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Eagle Automatic Pencil No. 861

Eagle Pencil Company, New York

purpose lead diameter mechanism composition variations production date origin	general use ~2.5 mm pushbutton spring clutch wooden barrel with metal fittings unknown 1879 USA
special features	the first pushbutton spring clutch
see also	Eagle Copying Leads for Automatic Pencils US Patent 215521 "Lead and Crayon Holder," 1879

Eagle “Automatic” pencils were available in a range of sizes for a variety of purposes. This “Copying” model was intended for general office use, but others were marketed to artists, reporters, and possibly draftsmen.

This is the earliest known pencil utilizing the pushbutton spring lock clutch which would be perfected by Caran d’Ache in their Fixpencil of 1929 and be ubiquitous on leadholders by the early 1950s. These early types were not adopted by draftsmen or artists in any numbers because the clutch relied on fairly sharp jaws to pinch the lead and prevent it from sliding back into the barrel under the pressures of drawing. This had the effect of scoring the lead at the pinch point and so greatly weakened it. The less “automatic” twist lock clutch could grip the lead much more firmly and so did not require such sharp jaws. These early twist lock pencils, however, were far from perfect and they also tended to facilitate the breaking of the lead at the pinch point.

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Eagle Automatic Copying Pencil No. 861

Eagle Pencil Company, New York

purpose lead diameter mechanism composition variations production date origin	office use ~2 mm pushbutton spring clutch wooden barrel with metal fittings unknown circa late 1800s USA
see also	Tower Manufacturing Co. catalog, 1908, p 270 Eagle Copying Leads for Automatic Pencils

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courtesy Allan Macdonald collection

Eagle Automatic Stop Gauge Pencil

Eagle Pencil Company, New York

purpose lead diameter mechanism composition variations production date origin	(display model)? 1/4 in. pushbutton spring clutch with step advance wooden barrel with metal fittings none known circa late 1800s USA
special features	it's huge

The Stop Gauge Pencil was also available in smaller sizes.