MS871 Rite-Rite Hard Rubber Advertising Pencil

MS871 Rite-Rite Hard Rubber Advertising Pencil

Date: c1920s

Size: Length - 140mm.

An unusually large and chunky Rite-Rite pencil, probably from the late 1920s and made from a beautiful orange hard rubber.  This pencil is in excellent and undamaged condition.  The metalwork is all bright and shiny and the hard rubber barrel smooth with no noticeable scratches or other damage.  This is a propel-only pencil that works by twisting the cone.  It has a metal crowen which can be pulled off to reveal an apparently unused, though age-hardened, pink eraser.  The pocket clip is quite short, with a ball-shaped terminal and has "Rite-Rite / Made in USA" imprinted down the stem.  A large imprint on the side of the barrel reads "T T Miller Howe Co Easton PA".  The nearest match to this I can find is a T. T. Miller Hardware Company who were based in Easton, Philadelphia.  This company apparently started in 1907 and as fas a I can tell, still exists.  

 I have fitted a fresh 1.18mm lead and it works perfectly.

A very interesting and very unusual pencil.