In late 2019 Musgrave announced some new releases, including three new pencils. This was an unexpected treat, and all three of the new pencils have been roundly welcomed. Musgrave Harvest 320 Pro Musgrave Harvest 320 Pro

The pencils arrive wrapped in an outer cardboard box and inside this they are wrapped in bubble wrap which ensures they arrive in pristine condition.

Production Challenges

Though regularly mentioned online, I could not find a substantial written review of this pencil, and was motivated to contribute this effort. Using these almost century-old slats, we worked closely with the company chairman, Henry, and their manufacturing team to give these slats life as the pencils they were milled to be. This vintage wood now has a top-of-the-line graphite core and distinctly modern imprint and end cap. They are a piece of American pencil manufacturing history and a joy to write with. And once this limited run sells out, they are gone. American heritage pencil maker Musgrave introduced a very interesting product in 2019: The Tennessee Red pencil. The pencil’s notable feature is the use of Eastern Red Cedar ( Juniperus virginiana), the original American pencil wood. The pencil is very fragrant and visually interesting – each pencil is different, and many contain both cedar sapwood (pale colour) and cedar heartwood (dark colour).

From another perspective, Import Genius says that Musgrave’s top international suppliers (ranked by number of containers imported) are:

Stuff I Like

When you open the box you are met by the gentle scent of cedar wood or to be precise, in this case, Eastern Red Cedar, from which the box and the pencils are made. The box is smooth but as far as I can tell the wood is unfinished whilst the pencils within have a lacquer finish which helps to bring out the depth of colour in the wood. These are my favorite pencils for working in my garage, woodworking particular. I find that the red is really easy to see against any shade of wood and, being a pencil, it erases almost as well as a standard grey graphite so you get better visibility. The only downside of these pencils is that they have a fragile graphite so you need to keep them blunt and not push too hard when using them. The HB pencils have a beautiful natural finish, and have a white eraser attached with a gold and maroon ferrule. They are sold unsharpened.

I note that just like Mrs. Strong, Musgrave has found a way to sell a pencil at the price point of the Graf von Faber-Castell Perfect Pencil. I’m not a professional marketer, but I salute Musgrave for this breakthrough. The name was more of a no-brainer, as we’d internally called the pencil prototype “The Tennessee Red Cedar Pencil” for months. By the time we came to the design phase, the name “Tennessee Red™” just came to us. It is worth noting that we did not give this pencil a customer-facing number. Just like the greats who go by first name only, we believe this one and only pencil needed no number to be differentiated from its pencil contemporaries. And while it’s not technically a mononym (á la Beyoncé, Madonna, or Prince), perhaps we could dare call this hardworking American classic “The Boss” of pencils. So how were these slats made? Perhaps pioneer fellow Tennessee manufacturer Wagner Pencil, who process American timber into pencil slats, gave assistance. Or perhaps Musgrave engaged with a wood processor not part of the pencil industry to create these slats. In any case, it is very interesting. The cedar is covered in some sort of polyurethane or similar coating to give it a little shine and to protect the wood. This coating looks great, but it does wear over time, particularly where the pencil is held and any little damage spots, such as where a sharpener hit the wood body. This isn’t a problem but can cause some unsightly spots where the coating starts to flake. My answer, in short, is this; if you have the pennies to spare then treat yourself or if you know someone who is passionate about stationery these will make an excellent gift.

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Overall, I am very impressed with these pencils and the box will be something I keep pencils in long after I have run out of the Tennessee Red’s; I think it’s a wonderful idea If you like pencils, you may want to support Musgrave and the other small pencil companies because they are few in number, and offer a different type of product than their global competitors. Along with the Tennessee Red, heritage pencil maker Musgrave announced another product just as interesting to pencil aficionados – a pencil made from rediscovered vintage slats. Very clearly, this small town Tennessee company is highly engaged in the international economy. As the company notes, “… today Musgrave is able to work with a handful of different varieties of wood from all over the world.” Managing this complex supply chain must be almost as challenging as manufacturing the pencils.