By Garland Pollard
At Staples yesterday, I bought a manual Boston Pencil Sharpener. It was $15.98; the model was the X-Acto KS. I got this manual one after an electric sharpener died. I hate to think how much electricity I wasted with the electric one over the years.
After I screwed it in the wall, it was a big hit with my five-year-old, and everyone else in the house who had suffered from the scourge of dull pencils.
It looks remarkably like the classic Boston KS that I remember in most of the classrooms; the only thing odd was the X-ACTO name on the sharpener. X-ACTO is a great brand and every desk ought to have one, but it doesn’t have much to do with Boston sharpeners, and it shouldn’t be on a Boston sharpener.
It seems well made, and comes with a two-year warranty. That being said, it was made in China, and I would certain have paid a few more dollars for it to be made in the U.S. The joy of using a pencil is not just in the writing with it, but the whole process. If Boston promised me a lifetime warranty, and made it REALLY well, I would have paid $25 for it.
China or not, every house in America ought to have one of these, as well as every classroom. I would love to see research on how many American houses still have manual sharpeners.
Great History from OfficeMuseum.com
Boston was founded in 1899; in 1999 they celebrated with a 100th anniversary sharpener. In 1913, their sharpener, the Boston Pencil Pointer, was selling for about $6. In the past, people were used to more expensive sharpeners or having to sharpen pencils by knife, which wasted the lead.
Time was when every classroom in the U.S. had a sharpener, most probably a Boston KS. We found a great photo of an old Boston sharpener from the excellent office history website www.officemuseum.com. The site has all sorts of great history on old office products, including some of the other old brands of pencil sharpeners, including A.B. Dick, Jupiter, Webster, Lakeside, Climax, APSCO, Babcock, McDivitt, Beebe, Everett, Graffco, Dima, Iduna, Olympic, Dixon, Gem and others.
Boston goes down with the classic American desk brands that I want to have near me, including Swingline staplers, Artgum erasers and other assorted great pencil brands like the Dixon Ticonderoga and Venus Velvet. (There are other pen brands that are favorites, but not all are American.)
Some brands are no longer cool or interesting; for instance Mucilage comes in a cruddy looking bottle, and is no longer that funky nipple-topped LePage’s Mucilage, the brand I trusted.
Today, Boston is owned by Elmer’s Products, Inc. of Columbus, Ohio. not only makes Boston but also makes Krazy Glue, X-ACTO knives and Bienfang arts and crafts products.
Elmer’s is growing. They recently purchased the English brand James Galt & Co. Ltd. (see www.jamesgalt.com). Galt dates from 1836; James Galt himself was born in Ayrshire and set up as an educational retailer in Manchester in 1836.
See www.elmersbrands.com for more info.
17 responses so far ↓
1 Yosef Pessin // Jul 18, 2010 at 10:04 pm
I would have to disagree a little bit with your views. Boston made great pencil sharpeners, we still have some of their model KS in our school from 20 years ago and they can sharpen a new pencil in under 8 seconds.
Unfortunately, when they were taken over by Elmer’s and merged under the names of Boston, X-acto, and Hunt, they started using cheap parts and their pencil sharpeners are pieces of junk. I vehemently disagree that X-acto is a great brand – they are a cheap brand that makes terrible pencil sharpeners. Unfortunately, nowadays there are very few companies that make pencil sharpeners, and there are very few alternatives for teachers.
But when there is a void, there is always someone to step in. A teacher decided to make his own pencil sharpeners and sell them on ebay. Now, hundreds of teachers are buying his pencil sharpeners in place of the garbage put out by Boston, X-acto, Hunt, and whatever other name they are using. (Just as an aside, you can tell what kind of company they are when they have to sell the same pencil sharpeners under 3 different brand names.)
I do not know this person selling the sharpeners on ebay personally, but I am glad someone stepped up to fill this void. In case you are interested, his user name on ebay is mr.decoffs_classroom_supplies (You can find his pencil sharpeners by going to ebay, clicking on advanced search, and on the left click on find by seller).
