180

Sharpener, pencil

1910 Approximate

Roneo Pencil Sharpener. Material: metal, wood. Size: 6 1/4" W. x 7 1/2" L. x 7" H. Description: black enameled case iron; broad base tapers up to a narrow neck that holds the sharpening mechanism; flat disk with center pencil insertion hole on one end; wooden knobbed metal crank on other end turns the sharpening gears; gold logo and printing across front: "Roneo Pencil Sharpener Made Only By Roneo Company New York, London, Paris, Berlin".

First pencil sharpener used in the Courthouse. Note with artifact: "Used in the Waseca Co. Court House before 1900". During 1910-15, seven companies introduced machines with one or two cylindrical cutters, all of which used planetary mechanisms. These machines were sold under the brand names Roneo, Climax (and several other names used by the Automatic Pencil Sharpener Co.), Boston, Louis Myers, Courant, Stewart, and Koh-I-Noor. In the end, two companies survived in the U.S., APSCO and Boston.