In an article I wrote recently I said I was looking for a big eraser to eliminate my big mistakes in life.

I was looking for a really big eraser. I found it! It probably won’t erase my lifetime of mistakes but it should help a little. It is a little key on my computer that says delete. You may remember it from typewriter days as the backspace key. The only problem with the backspace key is that after you moved back over the mistake you needed an eraser to remove the letter or information.

Not so with delete. You can remove or erase the whole page, the whole line, one word or one letter. Then there is a small bottle or pen that contains something called White-Out. You just paint it over the mistake and redo the entry. So much easier.

But back to erasers. Did you know that you can erase with bread? Balled up and moistened, it will remove pencil lead. The real eraser was discovered by mistake when Edward Nairne picked up a piece of rubber instead of a bread crumb and it removed a pencil mark.

The name of the eraser was at one time called a “rubber.” This was a description of the force to use it and not the substance in its manufacture. Later in the 1800s Charles Goodyear vulcanized the material and the word described it substance.

When pencils are applied to paper, graphite mingles with fiber particles and erasers do the same.  The polymers are stickier than the particles of the paper and they stick to the eraser.

Today erasers are typically made of synthetic rubber or can be specialized from vinyl, plastic, or a gum-like substance. Erasers come in many shapes, colors and designs. How well they do the job, I am not sure. They are primarily used as favors or gifts. They can be in wedge shapes or a block or even caps that fit on the end of a pencil. A device shaped like a pencil contains eraser material inside with a brush on the end to remove the rubbings that are left behind. This is generally known as a typewriter eraser.

Art Gum erasers are traditionally square and tan colored and presented  a challenge for every student. First of all they crumbled easily but they removed a large area clean of writing. They also provided some kids with something to chew on or pick apart.

Probably the most common eraser is the Pink Pearl. Paper Mate is the company that currently controls production of the Pink Pearl eraser. It also manufactures the White Pearl, a colorless alternative to the classic style of the Pink Pearl, and the Black Pearl, an ergonomic black eraser with the shape of a pebble. Even with these alternatives, the Pink Pearl eraser remains by far the company’s most popular offering.

The Pink Pearl eraser is one of the most iconic school supplies. Its attractive design and soft feel make it popular with students of all ages. Eberhard Faber had a trademark on a pencil called the Pearl that was manufactured for the F. W. Woolworth Company. Since the eraser was pink in color and the company already had the rights to the Pearl name, it was decided to call the eraser the Pink Pearl.

Will these items completely disappear? I hope not but electronic equipment is taking over communication and in the future the eraser may become extinct along with cursive writing, writing utensils and maybe even paper.

In my desk drawer I have two partially used pink pearls and one half of an art gum. I can’t remember the last time I used them, I suspect they could be classified as antiques. But I think I’ll keep them. You never know, I may make a big mistake and need all of  them.

 

Jo-Ann Boepple works at the Edwardsburg Area History Museum