How the No. 2 pencil became a uniquely American school supply staple

For generations, the No. 2 pencil has been a symbol of childhood and adolescence in the United States. It was an essential tool for shaping early letters, correcting mistakes, and even doodling when boredom set in. Whenever test day approached, students were warned to bring two sharpened No. 2 pencils. Despite some debate, it's widely accepted that Scantron machines could only read pencils of this particular grade. Although the pencil's origins aren't American, American ingenuity transformed it into a cultural icon.

The pencil itself didn’t originate in the United States. In fact, before the mid-1800s, pencils in America lacked an eraser – a feature only found in eraserless versions overseas. John Thoreau, father of famed author Henry David Thoreau, played a significant role in this story. Working for his father’s Massachusetts pencil company in the mid-1800s, John pioneered the idea of grading pencils on a scale from 1 to 4.

No. 2 pencils emerged as the ideal balance between graphite and clay, dark enough for writing but not overly smudgy. Interestingly, many still believe pencils contain lead, a myth Weaver dismisses emphatically. Interestingly, the rest of the world employs a similar grading system, called "HB," indicating hardness and blackness.