The Historic Writing Instrument Collection of RJ McNerney

It had vanished without a trace when my grand parents left their home for an apartment of elder living.

We thought we had quizzed everybody that might have a clue of their “whereabouts”.

Over a half century had past and all of the grand children thought they were lost to antiquity.

Recently while celebrating my Uncle Mikes 90th birthday the box of pens revealed themselves.

Rapture! finding them gave hope to the hopeless!

My Uncle Mike has spent his life as an anthropologist and an archeologist, it was with his encouragement that I set off on an essay regarding mechanical pencils.

For those unfamiliar, mechanical pens are a step above the rest.   Mechanical pencils employ a device that pushes forth a stem of graphite that is uniform and perfect in cylindrical diameter.

Mechanical pens never require a pencil sharpener, they always have the exact diameter of graphite lead within the pencil.   

A simple twist of the foremost portion of the pen pushes the graphic lead outward.

These mechanical pencils are not just advertising units, they also offer data that tracks the journey of my grand father , a wholesale lumberman (circa1898 to 1976)

The age progressed from business card to card files, to Rolodex, to gmail, email,  twitter, tweeter, instagram, LinkedIn and beyond.

All of this ephemera and mechanical devices served a function and that was to keep your name in front of a business prospect. 

We might even  consider cuneiform as the earliest?

In 1940’s for those that were willing to make the investment, mechanical pencils were paramount.

 These pencils served as an object of value in that it was a utilitarian business card and also a souvenir.

It was a reminder of the time you spent with a business prospect, a person that might offer you and your company a mutual profit and benefit.

The cleverness of these pens also helped keep your name in front of your prospective business client.

Pen companies flourished, advertising flourished and if you were willing to spend the money you could create a name for yourself and your company.

My Grandfather was a wholesale lumberman and also managed lumberyards throughout the upper midwest.

R.J McNerney also served on the Board of Directors of the South Dakota Cement Plant in Rapid City.

Lumber yards in the 1930’s through the 1950’s had a greater role to play in communities throughout the MidWest.

Not only did they supply lumber from the great North West and Northern Minnesota, they supplied their customers with steel, concrete block, cement and coal.

All of these products were brought forth by the railroads.

Undoubtedly he met hundreds of salesman wanting his business and because of that he was often given a mechanical pencil that was the business card of the day.

Through these times my grandfather must have tossed them in a box and eventually realized he was “collecting” mechanical pencils.

This entire shoe box full of mechanical pencils was rediscovered at my Uncles home in Carbondale Illinois.

We had queried every known relative EXCEPT my grandfather’s son!  

The fact that my Uncle was an anthropologist and engaging in his ever present discipline of inquiry,

He realized that these pens offered insight into where my “near transient” grandfather and grandmother spent their lives.

Lives that were spent raising a family and their lives were spent in the lumber trades.

The pens served as landmarks, these pens serve as testament to the salesman traversing the upper midwest hoping for gainful enterprise.

No different than that of a primitive tracker, tracking game across the great expansive savannas, these pens offered that geographic insight.

It was a time when people could afford to explore and travel from town to town in a fanciful device that was becoming more and more dependable, the automobile.

They “called” upon people face to face, established awareness of each other and their products.

Enclosed, please find photos of those pens that are sorted in general geographical locales.

billkeitel.com