Story you never knew about Ticonderoga pencils

The history of Ticonderoga pencils is an interesting story that begins in 1812. Pencils are used today for a variety of uses and also come in various styles and shapes. Read on to learn more about how this company revolutionized the way we view pencils.

In 1812, Joseph Dixon made his first pencil and the idea was born. From then on, he went to work to establish his company and, in 1827, he founded what would later become known as the Joseph Dixon Crucible Company. Additionally, this company began selling graphite to people to use as a stove polish and then evolved to market graphite as a heat resistant product. He moved his company to Jersey City, New Jersey, where he had built his new factory. As the popularity of the pencil grew and demand increased, Dixon invented a machine that could produce pencils at a faster speed of 132 pencils per minute.

Joseph Dixon Crucible Company was incorporated as a public company in 1868. In 1869 Joseph Dixon died, leaving his son-in-law in charge of the company. By 1872, the Joseph Dixon Crucible Company was manufacturing pencils in mass production, producing 86,000 pencils per day. In 1873, the company purchased the American Graphite Company, which was headquartered in Ticonderoga, NY. Also, in 1873, the Dixon Ticonderoga pencil was released to the public.

Over the years, this highly successful company began acquiring and merging with other companies such as the American Crayon Company in 1957 (which helped them acquire Old Faithful pencils, Prang crayons, and Tempera art supplies). And later, he took over the Wallace Pencil Company and its production facility located in Versailles, Missouri. And in 1983, the original company merged with Bryn Mawr Corporation and became officially known as the Dixon Ticonderoga Company. After the name change, Gino N. Pala was appointed CEO and its headquarters moved to Vero Beach, Florida. From that point on, Dixon bought another company, David Kahn Inc., and acquired its product, Wearever writing utensils.

From there, the headquarters moved its headquarters twice, once in 1990 to Maitland, Florida and again in 1996 to Heathrow, Florida. A year after moving to Maitland, Florida, the company purchased Vinci de México and Dixon Ticonderoga launched Prang Soybean Crayons. In 2000, a manufacturing company was built in China. 2003 brought change to the company making it a purely consumer products company. In 2004, production in the United States ended when the company was bought by the Italian company Fila-Fabbricca Italian Lapis Ed Affini SpA They continue to manufacture writing utensils and the Ticonderoga pencil in factories located around the world in Asia, Italy, France. , Germany and Latin America.

These great products can be found throughout the United States today in department stores and office supply stores across the country. High quality Dixon Ticonderoga pencils are available in various shapes including, # 1 (extra soft), # 2 (soft), # 2 1/2 (medium), # 3 (hard), and # 4 (extra hard). The design of these pencils is yellow, black or American natural, which is a wood tone. And the metal band for the eraser is green and yellow. Eraser options can be found in traditional pink or black. Another option is “My First Ticonderoga”, which is a thicker, rounder option that was designed for smaller fingers. This company also makes a “green” option called EnvironSTIK, which is environmentally friendly, contains no coating and has a green eraser. Since 2008, Ticonderoga Company has manufactured a variety of writing / drawing utensils, including dry erase markers, permanent markers, and highlighters.

We hope you have learned some interesting information about the rich history of Ticonderoga pencils on how the company started.