APO472 Posted November 17, 2014 Share #1 Posted November 17, 2014 Something one does not see every day. Original, WWII Mechanical pencil as available at the PX in 1942. Made from bakelite plastic and printed with "US Paratroops logo & Camp Toccoa. I 30+ years of researching the 506th I have only encountered 2 of these. They are RARE! Hope you enjoy! Thanks for looking. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
USdog Posted November 17, 2014 Share #2 Posted November 17, 2014 Very interesting piece! Thx for sharing... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David D Posted November 17, 2014 Share #3 Posted November 17, 2014 Wow! Very neat! -Dave Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
17thairborne Posted November 18, 2014 Share #4 Posted November 18, 2014 THose obscure types of things are really great to collect, especially when they are AB related! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bugme Posted November 18, 2014 Share #5 Posted November 18, 2014 Now that is very cool Jake and I assume very rare since they were probably considered a throw away item. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Timberwolf Posted November 18, 2014 Share #6 Posted November 18, 2014 Now that's cool. Wonder if there's one sitting in someone desk, long forgotten about? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
USdog Posted November 18, 2014 Share #7 Posted November 18, 2014 Now that's cool. Wonder if there's one sitting in someone desk, long forgotten about? Time to go through some desk drawers at estate sales! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Allan H. Posted November 18, 2014 Share #8 Posted November 18, 2014 Jake, Cool piece! I have only ever seen one other of these and it is in a guy's pencil collection. No amount of trying to trade for it would get it away from him. I hope you're doing OK! Allan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
APO472 Posted November 18, 2014 Author Share #9 Posted November 18, 2014 Thanks everyone for the kind comments. I would venture to guess that so few exist because they were probably a fairly expensive item at the time since they were mechanical pencils. A pennent or even stationary would have been much cheaper. Thanks again! Allan, PM sent. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GIKyle Posted November 18, 2014 Share #10 Posted November 18, 2014 I had not thought of the novelty that would have been a mechanical pencil in the 1940s, but figured that it would have been the type of item that was used until it broke or was lost. Such a unique item - Thanks for letting us see it! Kyle Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David D Posted November 18, 2014 Share #11 Posted November 18, 2014 I gotta ask, where did you find this? -Dave Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HoustonTx Posted November 24, 2014 Share #12 Posted November 24, 2014 Nice, I had no idea mechanical pencils even existed for that era. Now I will be looking. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
willysmb44 Posted November 24, 2014 Share #13 Posted November 24, 2014 Back when you had a better chance to finding stuff like this in the early 90s when GI stuff wasn't that big a collecting thing, I wouldn't have given this a second glance then as the design and typeface on the pencil looks way too modern for the WW2 area. Not saying it's repro or from the pstwar era, just saying I would have probably thought that way back then, and can easily imagine passing over something like this, incorrectly thinking it was a veteran item or something like that... Great item, Jake! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David D Posted November 24, 2014 Share #14 Posted November 24, 2014 I did a little research and the mechanical pencil was first invented in the 1800's. And they have a page in lead for these in GI collectors guide vol. 2. here is a picture of a WWII led box. -Dave Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
USMC Saipan Posted December 10, 2014 Share #15 Posted December 10, 2014 nice Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now