The History of Pencils (2)

Italian and German changes 

The Italian couple hollowed out a wooden stick and then placed a graphite stick inside it. This created a wooden holder for the graphite. In the late 1500s, someone in Germany glued two wooden halves together around a graphite stick. The concept is still used today.

German improvements
In 1839 Germany's Lothar von Faber devised a way to make graphite sticks all the same width. He also invented a machine to cut the pencil wood.

American production
By the late 1860s in America, pencils were in great demand. American companies began designing machines to mass-produce them. It helped meet the need and cut the cost of pencils by 50 percent.

Japanese ideas 
Several people are said to be responsible for inventing the mechanical pencil. In 1915, however, Japan's Tokuji Hayakawa created a mechanical pencil similar to the one used now.

Today both kinds of pencils are very popular with the wooden pencil being number one. More than 6 billion wooden pencils are manufactured in 50 different countries each year.

Grammar Gym
"It helped meet the need...."
to meet the need: to satisfy the need
- The school encourages students to volunteer and help meet the different needs in the community.
- After a natural disasters strikes, relief organizations will send helpers to met the different needs of the disaster victims.

Info Cloud
Teaching Topic: To Pencil

Now that we've learned all about pencils, let's take a look at the word "pencil" used as a verb.

Ken, I'll pencil you in for Monday at ten o'clock.

And, I'll do likewise Steve.

Friends, if you want to arrange for something to happen, or for someone to do something, and you know that it may have to be changed later, then you can pencil in the event or person on your calender.

Right! The idea is that when you write with a pencil, you can always erase what you write. It's just a tentative arrangement.

So, you'd have to confirm it later. This is a good phrase to use for people who are busy. Two people may pencil in a date with the understanding that one of them may have to re-book the appointment if something urgent comes up.

Now, you don't have to use an actual pencil when you pencil something in. You can still say "I'll pencil you in" in a figurative sense, even if you are using a computer.

That's right! The point is that it is a tentative arrangement until it has been confirmed. The actual device you use - a pencil, pen, chalk, reminder on your cell phone or computer - is not crucial to the meaning.


Language Lab
hollow v.
curved inward or down
- The tribesman hollowed out a canoe from a log.
hollow adj.
having nothing inside : not solid
- The tree trunk is hollow inside.
- The patient's eyes and cheeks are hollow.

devise v.
/dɪˈvaɪz/
to invent or plan (something that is difficult or complicated)
- Chelsea devised a method to keep herself awake during night shifts.
- The engineers devised a new kind of TV which reacts to human voices.

in demand
needed or wanted by many people
- The demand for organic products has increased in recent years.
- Smartphone chips are still in great demand.

mechanical adj.
of or relating to machinery
- These mechanical clocks need constant maintenance.
mechanic n.
a person who repairs machines (such as car engines) and keeps them running properly
- The mechanic charged me $500 to replace the air conditioner in my car.



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