The history of pencil sharpeners
Throughout our history, technological progress has made people’s lives easier and work more efficient. One of these was the pencil, which existed as early as around the 16th century. Nowadays, no one would think that it made life easier for the literate. The problem was that they had to be constantly hand-carved, which took time and skill.
The first mechanical sharpener was invented in France in 1828, but as it took the same time to sharpen as a manual sharpener, it did not catch on. The first real sharpener, very similar to the sharpener we know today, was introduced in 1847. This sharpener was cone-shaped, a shape that can still be found today. However, the development of the pencil industry required the sharpeners to be modernized.
The breakthrough came with the artificial pencil sharpener, and in 1904 a more practical piece was introduced, using the familiar planetary mechanism. The next major advance in the history of the pencil sharpener was made possible by the first incarnation of the earlier sharpener in 1910. In the 1940s, however, the idea was born that the pencil sharpener no longer needed to be held in the hand. You simply stuck the pencil in, waited a few seconds and it sharpened. This is the modern office pencil sharpener.
Throughout this exciting journey, technical progress has helped inventions to achieve the perfect shape. For the best of the best, visit Pi. An. Bl.’s original webshop where you’ll find a wide range of pencil sharpeners of all kinds and types, surrounded by lots of special offers to make your shopping pleasure.
