See more objects with the tag diagrams, lighting, sketch, tool, writing, tubular, innovative, patent, handwriting.

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Object Timeline

  • We acquired this object.

-0001

1910

  • Work on this object began.

1920

  • Work on this object ended.

2014

2015

2024

  • You found it!

Sketch For Pencilite (USA)

This is a Sketch for Pencilite. It was made by Joseph B. Friedman. It is dated ca. 1915. Its medium is pencil on paper.

Joseph Friedman’s best-known invention is the flexible straw, but the range of his inventive activities encompassed improvements to engines, household products, and writing implements, including this sketch for one of his earliest inventions for a light-up pencil, the so-called "Pencilite." Friedman frequently sketched on loose scraps of paper—he was especially fond of envelopes—working out ideas and solving problems, as here.

It is credited Joseph B. Friedman Papers, Archives Center, National Museum of American History, 2001.3031.

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Its dimensions are

H x W (drawing): 20 x 12.7 cm (7 7/8 in. x 5 in.)

This object was previously on display as a part of the exhibition Tools: Extending Our Reach.

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If you would like to cite this object in a Wikipedia article please use the following template:

<ref name=CH>{{cite web |url=https://collection.cooperhewitt.org/objects/51682467/ |title=Sketch For Pencilite (USA) |author=Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum |accessdate=9 May 2024 |publisher=Smithsonian Institution}}</ref>