Originally Posted by
jonveley
Hello Greg, nice pencil.
The answer to your question whether this pencil was made before Heath's patent was issued is absolutely, unequivocably yes -- but not for the reasons you are thinking.
The Heath Clip patent actually wasn't issued until after Charles Keeran quit using the Heath clip on his Ever Sharp pencils - when Wahl took over production of Keeran's Ever Sharp. In fact, I've never seen a Heath clip on anything with a patent date on it (they all say "Pat. App. For"). Wahl-made pencils are found either with the trowel clip (for which he applied for and received a design patent) or Wahl's familiar clip used on millions of Eversharps from 1917 forward.
Wahl changed the name from "Ever Sharp" (2 words) to "Eversharp" (1 word) in 1918.
Full sized pencils without clips are unusual but not unheard of, and it doesn't mean it was pre-Heath clip - just that it wasn't fitted with one. Be sure there's no traces of solder to indicate that a trowel clip came off, or piercing marks for a Heath clip or a tombstone-shaped hole for a Wahl clip.
Assuming it's a straight clipless model, it is a neat find, but unfortunately without a clip all I can tell you is that it was made prior to Wahl's rebranding in 1918. It could have been fitted with any of the three known clips.
If you've got my pencil book, there's a rundown on all this stuff in there. There's also some good info at my mechanical pencil museum, but the pictures are pretty low-res and it's due for an update.
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