Blackwing Pencil History: Eberhard Faber to Cal Cedar
Blackwing pencils are now made for California Cedar Products Company (Cal Cedar), a family-owned firm in Stockton, California, which revived the brand in fall 2010. The original Blackwing 602 came from Eberhard Faber in Brooklyn in 1934 and was discontinued in 1998. Today's pencils are produced in Japan and finished in Stockton.
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Key takeaways
- Blackwing says Eberhard Faber introduced the Blackwing 602 in 1934 at its Greenpoint, Brooklyn factory; Cal Cedar's own pages say only "the 1930s".
- The pencil was discontinued in 1998 after several takeovers; a Cal Cedar blog post quotes a collector that the last years' output was only about 1,100 dozen a year.
- Cal Cedar did not buy the name: it says Newell's Sanford let the Blackwing trademark lapse, so it filed for the rights itself and launched the Palomino Blackwing in fall 2010.
- The 2011 Palomino Blackwing 602 brought back "Half the Pressure, Twice the Speed" after Cal Cedar had first left the slogan off; Cal Cedar says its new core gave 15–25% more line length than the original.
- Cal Cedar was founded in 1917, bought by Charles Berolzheimer in 1927, and in 2019 shifted its focus from pencil slats to Blackwing, sold in nearly 1,500 stores by July 2024.
The Blackwing is the rare pencil with two lives. Eberhard Faber made it for more than six decades, collectors kept it alive after 1998, and a California wood company brought the name back in 2010. This story uses Blackwing’s and Cal Cedar’s own pages and blog posts, including the revival diary Cal Cedar’s president kept at the time.
Who makes Blackwing pencils now?
California Cedar Products Company, known as Cal Cedar, a family-owned company in Stockton, California, makes and sells Blackwing pencils; it revived the discontinued brand in fall 2010. Cal Cedar’s history page says it “secures the rights to the Blackwing brand name and re-introduces Blackwing pencils in the fall of 2010”.
The pencils themselves come from Japan. Blackwing’s blog says that when it revived the brand in 2010 “we decided to make it in Japan”, and Cal Cedar describes “premium Japanese graphite” in California incense-cedar. Our Blackwing 602 guide covers where each step happens today.
Cal Cedar is not owned by a larger group. Its history page says it is in its third and fourth generations of Berolzheimer family ownership, and our who owns which stationery brands story lists it as independent.
Blackwing timeline: 1934 to 2024
The original ran from 1934 to 1998; the revival began in fall 2010. Dates come from Blackwing’s and Cal Cedar’s pages.
| Date | Event | Source |
|---|---|---|
| 1917 | California Cedar Products Company founded by W.B. Thurman and F.F. Sayre | Cal Cedar |
| 1927 | Charles Berolzheimer, 24, buys Cal Cedar | Cal Cedar |
| 1934 | Eberhard Faber introduces the Blackwing 602 at its Greenpoint, Brooklyn factory | Blackwing blog |
| 1980s | Eberhard Faber becomes part of Faber-Castell; the 602 and its slogan carry on | Pencils.com |
| 1990s | Sanford buys the business; production of the 602 continues | Pencils.com |
| 1998 | The Blackwing 602 is discontinued | Cal Cedar |
| 2008 | Cal Cedar relaunches Pencils.com; Palomino pencils win Blackwing fans | Cal Cedar |
| September 21, 2010 | Cal Cedar explains why the new pencil drops the old slogan | Cal Cedar blog |
| Fall 2010 (about October 1) | Palomino Blackwing launched | Cal Cedar |
| June 2011 | Palomino Blackwing 602 launched, with “Half the Pressure, Twice the Speed” | Cal Cedar blog |
| July 2015 | Blackwing Volumes limited-edition program starts | Cal Cedar |
| 2017 | Cal Cedar’s 100th anniversary | Cal Cedar |
| 2019 | Cal Cedar shifts its focus from pencil slats to Blackwing | Cal Cedar |
| July 2024 | Blackwing sold in nearly 1,500 stores in the US and Canada and in 14 countries | Cal Cedar |
When did Eberhard Faber make the first Blackwing?
