Eagle Pencil Company Model 569 Compass and Divider with Leads

This metal instrument is held together by a screw at the top. A spring inside the mechanism below the screw allows the two legs to be squeezed together. The piece between the screw and spring is marked: EAGLE PENCIL CO. (/) NEW YORK (/) PATENTED. The legs are embossed with a floral pattern. Two needle points slide into slots at the end of each leg. One needle point is reversible and has a holder for a pencil lead at its other end. Compare to 304722.04, which is apparently an older version of this model. The mark refers to the patent Harrison Cole received in 1894 for a braking screw bolt that would help compasses or dividers remain set in position.

A cardboard box is covered with green and white checked paper and a white label marked: EAGLE (/) COMPASS & DIVIDER (/) Pat. Dec. 11th 1894. Pat. Gt. Britain. (/) Reg. U. S. Pat. Off. & Canada. (/) NO. 569. (/) Manufactured by EAGLE PENCIL CO., New York, U.S.A. Two small aluminum tubes received with the instrument each hold five sharpened pencil leads.

German immigrant Heinrich Berolzheimer opened Eagle Pencil Company as a pencil shop in New York City in 1856, with a factory in Yonkers. By 1880, the firm made mechanical pencils as well as pens and erasers. In 1969, the company changed its name to Berol Corporation, and the Empire Pencil Corporation purchased it in 1986.

References: Harrison Cole, "Drawing Instrument" (U.S. Patent 530,680 issued December 11, 1894); "The History of Berol," http://www.berol.co.uk/berolhistory.html.

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