[Ask Ovid P.L.]

Cxxxxx Ovid, Michigan Front SQCT.jpg (38492 bytes)
Chas._H._Elroy_Ovid_Mich_OM.JPG (30759 bytes)
Peerless Easy Pointer
Peerless Specialties Co.
Sheboygan, WI
Peerless_Easy_Pointer_OM.JPG (18749 bytes)
Chelsea Pencil Sharpener (a.k.a. Standard Pencil Sharpener)
Advertised 1901-10
Chelsea Mfg. Co.
Chelsea, MI
1901_Chelsea_Pencil_Sharpener_z.jpg (84380 bytes)
Dixon Pencil Sharpener
Patented 1903 ~ Advertised 1902
Joseph Dixon Crucible Co.
Jersey City, NJ
Photographs courtesy of Howard Levin
1902 Dixon Pencil Sharpener 1 OM.jpg (35505 bytes)
1902 Dixon Pencil Sharpener 2 OM.jpg (48184 bytes)
Lakeside Pencil Sharpener
Patented 1911 ~ Advertised 1904-11
Lakeside Specialty Co.
Chicago, IL
1904 Lakeside OM x.jpg (38705 bytes)
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.

1904_Climax_OM.jpg (29150 bytes)
Olcott_Climax_2_OM.jpg (52758 bytes)
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
1904_Little_Shaver_early_model_H_Levin.jpg (63069 bytes)
1904 Little Shaver OM.jpg (19930 bytes)
Little Shaver Pencil Sharpener
Patented 1904
E. L. McDivitt
Belvidere, IL
Same as preceding but nickel plated
1904 Little Shaver Nickel-Plated OM.jpg (76220 bytes)
Pencil Sharpener similar to Little Shaver Little_Shaver_variant.jpg (53254 bytes)
Star Lead Pencil Sharpener
The Star Novelty Co.
Reading, PA
Photograph courtesy of Howard Levin
Star_Lead_Pencil_Sharpener_The_Star_Novelty_Co_Reading_PA.jpg (64371 bytes)
Common Sense Pencil Knife
W. R. Mfg. Co.
Cincinnati, OH
Common_Sense_Pencil_Knife_W.R._Mfg_Co_Cincinnati_OH_OM.JPG (81478 bytes)
Perfect Pencil Pointer
Johnson, Chicago, IL
Separate knife used to shave pencil not shown
Photograph courtesy of Antiques of a Mechanical Nature
1904 Pencil Sharpening Device.jpg (20219 bytes)
Universal Pencil Sharpener
Patented 1904
Fred P. Lovejoy
Springfield, VT
1904 Lovejoy Universal Pencil Sharpener front OM.jpg (37001 bytes)
1904 Lovejoy Universal Pencil Sharpener.jpg (38421 bytes)
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
Mossberg_Jupiter_OM.jpg (13941 bytes)
Mossberg_rear_H_Levin.jpg (68699 bytes)
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..

 

1905_Littlejohn_OM.jpg (55560 bytes)
Littlejohn_Pencil_Sharpener_first_outside.JPG (39647 bytes)
Littlejohn_Pencil_Sharpener_first_inside.jpg (41110 bytes)
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..
1905_Handy_OM.jpg (40620 bytes)
Famulus Pencil Sharpener
Patented 1906-10 (Germany 1906-1910, UK 1906)
Germany
1905_Famulus_Germany_OM.jpg (27108 bytes)
1910_W._Kober__Co_ps_22319.jpg (52526 bytes)
1910 Patent
Whittler
Advertised 1906
Gilmore-Gilfillan Co.
Chicago, IL

1906_Whittler_OM.jpg (29057 bytes)
     1906_Whittler_second_model_advertised_.jpg (249673 bytes)
These two 1906 advertisements show two slightly different machines.

1908_Whittler_x2_Lisa_Ledger.jpg (226139 bytes)
1906_Whittler_x1_Lisa_Ledger.jpg (184626 bytes)
Photos courtesy of Lisa Ledger
Peerless Pencil Whittler
Commercial Specialty Co.
Chicago, IL
Peerless_Whittler_1_blade_OM.JPG (37241 bytes)
1906_Peerless_Pencil_Whittler_rear.JPG (36945 bytes)
Gilfillan Automatic Pencil Sharpener
Patented 1906 ~ Advertised 1907
Kidder Novelty Works
Chicago, IL
Base identical to that of U. S. Automatic not shown
1906 Gilfillan Front SQCT.jpg (13861 bytes)
Rockford Pencil Knife
Patented 1906
Rockford Pencil Knife Co.
Rockford, IL
Photograph courtesy of Dennis A. Traverso
1906 Rockford First Model OM.jpg (13098 bytes)
Rockford Pencil Knife
Patented 1906 ~ Advertised 1907-12
Rockford Pencil Knife Co.
Rockford, IL
1907 Rockford OM.jpg (22668 bytes)
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
1906_Jupiter_N_OM.jpg (47450 bytes)
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.
1907_US_Automatic_x_OM.JPG (54060 bytes)
US_Auto_leather_covered.jpg (26084 bytes)
Angell Pencil Sharpener
The Angell Co.
Boston, MA
1907 Angell Handle at 1.30 MLCT.jpg (21922 bytes)
Angell Pencil Sharpener
The Angell Co.
Boston, MA
1907 Angell Straight Handle Right Side.jpg (37650 bytes)
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.
 
1909_Quick_Louis_Myers_inventor_Progress_Office_Specialty_Co_NY_NY.jpg (34327 bytes)

1907_Click_Pencil_Sharpener_H_Levin.jpg (64893 bytes)
Conic Pencil Sharpener
Patented 1908 ~ Advertised 1908
Roth Mfg. Co.
Boston, MA
1908_Conic_OM.jpg (32714 bytes)
Junior Pencil Sharpener
Commercial Sales Co.
Fulton, NY
1909 Junior Front SQCT.jpg (16393 bytes)
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.
1909_Peerless_Whittler_No._1.jpg (26637 bytes)
Peerless Whittler No. 3
Advertised 1909
The Peerless Whittler Co.
New York, NY
Peerless_Whittler_No._3_OM.jpg (47141 bytes)
Everett Pencil Sharpener
Patented 1909 ~ Advertised 1910
Everett Specialty Co.
New York, NY
You can see an Everett in action in our Museum Lobby.
1909_Everett_OM.jpg (29803 bytes)
Pencil Sharpener
Prototype
1909 Prototype Pencil Sharpener Front SQCT.jpg (10847 bytes)

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