Web Resources Concerning the Mechanical Pencil Industry in Chicago Robert L. Bolin Univerisity of Nebraska-Lincoln Lincoln, NE 2005   University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Lincoln, NE 68588-4100       © 2005 by Robert L. Bolin. All rights reserved       Voice: (402) 472-2731 | Email:   rbolin2@unl.edu URL: http://www.unl.edu/Bolin_resources/TI/tech-int.html         Version 3.02; Revised, March 23, 2005 Go to Bob Bolin's webpage Introduction My name is Bob Bolin. I am interested in the history of a the Autopoint and Dur-O-Lite companies in Chicago from the 1920s into the 1970s. I am also interested in their founders and officers, especially: Charles Keeran, founder of Eversharp and an early partner in Autopoint Frank Deli, a founder of Autopoint and long-time officer Michael Kaufmann, a founder of Autopoint John Lynn, a founder of Autopoint and a founder and longtime officer of Dur-O-Lite This is a collection of material assembled in support of my research. Corrections, comments, and suggestions are welcome. I can be reached at: rbolin2@unl.edu NOTICES This webpage presents catalogs and other documents offering products for sale as well as guarantees and similar documents. Those documents are presented for historical purposes only. The companies that published those catalogs and issued those guarantees no longer exist. In the last 30 years, the Autopoint product line has been sold several times. The present Autopoint Company cannot be bound by those documents. The current Autopoint Company cannot repair antique Autopoint pencils. Although the pencils sold by the Autopoint Company resemble older pencils, those products were reengineered in the 1970s. The parts of older pencils are not interchangable with new pencil parts. If you love Autopoint pencils, you can simply buy new pencils from the new Autopoint Company. They are available online at: The Autopoint Company Autopoint Related Documents Realite Pencil Company Letterhead Photograph of the Founders of the Autopoint Company in 1943 Autopoint Company Catalogs 1927 Autopoint Catalog 1930 Autopoint Catalog 1936 Autopoint Catalog 1964 Autopoint Catalog 1969 Autopoint Catalog Trademark and Stock Art Catalog Autopoint sales fliers from the 1960s Autopoint Company Newsletters During the 1960s the Autopoint Company published an in-house newsletter called Autographs. Some of the Autographs have been digitized in Adobe Acrobat format. Autographs: Autopoint Company Newsletter . Material Related to Charles R. Keeran Mr. Keeran was the founder of the Eversharp pencil company and an early partner in the Autopoint Company. Charles Keeran Page Material Related to Frank Deli Frank Deli was a founder of Autopoint and a longtime officer of the corporation. Two documents containing biographical information prepared by Mr. Deli are presented below. Resume of Frank C. Deli, 1933 Autobiography of Frank Deli, 1937 Material Related to Sol Shulman Sol Shulman was the president of the Autopoint Company in the 1960s. He has been of great assistance in my pencil research. An Interview with Sol Shulman, June 1999. Photographs supplied by Sol Shulman Identification Guides for Autopoint Pencils Oversize Autopoint Pencils . Dur-O-Lite Related Documents The Dur-O-Lite company was founded by John Lynn after he sold his interest in Autopoint. Dur-O-Lite was a rival of Autopoints for many years. Dur-O-Lite Sales Material Dur-O-Lite Sales Fliers from the 1950's 1985 Dur-O-Lite Sales Catalog Dur-O-Lite Postals, 1934 This is a set of advertising post cards apparently issued in 1934 when Dur-)-Lite was Located in Sycamore, Illinois. They show key people and facilities of Dur-O-Lite and the manufacturing process. Postals Documents about Spiral Pencils During the 1940s, 50s, and 60s both the Autopoint and Dur-O-Lite companies manufactured nearly identical versions of a distinctive type of pencil. The paper "An Autopoint/Dur-O-Lite Mystery Solved" explains how the two rival companies came to produce nearly identical pencils. The paper "A Guide to Autopoint and Dur-O-Lite Spiral Pencils" describes the variations of the spiral pencils. An Autopoint/Dur-O-Lite Mystery Solved A Guide to Autopoint and Dur-O-Lite Spiral Pencils