2 Dave // Sep 20, 2010 at 9:21 pm
I will agree with the piece of junk Xacto sharpener. I am fully frustrated by the things made over seas. I am one that has made things in the orient and imported them in my company. Some are good but not like USA good. Come on folks buy American lets get the USA back on its feet. PS I ran into this site trying to find a USA built sharpener while I cussed at the Xacto one we have.
3 Jen // Dec 8, 2010 at 10:43 pm
I found this website after being annoyed with every pencil sharpener I bought, then looking for a better one. First I read all the reviews of sharpeners on amazon. I came to the conclusion then that my only hope was to find a vintage one.
There were many to choose from on eBay, but which to choose? I was contemplating several vintage Bostons that looked to be in excellent condition and was looking for more hints on which might be best or which might be best avoided when I stumbled on this site. Boy was I glad I did!
I read the above comment about Mr. Decoff on eBay and immediately went back to check out his store and feedback. It all sounds wonderful and I put in my order immediately! Thank you! My son’s teacher will also be getting one this year for Christmas. I can’t wait to get them!
However, I must say I’m still oddly fascinated with the vintage sharpeners. I may have to start a small collection of them. Shhh. Don’t tell my husband!
4 brian s // Feb 12, 2011 at 11:15 am
YOU GET WHAT YOU PAY FOR .BUY AMERICAN
5 karen hemeon // Feb 18, 2011 at 5:24 pm
We had a Boston hanging near the cellar stairs, when I grew up in the 50′s and 60′s. It worked very well, and probably dated back to the late 30′s or early 40′s. In the ?turn of the century rooming house I now rent, there is also a Boston KS hanging a bit too far for me to reach easily. It works, but not as well as I remember. Wish I had the old one. Speaking of old ones, I inherited a Pilot 402 stapler, the one into which you insert the staple row into a slot on the open top. The staples are held by a fitted ‘pusher’ at the end of metal tape which is spring loaded. Not the best description…. It probably dates to the ’50s or earlier. I accidently left it at a Post Office. When I went to claim it, the gent said he was sorry that I remembered where I left it, and that all the guys wanted him to lie about finding it. It works. Flawlessly. The PO guys were using it, because “It works better than anything I’ve seen in 30-40 years.” Every stapler I ever bought (I’m 62) has basically s$%^&*ed. This one looks like a pterydactyl and runs like a Rolls Royce. Thank God for honest PO guys, who really did not want to give it up. Maybe I can will it to someone! I just found this web/blog and am enjoying it immensely. kjh. VIVA VINTAGE!!!
6 Anonymous // Mar 27, 2011 at 2:07 pm
Where can you find an American made pencil sharpener? The only one that actually worked for me in the classroom was a Panosonic. (It lasted over 3 years!!!!)
7 boston pencil sharpener | My blog // May 13, 2011 at 5:47 pm
[...] History of Boston Pencil Sharpeners | BrandlandUSA Nov 8, 2009 … At Staples yesterday, I bought a manual Boston Pencil Sharpener. It was $15.98; the model was the … [...]
8 Stimpygato // Jun 24, 2011 at 8:25 am
Heh… I found this while looking for Boston Sharpener info for my Vintage eBay ad:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=180686411295
I have to agree with both the comments and the article. Manual beats electric, AND American made really is superior and ought to mean more to us ‘Merkins than it does.
We are all so attuned to the WALMART mentality that cheaper is better, even if you have to replace it 10x, rather than spend $2x on it up-front, but hey we can always dig another landfill, and as long as we recycle, we’re cool.
Don’t mistake this for xenophobia, I also believe that every culture and region needs to take more pride-in-ownership, and manufacture where they are based. I live near Hershey, and they ALMOST moved production to Mexico… forgive me, but a chocolate bar from Mexico is no longer a Hershey bar in my opinion.
Simply put, corporate greed & profit-hungry shareholders drive it, while skilled American laborers become unemployed or employed in unrelated fields… usually the service industry.
We need a 21st Century Industrial Revolution!
