The famous eraser "Kohinoor" with an elephant

2024 Author: Leah Sherlock | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 05:25

Almost 230 years ago - in 1790, the builder Joseph Hardtmuth founded a small factory in the capital of Austria, Vienna, to manufacture various building ceramics. It was necessary to apply markings and other inscriptions to the products, and for this they used pencils, which were extremely expensive at that time, because they used natural graphite for the core. To cut costs, Josef invented a cheaper composition of graphite powder, white clay and carbon black. Soon the factory, in addition to ceramics, began to produce pencils. In 1802, the inventor received a patent.

In 1848, the factory was inherited by Josef's sons, Ludwig and Karl. In the same year, they moved production to České Budějovice. Now this city belongs to the Czech Republic. At that time, it was the territory of the united Austro-Hungarian Empire.

Why Koh-i-Noor

After 40 years, the grandson of the founder, Franz Hardtmuth, improved the pencil. He encased the lead in cedar and presented his Model 1500 atWorld Exhibition held in Paris in 1889. He decided to add the word Koh-i-Noor to the name, making it clear that this pencil is as unique and gorgeous as the Kohinoor diamond.

This diamond is one of the most famous gemstones in the world. The history of its initial appearance is covered with legends. Either an Indian peasant found it in a field, and for many years his children played with a stone, unaware of its true value, or, in a more poetic version, it shone in the forehead of a boy who was found by the river.

Initially, the diamond weighed 600 carats and adorned the statue of the god Shiva. Then he passed into the hands of the Great Moghuls - one of the dynasties that ruled India. By their order, the stone was cut in the form of a rose and after that it began to weigh a little more than 186 carats. It became the central decoration of the golden throne of the rulers.

In 1739, Nadir Shah captured the capital of India, Delhi. And from that moment on, the history of the gem became associated with suffering and misfortune.

Together with other treasures, the Shah got this beautiful diamond. Now the stone was called "Kohinoor" - "Mountain of Light". And with his appearance, troubles began - the shah lost his mind and was killed, and his son was deposed from the throne and tortured to death.

Since then, the stone has changed owners many times and wandered from country to country, bringing trouble to its owners, until it was finally presented to Queen Victoria of Great Britain. Many subjects dissuaded her from accepting such a gift, fearing the notoriety associated with it. But the queen still decided to keep the diamond for herself.

It was re-cut toadd more shine, and its weight has decreased to 109 carats. We found the best jeweler for the job, who worked on the task for more than a month. For the first time, a steam machine was used for cutting. The newly cut diamond adorned the royal crown, which is now kept in the treasury of the Tower.

Interestingly, before the last cut, the diamond had a yellowish tint. Apparently, this is why the new Hardmooth pencil was painted yellow. This decision turned out to be so successful that now 75% of black lead pencils produced in the world or, as they are commonly called in Russia, simple pencils are colored ocher yellow.

Why the elephant

The elephant depicted on the erasers is Indian. Its image also refers to the birthplace of the Kohinoor diamond - India. This trademark is considered one of the oldest registered in Europe.

Current State

Now the Czech concern owns eight enterprises in the territory of the Czech Republic itself and many factories in other countries, for example, in Romania, Poland, Slovakia, Bulgaria, China. Its production facilities are also located in Russia. For example, the Siberian Pencil Factory, the only manufacturer of pencils in our country with a body made of Siberian cedar, is partly owned by the Hardmut company.

Many Koh-i-noor erasers - about 20 million pieces, which is almost half of all produced by the company - are purchased by customers in the Russian Federation.

Article 300 and mysterious symbols

The mysterious numbers 300/8, 300/30, 300/40 and the like, drawn on the Kohinoor eraser next to the elephant, mean only a prosaic article - for all Elephant rectangular white erasers it is the same - 300. And the numbers after the dash (slash) is not hardness at all, as is sometimes assumed, but simply the number of erasers that fit in boxes of the same size. That is, the smaller the number after the slash, the larger the eraser.

Sizes of Kohinoor erasers:

• 300/8 - eraser size 56×50×16 mm, weight approximately 68 grams;
• 300/12 - 48x37x16 mm, weight about 41 grams;
• 300/20 - 45×31×12mm, weight approx. 25g;
• 300/30 - 35×28×10mm, weight approx. 14g;
• 300/40 - 35×23×8 mm, weight about 10 g;
• 300/60 - 30x20x7mm, weight approx. 8g;
• 300/80 - 25 x 20x6 mm, weight ~6 g.

These are the main products. The Kohinoor eraser has a democratic price and starts from 10 rubles.

Composition

Initially, all the company's erasers were made from natural rubber - rubber. This is the juice that is released when cuts on the hevea tree. Products from it are very soft and do not crumble, and the erasers provide soft erasing without blots.

The company now has Koh-i-noor erasers in other materials as well, but the 300 series is still made from high-quality natural rubber. Erasers are suitable for erasing graphite pencils, as well as for erasing or shading pastels, sanguine, charcoal andchalk pencils.

That is, if we talk about the full characteristics of the eraser "Kohinoor" 300 60, then its composition is 100% rubber, its length is 3 cm, width 2 cm, thickness 7 mm and weight about 8 grams.

Other items

Now the company produces many product categories, divided into main groups:

• assortment for artists from the ART series;
• school assortment in the SCHOOL series;
• office range under the OFFICE brand;
• hobby line (HOBBY).

All series include pencils, refills, pens, erasers and related products such as pastels and paints.

One of the interesting new products released recently in the School series - antibacterial pencils, pens and erasers for schoolchildren. All stationery products do not lose their antimicrobial properties throughout the entire period of use.