Stories guides
Stories guidesWho owns which stationery brands, how the big makers grew, and how pencils, nibs, ink and paper are made: dated, sourced brand and industry history.
Who Owns Which Stationery Brands? Parents and Dates
Who owns Paper Mate, Parker, Ticonderoga, Rhodia, Pentel, LAMY, Moleskine and Pelikan: each parent company, the year it took over, and which are independent.
How Japan Became the World's Stationery Capital
How Japan's pen and pencil makers grew from 1887 to today: founding dates, the gel pen, Hobonichi and mt washi tape, 2025 export figures and who owns whom now.
How a Pencil Is Made: Graphite, Kiln and Cedar
How a wood-cased pencil is made, from makers' own factory pages: graphite and clay fired at 1,000–1,200 °C, oil or wax baths, cedar slats, 9-pencil sandwiches.
Why Mitsubishi Pencil Bought LAMY: The 2024 Deal
How Japan's uni maker bought 100% of Heidelberg's LAMY in 2024: dates, the price in filings, both firms' reasons, and LAMY's and Mitsubishi Pencil's history.
Nuremberg's Pencil Makers: From 1662 to Faber-Castell
Why Nuremberg became the pencil capital: guild records from 1662, Stein's Faber workshop, Conté's clay lead, and how Staedtler, Lyra and Schwan-STABILO began.