Clicks were heard from classroom to classroom as students graduated from the simplistic wood pencils of their elementary youth.  They were suddenly more important, more advanced more… technological.  Always sharp and to the point, these new mechanical pencils helped us to stand out and prevented the annoying trips to the pencil sharpener.

Beyond the social mumbo-jumbo, mechanical pencils were really great for the tasks we had at hand - everything from multiplication and long division to calculus and trigonometry.  Even taking tests was a breeze – especially with the fill-in bubbles. And short answer and essay portions were written with the greatest of ease.

Sampson Mordan and Gabriel Riddle invented the mechanical pencil all the way back in 1822.  And throughout the years, there have been a number of technological advancements that helped improve the design of these writing implements, such as spring loading and twist feeding mechanisms that improved the design considerably.  Leads became more precise as well, moving from larger diameters of 0.9mm to sizes as small as 0.3mm for the finest of lines.

In the earlier parts of the 20^th century, the mechanical pencil found notable favor in Japan.  Their premiere manufacturer at the time was the Ever-Ready Sharp Pencil Company, and slowly but surely the metallic mechanical pencils increased in popularity.  Sadly, the Every-Ready pencil factory was destroyed during an earthquake in 1923, resulting in what could have been a disaster for the business. Luckily, all was not lost. Though it would be the end of their pencil-making days, after the crushing disaster the company would take on the name of Sharp, and has since gone on to become one of the largest manufacturers of electronics in the world.

Despite the above-mentioned tragedy, the mechanical pencil has managed to live long and prosper. Not only are they noteworthy for their precision but, in the long run, they’re better for the environment.  Switching to a mechanical pencil just might save a tree or two and make the world a better place. That’s quite an achievement for these little Scantron helpers, a marvelous invention that removed the need for a pencil sharpener and showed many a young person that there were easier ways to put your thoughts on a piece of paper.