Staedtler’s “Mars” brand Professional Drawing products

Staedtler’s Mars brand of professional grade dawing equipment was introduced in 1900. The certerpiece of this line was the Mars drawing pencil. The familiar Lumograph version of the Mars pencil was introduced in the early 1930s and contained a new formulation for the lead specifically intended to be used to trace drawings, instead of the traditional ink, creating lines dark and opaque enough to be reproduced as blueprints. The pencil was a great success and must have been found very satisfactory for non-tracing uses as well.

Like other brands of German pencils, Staedtler pencils were made in the USA during World War II. The 1943 war time edition of New York’s Keuffel and Esser company catalog featured a made-in-USA non-Lumograph Mars 1225 drawing pencil.

reverse; with special 275th anniversary imprint

metal box of one dozen lumographs circa 1930s

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This pencil (two views above) was custom imprinted for the Keuffel & Esser Co.


Metal box of one dozen lumographs circa 1940s to 1950s.

notice the name has now been combined with a hyphen: “Mars-Lumograph”

Metal box of one dozen lumographs circa late 1950s. Notice the more abstract Mars head graphic than earlier boxes.

Box of twelve. Notice the second from top has the imprint inverted. Hah.

reverse

reverse

The 2888 Chisel-Point pencils included one factory sharpened example in each box of 12 — well, the box I have is this way at any rate. These pencils are quite fetching with a rounded, flat section something like a miniature carpenter’s pencil. Other chisel point pencils such as the Castell 9003 had flat leads encased in the traditional hexagonal case.



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