Blackwing gives 1934, when Eberhard Faber introduced the Blackwing 602 at its factory in Greenpoint, Brooklyn. That date is in a 2019 post on Blackwing’s own blog, which adds that the pencil was later made in Pennsylvania, Tennessee and Mexico.
Cal Cedar’s pages are vaguer and say the 602 was “first introduced by Eberhard Faber” in “the 1930’s”. A 2011 Cal Cedar post adds that the earliest production had a darker black finish than the blue-gray of the later years.
The pencil’s look was set early: a flat, rectangular ferrule holding a replaceable eraser that could be pulled out and reversed. Stephen Sondheim, quoted on Cal Cedar’s Pencils.com, praised the flat eraser for stopping the pencil rolling off a table.
Where does “Half the Pressure, Twice the Speed” come from?
It was Eberhard Faber’s slogan, printed on the barrel of the 602, and nobody at Cal Cedar knows who wrote it. In a September 21, 2010 post, Cal Cedar’s president wrote, “I have no idea who to credit for the inspiration and genesis” of the phrase, and doubted Eberhard Faber had ever measured smoothness before coining it.
He also wrote that Eberhard Faber never seemed to have protected the phrase as a trademark. Cal Cedar chose not to print a slogan on its first Palomino Blackwing, partly to avoid two-sided printing and partly out of trademark caution.
Fans disagreed. When the Palomino Blackwing 602 arrived in 2011, Cal Cedar wrote that “in response to feedback of many 602 fans we have revived the famous slogan”, and topped the pencil with a black eraser rather than the original pink.
Why was the Blackwing discontinued in 1998?
Because sales were small and the special parts were running out, after a chain of takeovers. Cal Cedar’s Pencils.com says the slogan and ferrule survived Eberhard Faber’s move into Faber-Castell in the 1980s, and that Sanford later bought the business.
The same post first blames a broken ferrule machine, then quotes collector Doug Martin of The Pencil Pages: the machine had been broken even before Sanford arrived, and it was the small aluminum clip holding the eraser that ran out. Martin adds that in its last years the company made only about 1,100 dozen Blackwings a year, less than the plant produced in an hour.
After 1998 the price of old stock rose. Cal Cedar says fans paid as much as US$40 on eBay for a single original pencil.
How did Cal Cedar bring the Blackwing back?
Cal Cedar’s customers asked for it: they liked its Palomino pencils and wanted one with the old Blackwing ferrule and eraser. Cal Cedar’s history says Palomino pencils “began to develop a following among fans of the discontinued but well loved Blackwing 602” after it relaunched Pencils.com in 2008.
The new pencil was nearly called something else. Cal Cedar’s president wrote in September 2011 that it was planned as the “Palomino Pegasus” until the company learned that Newell’s Sanford division had let the Blackwing trademark lapse. Cal Cedar filed for the rights and launched the Palomino Blackwing instead; the post says reports that it “purchased” the trademark were mistaken.
The Palomino Blackwing went on sale around October 1, 2010, and the closer replica, the Palomino Blackwing 602, followed in June 2011. Cal Cedar says it tested the 602’s new core with its Japanese graphite maker and found 15–25% more line length than the original Eberhard Faber 602, at the cost of a little darkness.
Who is Cal Cedar?
A Stockton company founded in 1917 that spent most of its life supplying cedar pencil slats to other pencil makers. Charles Berolzheimer bought it in 1927, at 24; his family had made pencils since an 1855 factory in Fürth, Bavaria, and built a New York factory that became the Eagle Pencil Company, whose Mirado line survives as the Paper Mate Mirado Black Warrior.
