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Pens & Pencils

Exactly who was Mr Biro?

By Paperstone on April 8, 2016 in Pens & Pencils with 0 Comments
Exactly who was Mr Biro?

The trade name “Biro” is forever etched in the memory of officer workers everywhere in the Western world. But exactly who was Mr Biro? Laszlo Biro was the son of a Jewish dentist born in Budapest in 1899, and his career began in the army as a trainee officer during World War I. After the […]

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Pencils and the American Civil War

By Paperstone on March 23, 2016 in Pens & Pencils with 0 Comments
Pencils and the American Civil War

Did you know that the American Civil War created a demand for good quality pencils? The pencils were needed so that troops could make quick notes on the field, and send messages to each other. Joseph Dixon was an inventor who owned a factory in Salem, where he had been manufacturing graphite crucibles for the […]

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Extortionate Space Pencils

By Paperstone on March 21, 2016 in Pens & Pencils with 0 Comments
Extortionate Space Pencils

Did you know that the astronauts in NASA’s 1965 Gemini 3 earth-orbiting space mission carried pencils costing $129 each – about $960 at today’s prices! The total cost of pencils for the spaceship was more than $4,000 which raised a few eyebrows at the time. When challenged publicly about the cost, NASA’s spokesman said that […]

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Dark Side of the Pencil

By Paperstone on March 11, 2016 in Pencils & Accessories, Pens & Pencils with 0 Comments
Dark Side of the Pencil

The innocent pencil, a symbol of artistry and early childhood scribblings, has also been ascribed a darker side over the years. Back in the 1980s, Stephen King wrote a novel The Dark Half, in which a writer called Thad Beaumont is at war with his alter ego. Beaumont, who usually wrote his stories using a […]

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A Short History of Shorthand

By Paperstone on October 1, 2015 in Pens & Pencils with 0 Comments
A Short History of Shorthand

Did you know that writing in shorthand was the 19th century version of tweeting, used as a method of writing down your own thoughts on hot topics of the day? Shorthand is an abbreviated system of writing based on the alphabet, and it allows someone who is well trained in it to write as quickly […]

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Eraserbread – Using Stale Bread as an Rubber

Eraserbread – Using Stale Bread as an Rubber

  You probably thought the purpose of a piece of bread was for eating – but years ago stale bread was used as an eraser for black lead pencil marks. Art students and architects were advised to make light outlines with a soft pencil, and rub out errors with an Indian rubber or crumb of […]

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National Doodle Day 2015

By Paperstone on February 3, 2015 in Pens & Pencils with 0 Comments
National Doodle Day 2015

Stuck on the phone, pen in hand, while someone drones on and on at you? Chances are you’ll soon be doodling. The letter ‘o’ becomes a sun, or a flower, and the letter ‘l’ is transformed into a skyscraper. Then you add a patterned border, and colour it in with your pen! Doodling is a […]

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Finland To Scrap Handwriting Lessons

By Paperstone on January 5, 2015 in Books & Pads, Pens & Pencils with 0 Comments
Finland To Scrap Handwriting Lessons

How’s your handwriting? Did your teachers make you practise hard as a child to dot the ‘i’s and cross the ‘t’s? Learning joined up writing, especially with a grown up fountain pen, has been a tradition in UK schools for at least a century or two! And most of us probably appreciate a beautifully written […]

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November Is National Novel Writing Month

By Paperstone on October 17, 2014 in Paper, Pens & Pencils with 0 Comments
November Is National Novel Writing Month

There’s a theory that we all have at least one novel within us. Put this idea to the test by signing up for National Novel Writing Month in November. You can find out if you’re a budding Henry James or Charlotte Bronte in this exciting literary challenge- and it’s completely free to take part. The […]

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National Stationery Week 2014

By Paperstone on March 20, 2014 in Books & Pads, Fun, Office Supplies, Pens & Pencils with 0 Comments
National Stationery Week 2014

In the hardships of the trenches of World War I, what kept our soldiers going? In horrible circumstances, handwritten letters from loved ones back home helped lift men’s spirits. And even today, handwritten letters have great emotional significance. No one wants a love letter by email – it needs to arrive by snail mail, written […]

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