Lot 296: An Assortment of Agricultural Advertising Bullet Pencils
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A collection of seven advertising bullet-style mechanical pencils featuring agricultural and livestock trade businesses. Each pencil is constructed with a reversible celluloid or metal barrel and a metal ferrule holding a wooden pencil stub. The group includes a cream barrelled example for United Live Stock Commission Co. of the Live Stock Exchange Building; a cream and red banded pencil for a Sterling, Colorado grain dealer and trucking firm; an Armour’s Big Crop Fertilizers pencil in yellow; a VC Fertilizers pencil with blue banding; a green-banded SCO-CO High Quality fertilizer pencil; a John Clay & Co. livestock commission pencil with brass-toned hardware; and a silver-toned metal pencil for Ralph O. Wright Live Stock Com. Co. of Oklahoma City. Barrels feature various printed logos and typography in red, black, and blue. Each unit is equipped with a terminal rubber eraser.
Condition report:
The collection shows signs of age and use consistent with mid-century utility items. All rubber erasers are heavily oxidised, hardened, and brittle, with several worn down to the metal ferrules (photo 1). The metal components on the John Clay & Co. and Ralph O. Wright examples show moderate to heavy oxidation and surface verdigris (photo 1). Surface scratches and minor staining are present on the celluloid and plastic barrels, most notably a darkened patina to the John Clay & Co. barrel (photo 2). Wooden pencil inserts are present in varying lengths and states of sharpening (photo 2).
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