Cal Cedar moved its slat production to Tianjin, China by April 2002 and in 2019 decided to shift its focus away from slats toward Blackwing. Our how a pencil is made story covers the slat business in more detail.
What does Blackwing make today?
Four core graphite pencils (602, Matte, Pearl and Natural), the Volumes limited editions, notebooks and accessories. Volumes began in July 2015 with a pencil honoring Bob Dylan’s 1965 Newport Folk Festival set, and Cal Cedar says it soon had more than 5,000 subscribers.
Our guides cover the Blackwing Matte, the soft sibling of the 602, and the Blackwing One-Step Long Point Sharpener. For how Blackwing’s grades compare with numbered and lettered pencils, see pencil grades explained.
What couldn’t we confirm?
We found no primary record of the exact years Faber-Castell and Sanford took over Eberhard Faber’s pencil business. Cal Cedar’s Pencils.com says only “the 1980s” and “around that time”, so we give decades rather than dates.
The 1934 launch year comes from Blackwing’s own blog; Cal Cedar’s company pages say “the 1930s”. We use 1934 and flag the difference.
Frequently asked questions
Is Blackwing owned by a big stationery group?
No. Blackwing belongs to California Cedar Products Company of Stockton, California, which says it is in its third and fourth generations of Berolzheimer family ownership. We list it as independent.
Is the new Blackwing the same as the original?
No. The original was made by Eberhard Faber in the US and later Mexico; the revival uses California incense-cedar and Japanese graphite. Cal Cedar says its 602 core was designed to wear about 15–25% slower than the original while keeping a similar smoothness.
Why was the original Blackwing 602 discontinued?
Low sales and costly machinery. A Cal Cedar blog post quotes Doug Martin of The Pencil Pages: the ferrule machine had long been broken, the stock of small eraser clips ran out, and the company made only about 1,100 dozen Blackwings a year in its last years.
What does "Half the Pressure, Twice the Speed" mean?
It was Eberhard Faber's slogan for the 602's soft, smooth graphite. Cal Cedar's president wrote in 2010 that he didn't know who coined it and doubted it was meant literally, but the company printed it again on the Palomino Blackwing 602 in 2011 after fans asked.
Did Cal Cedar buy the Blackwing name?
No, according to Cal Cedar. Its September 2011 post says Newell's Sanford division had let the trademark lapse, so Cal Cedar filed for the rights itself, and that reports of a purchase were a misunderstanding.
What is the difference between Palomino and Blackwing?
Palomino is Cal Cedar's earlier pencil brand, whose graded Palomino Original was compared to the old Blackwing. Cal Cedar launched its revival as the Palomino Blackwing in 2010; Blackwing is now sold under its own name at blackwing602.com.
Who used the original Blackwing?
Cal Cedar's Pencils.com quotes John Steinbeck, who called it the best pencil he had ever had, and Stephen Sondheim, who wrote that the pencils he wrote with were Blackwings. It also names the animator Chuck Jones among its users.
Sources
- Blackwing: Blackwing Returns to Brooklyn, April 12, 2019 (602 introduced by Eberhard Faber in 1934 at Greenpoint; made in Japan since 2010)
- California Cedar Products Company: Company History (founded 1917; Blackwing revived fall 2010; focus on Blackwing from 2019; nearly 1,500 stores by July 2024)
- California Cedar Products Company: Blackwing (roots in the 1930s; discontinued 1998; revived 2010)
- California Cedar Products Company: Reviving the Blackwing: Half the Pressure, Twice the Speed, September 21, 2010
- California Cedar Products Company: Reviving the Blackwing: The All New Palomino Blackwing 602, May 12, 2011
- California Cedar Products Company: Reviving the Blackwing: One Year In, September 26, 2011 (trademark had lapsed)
- California Cedar Products Company: About Palomino Brands
- Pencils.com (Cal Cedar): The Blackwing Pencil (history, Steinbeck and Sondheim quotes, discontinuation)