Berol (stylised as ''Bẽrol'') is a

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. * British national identity, the characteristics of British people and culture ...

stationery brand of

Newell Brands Newell Brands Inc. is an American manufacturer, marketer and distributor of consumer and commercial products. The company's brands and products include Rubbermaid storage/or waste disposal containers; home organization and reusable container ...

and former

stationery Stationery refers to writing materials, including cut paper, envelopes, continuous form paper, and other office supplies. Stationery usually specifies materials to be written on by hand (e.g., letter paper) or by equipment such as computer p ...

manufacturing company Manufacturing is the creation or production of goods with the help of equipment, labor, machines, tools, and chemical or biological processing or formulation. It is the essence of the secondary sector of the economy. The term may refer to a ...

, based in

Lichfield Lichfield () is a city status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and Civil parishes in England, civil parish in Staffordshire, England. Lichfield is situated south-east of the county town of Stafford, north-east of Walsall, north-west of ...

Staffordshire Staffordshire (; postal abbreviation ''Staffs''.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the West Midlands (region), West Midlands of England. It borders Cheshire to the north-west, Derbyshire and Leicestershire to the east, ...

. The company was established in 1856 and manufactured a wide range of products including

writing implement A writing implement or writing instrument is an object used to produce writing. Writing consists of different figures, lines, and or forms. Most of these items can be also used for other functions such as painting, drawing and technical drawing, ...

s and

art Art is a diverse range of cultural activity centered around ''works'' utilizing creative or imaginative talents, which are expected to evoke a worthwhile experience, generally through an expression of emotional power, conceptual ideas, tec ...

materials. It was acquired by Sanford L.P. in 1995, a division of

, becoming a subsidiary of it until the last factory closed in 2010. Since then, Berol has survived as a brand of imported products,"Jobs hope after King’s Lynn businessman buys Berol site"
, Lynn News, 10 Feb 2014 though the head office remains in Lichfield. Berol's product lines included art materials such as

acrylic Acrylic may refer to: Chemicals and materials * Acrylic acid, the simplest acrylic compound * Acrylate polymer, a group of polymers (plastics) noted for transparency and elasticity * Acrylic resin, a group of related thermoplastic or thermosettin ...

pastel A pastel () is an art medium that consists of powdered pigment and a binder (material), binder. It can exist in a variety of forms, including a stick, a square, a pebble, and a pan of color, among other forms. The pigments used in pastels are ...

oil pastel An oil pastel is a Art medium, painting medium that consists of powdered pigment mixed with a binder (material), binder mixture of non-drying oil and wax. Oil pastel is a type of pastel. They differ from other pastels which are made with a gum ...

ink Ink is a gel, sol, or solution that contains at least one colorant, such as a dye or pigment, and is used to color a surface to produce an image, text, or design. Ink is used for drawing or writing with a pen, brush, reed pen, or quill. ...

crayon A crayon (or wax pastel) is a stick of pigmented wax used for writing or drawing. Wax crayons differ from pastels, in which the pigment is mixed with a dry binder (material), binder such as gum arabic, and from oil pastels, where the binder is a ...

adhesive Adhesive, also known as glue, cement, mucilage, or paste, is any non-metallic substance applied to one or both surfaces of two separate items that binds them together and resists their separation. The use of adhesives offers certain advantage ...

s, and other

mediums Mediumship is the practice of purportedly mediating communication between familiar spirits or spirits of the dead and living human beings. Practitioners are known as "mediums" or "spirit mediums". There are different types of mediumship or spir ...

; while the writing instruments line composed of

pencil A pencil () is a writing or drawing implement with a solid pigment core in a protective casing that reduces the risk of core breakage and keeps it from marking the user's hand. Pencils create marks by physical abrasion, leaving a trail of ...

colored pencil A colored pencil (American English), coloured pencil (Commonwealth English), colour pencil (Indian English), map pencil, pencil crayon, or coloured/colouring lead (Canadian English, Newfoundland English) is a type of pencil constructed of a na ...

pen PEN may refer to: * (National Ecological Party), former name of the Brazilian political party Patriota (PATRI) * PEN International, a worldwide association of writers ** English PEN, the founding centre of PEN International ** PEN America, located ...

s, and markers, plus accessories.All products
on Berol website (archived), 24 Feb 2018

History

The "Eagle Pencil Company" was founded by

Franconia Franconia ( ; ; ) is a geographical region of Germany, characterised by its culture and East Franconian dialect (). Franconia is made up of the three (governmental districts) of Lower Franconia, Lower, Middle Franconia, Middle and Upper Franco ...

n immigrant Daniel Berolzheimer from

Fürth Fürth (; East Franconian German, East Franconian: ; ) is a List of cities and towns in Germany, city in northern Bavaria, Germany, in the administrative division (''Regierungsbezirk'') of Middle Franconia. It is the Franconia#Towns and cities, s ...

in 1856 opening a pencil shop in

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

and a factory in

Yonkers Yonkers () is the List of municipalities in New York, third-most populous city in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York and the most-populous City (New York), city in Westchester County, New York, Westchester County. A centrally locate ...

. The company extended its business opening office, warehouse, and showrooms in

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

in 1894."Emile Albert Berol, 81, A Pencil Manufacturer"
''The New York Times'' Obituaries, 9 Oct 1993 Eagle Pencil also opened a factory in

Tottenham Tottenham (, , , ) is a district in north London, England, within the London Borough of Haringey. It is located in the Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county of Greater London. Tottenham is centred north-northeast of Charing Cross, ...

, that started operating towards the end of 1907. The outbreak of the

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

in 1939 saw the factory pause pencil manufacture and instead produce secret military equipment. Pencil manufacture recommenced in 1946. The company opened a purpose built factory on the Hardwick Industrial Estate in King's Lynn, Norfolk in 1967. A series of post-war corporate acquisitions meant that the Eagle Pencil name was no longer appropriate and the company name was changed to "Berol" in 1969, taking the owner's now-shortened surname.Berol History
on Berol website (archived), 8 Nov 2016 Berol's head office remained at the Tottenham factory until the need for extra production space prompted a move to Whetstone, London, and then to King's Lynn in 1978. Chairman Kenneth Berol announced the family's intention to sell the company in 1986 as there was no sixth generation family successor. The following year, it was acquired by the Empire Pencil Corporation of Tennessee. The company decided to close the Tottenham factory in February 1992, and moved some production to King's Lynn. Newell Company acquired the Berol Corporation in 1995, being placed in its Sanford division. The King's Lynn factory closed in 2003 with 230 redundancies. Some production was transferred to the Lichfield, Staffordshire factory, and the former

Parker Pen The Parker Pen Company is a manufacturer of luxury writing pens, founded in 1888 by George Safford Parker in Janesville, Wisconsin, United States. In 2011, the Parker factory at Newhaven, East Sussex, England, was closed, and its production tran ...

factory in Newhaven, Sussex, but the factory was closed in 2010. From then on, all products under the name "Berol" were imported goods.Parker Pen Newhaven closure plan revealed
by Ruth Lumley on ''The Argus'', 16 Jul 2009 The Lichfield factory is now the UK address for the Newell Group.

Products

In the 1980s, Berol won the contract to supply the

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

with standard and a wide range of promotional pens, highlighters, and permanent markers which proved extraordinarily popular, many of which were kept as souvenirs and continued to be workable for in excess of forty years. Product lines manufactured by Berol were:

References

External links

Official website
(archived, 30 Dec 2016)
Eagle Pencils vintage models

{{Art materials brands Newell Brands Companies established in 1856 Companies disestablished in 2010 Art materials brands Writing implement manufacturers British brands