Abstract

This is a working paper based partly on conjecture. I would appreciate any comments, corrections, or additional information.

Background

That pencil had a peculiar spiral mechanism unlike the classic Autopoint mechanism. The mechanism used a plunger shaped like a shepherd's staff which moves down a long spiral. The mechanism is shown below in the instructions for "How to Reload Your Spiral Pencil" from the 1985 Dur-O-Lite catalog.

Recently, I used the Internet auction site eBay to buy some old mechanical pencils. I found a number of pencils with that spiral mechanism. Some were made by Autopoint, but some were made by Dur-O-Lite, a rival pencil company in the Chicago area. The mechanism of those pencils appeared to be identical. In fact the tips were interchangeable. I asked myself:

Why are Autopoint spiral pencils and Dur-O-Lite spiral pencils are mechanically identical?

Reaching the Wrong Conclusion

The Real Story

• In the 1930s, John Lynn developed the spiral pencil. 

Two patents were issued to Lynn in the late 1930s for the basic spiral design. They are 2,087,519, July 20, 1937 and 2,145,450, January 31, 1939. 
• At about the same time IBM introduced "mark sense" technology with which a pencil can be used, with special equipment, to record data on punched cards.

The use of mark sense technology facilitated collection of data using punched cards. 
• Spiral pencils proved well suited for mark sense applications, and Dur-O-Lite was able to sell large numbers of its spiral pencil to Western Electric and other users of mark sense technology. 

The Bell System companies used mark sense technology to record long distance calls. Western Electric was the central purchasing agent for the Bell System. 
• In the mid-1950s when the patent expired, Autopoint reverse engineered  the spiral pencil and began producing it. 

Autopoint expressly went after the Western Electric contract.  Autopoint  took great care to make its pencils identical to the Dur-O-Lite models. 
• Autopoint was able to outbid Dur-O-Lite and took over many of the contracts with Western Electric, the US Government, and others.

Dur-O-Lite continued to sell spiral pencils into the 1990s when it ceased production of pencils. 
 

Notes

1. Mark Sense Technology.   From the 1940s into the 1970s, "mark sense" technology was used in punched-card data processing operations. In 1937, IBM introduced the Type 805 International Test Scoring Machine. Soon IBM had adapted that technology to develop the "mark sense reproducer." That device made it possible to collect punched card data using a pencil. Data, such as a telephone number, was recorded on a special "mark sense" card in the form of pencil marks. When the mark sense cards were fed through a properly configured "reproducing punch," the marks on each card were translated into the appropriate punches on that cards. The punched cards could then be used for ordinary data processing applications.

   Later IBM made mark sense punching an optional feature of its IBM 514 Reproducing Punch and for its IBM 519 Document-Originating Machine. Addition of a "Mark Sensing Device" made those punches able to act as a mark sense reproducer. 

   One big user of mark sense technology was AT&T which recorded long distance calls this way. AT&T purchased numerous pencils which used 0.046 inch (1.1mm) diameter "mark sense" lead. The mark sense lead was a special lead with a high graphite content which would make a solid mark. IBM called the process of punching marked cards with a reproducing punch "mark sensing." IBM's name for special mark sense lead and pencils was "electrographic."

   In the original spiral pencil, the tip assembly is about 5 inches long so that the pencil can hold a piece of lead about 4 inches long. Even with heavy use, that long lead would last a long time. Obviously, that sort of pencil was well suited for use at a work site, like a switchboard, where replacement leads could be stored. 

2. Reverse Engineering.  Reverse engineering is the process of drawing up specifications for a physical item using the item itself and related documentation. Military forces occasionally reverse engineer enemy weapons and equipment. Usually, when a weapon is reverse engineered, it is then "re-engineered" to make it better before it is put into production. When Autopoint reengineered the spiral pencil, they made an effort to make it mechanically identically and superficially identical to the Dur-O-Lite pencil. 

   The copy was good enough to fool an expert. Keith Orman, who made Dur-O-Lite spiral pencils with his own hands, dismantled and broke apart an "Autopoint" brand spiral pencil. He said that the tip of the pencil was clearly made by Dur-O-Lite, but that the rest of the pencil was not. 

3. John Lynn.  It is ironic that Autopoint expropriated Lynn's spiral pencil design and used it to compete against Dur-O-Lite. In the early 1920s, Lynn was a founder of the Autopoint Company. Around 1925, he sold out and founded the Dur-O-Lite company. 

Thanks

• Keith Orman, a former officer of the Dur-O-lite company, described company operations, answered my questions, and examined sample spiral pencils I sent him. 
• Kane Senda, Controller of the Autopoint Company in the 1950s and 60s, described company operations and answered my questions. 
• Mr. Joseph Senesac, Sales Promotion Manager of Autopoint on the 1960s, loaned me Autopoint catalogs and other sales material. 
• Sol Shulman, President of Autopoint in the 1950s and 60s, described company operations and answered many questions. My Notes on Interviews with Sol Shulman are available on the Web.