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Matthews Pencil Vendor

Matthews Spec. Co., Austin, TX, c. 1930s or 40s ("Pat. Appl."), 9 ¹/₂". I bought this at the Chicagoland show in fall of 2007. It's a 5 cent pencil vendor from (I'm pretty sure) the 1930s, or (just maybe) from the 1940s. I bought it from an experienced collector-dealer who'd stumbled across it in an antique store while on his way to the show. It's not in Silent Salesmen Too and he'd never seen one before. I'd never seen one before. Several other collectors who saw this after I bought it had never seen one before. Nobody I've checked with has ever seen one before! I'd say that makes this a pretty rare bird.

It's a nice piece, made of heavy cast aluminum with good heft, and it works well. The top is embossed:

MATTHEWS SPEC. CO.
PAT. APPL.
AUSTIN TEXAS

If it weren't for that I'd have no idea who'd made this. The machine is 100% original with most of its front decal, which really adds to the machine's appeal. It's meant to be wall mounted even though it's not mounted in the picture above. It takes full-sized pencils---the kind we used in Mrs. Neiderstadt's class in 2^nd grade---and maybe someday I'll lay into a gross of them and fill this thing up.

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