J.A. Reynolds & Co. Ltd. HB

An unknown company, this pencil was acquired in a box from England. The reverse is stamped “Made in U.S.A.,” suggesting it may have been produced as blank stock in the United States and exported overseas, or possibly linked to an American manufacturer.

Further research supports the former. J.A. Reynolds of Birmingham appears to have been a manufacturer of drawing and drafting instruments, and likely did not produce their own pencils. It is reasonable to conclude that, at some point, they imported blank pencil stock from the United States.

Based on this, the pencil likely dates to the later period of the company’s operation, circa the 1920s.