Pencil sharpenerIn 1897, a U.S. patent was issued for a pencil sharpener to its black American inventor, John Lee Love of Fall River, Mass. Love's invention was the very simple, portable pencil sharpener that many artists use: the pencil is put into the opening of the sharpener and rotated by hand, and the shavings stay inside the sharpener (No. 594,114). By rotating the outer case, internal gears turn a pencil sharpener blade around the inserted pencil. Two years earlier, Love had previously received a patent two years earlier for his invention of a "plasterers' hawk," which is a flat board, about 18-in square, with a handle underneath, used to carry a small amount of plaster material being worked onto a wall face (9 Jul 1895). This kind of device is still used today. |
