The Dixon Ticonderoga Company () is an office and art supplies maker from the United States, with headquarters in
Heathrow, Florida
Heathrow is a census-designated place and an Unincorporated area, unincorporated suburban community in Seminole County, Florida, Seminole County, Florida, United States. Heathrow is on the I-4 Corridor in Central Florida, 19 miles northeast of Orl ...
. The company offers a number of brands, with one of the most well-known being ''Ticonderoga'': the yellow
No. 2 pencil
A pencil () is a writing or drawing implement with a solid pigment core in a protective casing that reduces the risk of core breakage, and keeps it from marking the user's hand.
Pencils create marks by physical abrasion, leaving a trail ...
known for its distinctive green and yellow
ferrule
A ferrule (a corruption of Latin ' "small bracelet", under the influence of ' "iron") is any of a number of types of objects, generally used for fastening, joining, sealing, or reinforcement. They are often narrow circular rings made from me ...
. Other brands include Dixon and Oriole pencils, Dixon Industrial products, Prang school and art supplies, and Lyra art products.
History
The company was formed by the merger of Joseph Dixon Crucible Company of New Jersey with Bryn Mawr Corporation of Pennsylvania, dating to 1795. The company was founded by
Joseph Dixon and his son.
Dixon also acquired 200-year-old German-based manufacturer Lyra.
The pencil's name originates in the graphite ore discovered on Lead Mountain in 1815 and processed in
Ticonderoga, New York.
In 2002, the company closed down its
Sandusky, Ohio
Sandusky ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Erie County, Ohio, Erie County, Ohio, United States. Situated along the shores of Lake Erie in the northern part of the state, Sandusky is located roughly midway between Toledo, Ohio, Toledo ( wes ...
factory shifting the manufacturing operations to Mexico. In 2005, the company was acquired by
F.I.L.A., a manufacturer of school and art supplies based in
Milan, Italy
Milan ( , , Lombard language, Lombard: ; it, Milano ) is a city in northern Italy, capital of Lombardy, and the List of cities in Italy, second-most populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of about 1.4  ...
, and announced the closure of its main US factory in
Versailles, Missouri. The company retains a distribution center in Georgia, where it makes limited numbers of pencils in order to claim status as a domestic producer,
and a headquarters facility in
Heathrow, Florida
Heathrow is a census-designated place and an Unincorporated area, unincorporated suburban community in Seminole County, Florida, Seminole County, Florida, United States. Heathrow is on the I-4 Corridor in Central Florida, 19 miles northeast of Orl ...
.
A consultant and former director of business development for the Dixon Ticonderoga company has been
Lee Corso (who is better known as a
sports
Sport pertains to any form of competitive physical activity or game that aims to use, maintain, or improve physical ability and skills while providing enjoyment to participants and, in some cases, entertainment to spectators. Sports can, th ...
broadcaster on
ESPN
ESPN (originally an initialism for Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by ESPN Inc., owned jointly by The Walt Disney Company (80%) and Hearst Communications (20%). The ...
).
According to ''
USA Today
''USA Today'' (stylized in all uppercase) is an American daily middle-market newspaper and news broadcasting company. Founded by Al Neuharth on September 15, 1982, the newspaper operates from Gannett's corporate headquarters in Tysons, Virgini ...
'', his on-air trademark is waving a pencil to punctuate his speech.
Ticonderoga pencil
![Dixon-Ticondergoa-Assorted-Pencils](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/9b/Dixon-Ticondergoa-Assorted-Pencils.jpg)
The Classic ''Ticonderoga'' is a wood-cased graphite
pencil
A pencil () is a writing or drawing implement with a solid pigment core in a protective casing that reduces the risk of core breakage, and keeps it from marking the user's hand.
Pencils create marks by physical abrasion, leaving a trail ...
. It is well-known for having a characteristic yellow color, a now green (originally brass) metallic ferrule, and a soft pink eraser. The pencil has a mild
hexagonal
In geometry, a hexagon (from Greek , , meaning "six", and , , meaning "corner, angle") is a six-sided polygon. The total of the internal angles of any simple (non-self-intersecting) hexagon is 720°.
Regular hexagon
A '' regular hexagon'' has ...
shape that slows surface rolling. Its thickness is approximately 7mm, and its unsharpened length is 19cm. The Ticonderoga was traditionally manufactured from
Eastern red cedar, but it is now made from an unspecified American cedar.
The
eponymous Ticonderoga model pencil is distributed by the Dixon Ticonderoga Company. The company, which was originally located in downtown
Jersey City, New Jersey
Jersey City is the second-most populous city in the U.S. state of New Jersey, after Newark.[Asia
Asia (, ) is one of the world's most notable geographical regions, which is either considered a continent in its own right or a subcontinent of Eurasia, which shares the continental landmass of Afro-Eurasia with Africa. Asia covers an area ...]
,
Latin America
Latin America or
* french: Amérique Latine, link=no
* ht, Amerik Latin, link=no
* pt, América Latina, link=no, name=a, sometimes referred to as LatAm is a large cultural region in the Americas where Romance languages — languages derived f ...
and Germany.
Dixon Ticonderoga manufacture a variety of pencils, including the Classic, Black, Noir, Tri-Conderoga, Microban, Laddie, My First (formerly Beginners), SenseMatic, and colored pencils. The pencils are available in different grades: #1 (Extra Soft), #2 (Soft), #2½ (Medium), #3 (Hard), and #4 (Extra Hard).
Ticonderoga pencils were the favorite pencil of the author
Roald Dahl
Roald Dahl (13 September 1916 – 23 November 1990) was a British novelist, short-story writer, poet, screenwriter, and wartime fighter ace of Norwegian descent. His books have sold more than 250 million copies worldwide. Dahl has be ...
. Dahl began using them, along with yellow lined legal pads, whilst living in the U.S, and upon returning home to the U.K. had them specially shipped over for use in his writing shed at
Gipsy House
Gipsy House (formerly Little Whitefield) is a house in the village of Great Missenden in the English county of Buckinghamshire. It was the home of the writer Roald Dahl and his family for several decades. The house is situated on Whitefield Lane, ...
, his home in
Buckinghamshire
Buckinghamshire (), abbreviated Bucks, is a ceremonial county in South East England that borders Greater London to the south-east, Berkshire to the south, Oxfordshire to the west, Northamptonshire to the north, Bedfordshire to the north-ea ...
.
Brands
* Prang
* GoWrite!
* Pacon
* WonderFoam
* KolorFast
* Dixon
* Ticonderoga
* Ghostline
* Princeton Artist Brush
References
External links
*
{{Authority control
American subsidiaries of foreign companies
Manufacturing companies based in Florida
Companies based in Seminole County, Florida
2005 mergers and acquisitions
Pencil brands