Early American Pencil Makers
Early Addison Calendar Pencil
Addison & Co. Silver Pencil with Onion Top
Gold Pen/Pencil Combo
Spectacular Gold, Engraved Dedication Columbia College
Addison was manufacturing pencils, and later combination pen/pencils from 1825.
Richardson & Son
John Richardson Pen-Pencil Holder Design
Rarely is a working model of mid-19th century gold pen-pencil case design recovered for analysis or viewing. Identified as Richardson’s Patent OCTR . 24 1854, this working development model of John Richardson’s pen-pencil case is attractively engraved.
Richardson & Son
Listed in 1850-51 as pencil case makers, William Richardson and his son John were located at 4 Liberty Place in Brooklyn.
Next door was Edward Deacon at 5 Liberty Place, and Jacob J. Lownds, multi-patent awardee for his unique pencils and Gold Pen holders. operated at 6 Liberty Place.
See https://portecrayons.com/american-pen-nib-makers
The Richardsons are relatively unknown as pencil case makers, much less so was John as patent holder for a pen-pencil holder mechanism based on the Bagley 1850 extension pen-pencil holder.
John Richardson may have commissioned the Bagley factory to provide an extension holder blank or embellished with the engraving we see. The cap may be an indicator of a Bagley To-The-Trade acquisition. The form of the extension holder is quite similar to the early Rauch form extension holders produced by the Bagley factory.
Bagley Patent Extension Mechanism
The classic Bagley extension mechanism, including extruded, swaged fit for the top extension is present in the case.
Patent Claims
The simplistic claim language is further revealed in the accompanying patent drawing, providing insight into the complexity of the design.
Magnified Images on Patent Drawing
The photo images are overlaid onto a portion of the patent drawing to exhibit the work in progress on Mr. Richardson’s design. He cutaway a segment of the case to reveal part of the inner working mechanism. This may be an item that was carried and presented by John Richardson during his appeal of the Hicks award for Richardson’s novel design.