Made in Canada

Vintage Canadian pencils are what got me started on this journey, but they are devilishly hard to find. My sources vary from ebay to Etsy to Kijiji, with yard sales and thrift stores a potential source one day when we are not trapped at home and afraid of anything touched by human hands.

Canadian pencil manufacturing is a thing of the past, having disappeared sometime in the early 2010s when Dixon closed their last plant in Drummondville. But it has a long history, mostly of brands and companies of US or British origin who set up shop here to sell to the local market. Liberalized trade laws eventually led to its downfall, until today when even Papermate’s Canadiana-branded pencils are made in Mexico.

Some of the gems I have found in my searches include likely one of the last runs of Canada-Made pencils, these made in BC by Crown. The pencils are quite attractive for typical yellow school sticks, and I love having these more recent examples.

Also gracing my collection is this beautiful set of Eagle Turquoise artist pencils with their original plastic box.

The pencils are glossy and covered in branding in a way rare in today’s more spartan designs. The eraserless ferrule is beaded and banded and includes an end-stamp with the debossed Eagle logo.

I also got an immense haul of old Berol writing pencils, and even sharpened one to feel that dark draggy graphite on my notebook for one fleeting moment. The rest will await that day when pencils become legal currency and I will finally edge out Elon Musk.