In the early 1920s, no one could have imagined how the schoolchildren’s kits in their pencil-cases would change. Pencils, nibs, erasers – or rather, eraser-sticks – rulers and pencil sharpeners had been manufactured for decades in the same way, unchanged in terms of shape and material.
Quite the opposite, during the 20th century school supplies underwent a major change, in parallel with the evolution and modernisation of the country’s education system. The objects contained in school pencil-cases represent the red thread of an unusual journey that traces, from an unprecedented perspective, the changes in society and above all in the school world, as well as in the industry connected to this sector.

Contents

Foreword. Italian School Kit from 1900 until the Present Day
Giovanni Renzi

Between the Wars: the 1920s, 1930s, and 1940s pencil case

The nib

Graphite pencils

Presbitero

G. Confalonieri

Erasers

The nib cleaner

Crayons or pastels (coloured pencils)

Post-war: the 1950s and 1960s pencil cases

The fountain pen

Aurora S.r.l.

Blotting paper

Lus (Legnani Umberto Saronno),
then Mondial Lus

Pencil sharpener

The ballpoint pen. The Biro

The ruler

1970s and 1980s.
The colour box

Markers

Rico S.r.l.

Crayons (coloured pencils) of classic lenght (18 cm)

Fila (Fabbrica Italiana Lapis e Affini)

From the 1990s until today:
the multi-ethnic pencil case

Stabilo

Invicta

Faber-Castell

Glossary