Pencils formally date to the days when real lead was used (today graphite forms the core of our wood-cased pencils). And whether you know it or not, some really fabulous—and quite elegant ...

About 75 years ago, this Bible Belt town with access to railroads and red cedars produced the majority of wood-cased pencils in the United States.

Pencils formally date to the days when real lead was used (today graphite forms the core of our wood-cased pencils). And though they may at first blush seem anachronistic, some really fabulous ...

"Wood case pencils are trending up at a slightly higher rate than mechanical pencils in the marketplace," said Jason Shockley, communications director for Office Depot, an office supplier.

While the wood-cased pencil soon became commonplace, more sophisticated versions of a rigid sleeve in which the lead could move independently took longer to appear. In one 1636 example, a brass ...

Berolzheimer, whose family began making pencils in Bavaria in the 19th century, owned a company called California Cedar Products, a supplier of pencil wood that also had a small branded pencil ...

“Mechanical pencils, they don't smell like anything. The lead is so small you can get no line variation out of it," says Weaver, 25. "Though it is a little bit of work to use a wood-cased pencil ...