The Faber family went into the pencil business in the 1760s when Kaspar Faber began to manufacture lead pencils in the small town of Stein. The company subsequently expanded and was passed down among four generations of Fabers until John Eberhard Faber became the owner in the late nineteenth century. Although John Eberhard (who typically went by his middle name) had aspirations of going into law, he was tasked with the duty of expanding the company abroad. As a result, he moved to New York City and opened America’s first lead pencil factory in 1861… The exact date of the Pink Pearl’s origin seems to have evaporated, along with much of the company’s other history. However, it is known that the eraser derived its name from the PearlPencil that Eberhard Faber was producing for the F. W. Woolworth company. The erasers featured pumice, a volcanic ash from Italy that gave them their abrasive quality, along with their distinctive color and smell. Because of the eraser’s trademark pink color and surprisingly soft texture, Faber decided to name it the Pink Pearl. Fun fact: In addition to creating the world’s most famous eraser, Eberhard Faber is also responsible for putting the Pink Pearl on the tops of its pencils — the first company ever to do so” (via Ephemera Obsession: Pink Pearl Eraser | Design*Sponge).

The Faber family went into the pencil business in the 1760s when Kaspar Faber began to manufacture lead pencils in the small town of Stein. The company subsequently expanded and was passed down among four generations of Fabers until John Eberhard Faber became the owner in the late nineteenth century. Although John Eberhard (who typically went by his middle name) had aspirations of going into law, he was tasked with the duty of expanding the company abroad. As a result, he moved to New York City and opened America’s first lead pencil factory in 1861… The exact date of the Pink Pearl’s origin seems to have evaporated, along with much of the company’s other history. However, it is known that the eraser derived its name from the PearlPencil that Eberhard Faber was producing for the F. W. Woolworth company. The erasers featured pumice, a volcanic ash from Italy that gave them their abrasive quality, along with their distinctive color and smell. Because of the eraser’s trademark pink color and surprisingly soft texture, Faber decided to name it the Pink Pearl. Fun fact: In addition to creating the world’s most famous eraser, Eberhard Faber is also responsible for putting the Pink Pearl on the tops of its pencils — the first company ever to do so” (via Ephemera Obsession: Pink Pearl Eraser | Design*Sponge).