9 Joyce Sells // Dec 16, 2011 at 4:17 pm
I have been annoyed for a number of years at the companies in the U.S. who are selling out to the Chinese. And then our U.S. representatives don’t represent the American People in getting our jobs back into the U.S. and companies in production here. Do you wonder why so many people are out of work? Any ideas anyone?
10 Joyce Sells // Dec 16, 2011 at 4:20 pm
Just left a message but forgot. You should all look up the history of Westclox on the internet. Do you remember those great American made clocks. So sad.It could happen to all of our manufacturers.
11 bill // Dec 27, 2011 at 2:43 pm
just bought a new xacto sharpner to replace my 25 yr old boston. It is poorly constructed ie the indexing hole doesn’t line up with the hole for the cutting head . very disapointed
12 Michael // Jan 12, 2012 at 1:33 pm
I once purchased a hand-crank Xacto sharpener which was made of plastic and started jamming in days… not to mention the lame suction cup mount that never stuck for more than 30 seconds despite being attached to baby-butt smooth surfaces.
I also purchased a battery-powered Xacto sharpener that is just terrible in too many ways. It literally grabs the lead and rips it off after sharpening, thus having wasted the last (and next) 10 minutes of your life.
It’s so ridiculous. I was so glad to have an Xacto knife set when I was younger. These days, I’m utterly disgusted with the quality of their products.
Now that I know they’re made by Boston, I’ll steer clear of anything Boston-branded, too.
I’m buying a Stanley-Bostitch® Antimicrobial Manual Pencil Sharpener next.
13 Jennie Page // Mar 24, 2012 at 12:46 pm
I just bought an old Boston KS for $1 at a yard sale- and it works and we LOVE it!
14 Pat // Sep 20, 2012 at 7:04 am
I must go with the exacto pencil sharpeners being made so cheap they don’t last but a few days in most cases. I have gone through three of them in as many months. I got on ebay and bought a couple of used and abused vintage Bostons and they have really been a great investment. They will last forever and were made with durability in mind. I sent all my old ones to the trash. Exacto makes good craft knives but…that’s it.
15 Anne // Oct 23, 2012 at 5:33 am
That sharpener being sold by mr.decoffs_classroom_supplies on ebay is sold under the brand name Carl elsewhere. I’m a former teacher, and now that I’m homeschooling my two kids, I really miss my old Boston classroom sharpener. The closest I could find in performance was the Carl sharpener, but it’s still not as good as the Boston. It lasted us for two years, (three people using it) but is starting to go. To its credit, two years means that it has lasted FAR longer than any other pencil sharpener we have bought for our homeschool, including a few very expensive electric ones. That said, the table clamp didn’t last long, it won’t “pull” on recycled newspaper pencils, and it is now starting to sharpen the pencils off-center (leaving a strip of wood up the side of the lead). I think I’m going to break down and buy a used Boston on eBay. It’ll be twice the price of the Carl, but I have a feeling it will last us through the remaining decade of homeschooling and justify the extra cost.
16 David // Nov 18, 2012 at 10:31 am
What a delightful montage of “Boston Pencil Sharpener” enthusiast – I enjoyed the reading . . . thank you for sharing!
I consider myself a connoisseur in the use of wood pencils as a tool for architectural delineation & art. In the age of boring computer aided drafting applications – there is nothing quite like holding a #2 wood pencil and spreading graphite around in just the perfect places on paper. I’ve used all manner of specialty technical leads, colors and sizes of pencils for my work as an architect. I have used nearly every kind of lead sharpener devices known to exist, such as, electric, hand operated, knife and files and I can assure you that the vintage USA made Boston wall-hung pencil sharpener will consistently produce the perfect pencil point. Like Twinkies, the original Boston KS pencil sharpener is an American icon – every household should have one.
17 Terry Thomas // Mar 5, 2013 at 4:10 pm
I own a Boston Pencil Sharpener painted olive drab
(U.S. Navy WW2, date unknown), model KS. There
is also a Bostonette. Both sharpeners perform flawlessly. Something about holding a Ticonderoga
wood pencil that is indescribably special.
Leave a Comment