Wednesday, April 14, 2010

The Erasermate Pen, A Favorite 1980s School Supply





The Erasermate Pen, A Favorite 1980s School Supply

Remember how in first and second grade you completed all of your assignments in pencil? You couldn't wait until you were old enough to graduate to ink. It was some sort of school supply-coming-of-age thing we all experienced. If you have no idea what I'm talking about... feel free to skip over this entry.

Well, being the born-worrier that I am... I wasn't too jazzed about the idea of "permanency" versus "temporary" ink markings with my schoolwork. Luckily math was always done in pencil, even in college.

It's as if the good folks at  Papermate had me in mind when they created the Erasermate back in 1979. It was ink you could actually erase. Truth be told, it didn't erase as clean as a pencil would, but it still did the trick.

The early Erasermates had refillable ink and possibly a refillable eraser top. According to whomever wrote their Wiki info, the erasable ink took over a decade to improve and develop. I remember lots of smudging with the early thicker shaft pens. The newer stick style Erasermates worked a bit better. They came in blue, black and red ink.

One thing's for sure, the smell was unforgettable, not in a bad way and no I'm not a huffer. It just had such a strong ink scent that I really enjoyed. I know, I'm a sick girl.

Below are a series of commercials, I couldn't find one just for the Erasermate. If you decide to continue viewing the retro commercials, please be sure to check out the Bon Jour Jeans ad - notice pretty, strawberry blond "Jenny" from Kate & Allie and Annie on Broadway fame.





25 comments:

  1. I love that you love the 80s as much as me. I get to revisit the past when I read you...ahhhh.

    I used to be so annoyed with the pens bc they didn't completely erase but I too liked the smell. :]

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  2. Papermate is no friend to us lefties, this I know for sure. I remember the torture I endured getting ink on my palms as I wrote. Seeing the smeared blue stains across the white pristine paper in my trapper keeper. Curse you Papermate!
    BTW...Great post!

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  3. It is so true, graduating from pencils to pens in elementary was a really big deal. And it was about the same time when you starting carrying a binder full of looseleaf too. New binder, new pens. Happy days, because buying new school supplies is the best shopping ever.

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  4. Oh my gosh--I had that Q-bert eraser pen!!

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  5. I so hear you on the "smell". I can still "smell" my spirograph pens.

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  6. I was really excited when we got to use Pens. I would have many pens. One for each subject... LOL
    I guess the Eraser-Mate didn't catch on. I wonder why?
    Loved the commercials. Especially, the second one..:)

    Have a good day!

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  7. SO they were developed the year I was born? Awesome. I remember the skinnier version of the Eraser-mate pens when I was in school. It was cool to have them. And yes they do have an oddly familiar and comforting smell.

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  8. i ma such a stationary kid. thanks for the flashback.

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  9. Bon Jour jeans!!! OMG what a flashback...and I haven't even been drinking yet today

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  10. I didn't care for that kind of pen much. I love seeing the old commericals, most of the ones from nowadays are annoying.

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  11. jesse's also a lefty?

    LEFTIES FTW!!!!!!!!

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  12. I LOVE erasable pens. and you're so right! the smell was strong and memorable.

    I could never find them in anything other than blue and the ink was gloppy and smudgy and not at all smooth but it was a pen and I felt like a grownup.

    My niece was using one the other day and if it weren't for the smell of the ink you never would have been able to tell it was erasable.

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  13. Do they still make erasable ink? I used to get so annoyed when I thought I was using an erasable pen and then it ended up being permanent!

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  14. Ahhh I love being able to come here and reminisce about my childhood. Thanks Ally!

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  15. I had sort of a "pen fetish" back in junior high. i went crazy over Erasermates. But the yellow ones got too dirty.
    I liked the scripto mechanical pencils the best.

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  16. I used the 90s version of the Erasermate Pen, and I can smell it right now. That heavy, inky smell, plus the eraser made it stronger. When our erasers got "full" and started smudging, we rubbed them on the carpet to remove the black and make them like new. Our principal was not appreciative of this, let me tell you.

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  17. I love all of these awesome comments as always. Wow Ian and Jesse you two are lefties? Knew there was something special about you two freaks. KIDDING!!

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  18. My problem is that I always pressed to hard when I was a kid. There was no erasing my mistakes.

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  19. This takes me back! I loved the pens that smelled with all of the yummy fruity smells...Oh and the scratch and sniff stickers...Oh and this one time I got a book that had my name in it, it was a story about me as a detective and it had all of these yummy smelling stickers. I loved that book! Actually I think I still have it and now I must go hunt for it and see if those stickers still smell? Except for the skunk sticker that one I never took a whiff of! :D

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  20. I do remember those pens and it was simply the best technology at the time,wasn't it?!

    Now we have the iPad.

    Mind boggling.

    Iused them for a while in grade school, but didn't like the smudges they left. And I love the smell of varnish, gasoline and paint!

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  21. Copyboy.... I see you suffered the left handed erasermate curse as well....I always appreciated the idea of the erasable pen, but I always had to wash ink of my hands....

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  22. I enjoy doing puzzles: crossword, logic, word search and more. Dare I admit that I use a pen to do these puzzles? Some people exclaim, “How can you use a pen? What if you make a mistake?” I could say that I never, ever make mistakes.but I don’t want that bolt of lightning to strike me down.

    promotional products

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  23. The Sharpie Liquid Pencil is basically a rebranded Erasermate. It's just as stinky as the vintage one.

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