The Eberhard Faber company began as the U.S. arm of the German A.W. Faber company. It became Eberhard Faber in 1898 after a dispute with the parent company. The company retained strong ties with Germany and (what follows is part speculation) at some point established manufacturing facilities there. As similarly happened to the U.S. instances of German companies during World War II, the German Eberhard Faber was transferred to local ownership. The U.S. and German Eberhard Faber companies then operated for a time independently. I believe this pencil is a product of the diverged product lines that were a result of the fracturing of the company.

	5H and HB models courtesy Allan Macdonald collection Fett model courtesy Laurie Schmidtke collection

Slate board markers typically have thick soapstone or soft slate leads. This lead is only 2 mm which is too thin to be formed from natural stone, so it must be some kind of ceramic composite.

Eberhard Faber “Dem Braven Kinde” (The Good Child) slate marker kit no. 0369

	courtesy Allan Macdonald collection