Field Trip: CW Pencil Enterprise

Brian and I decided to pay a visit to CW Pencil Enterprise in the Lower East Side of Manhattan (New York City, USA) this week.



How can a pair of stationery fetishists *not* patronize a pencil shop a mere 11-minute bike ride away from home?



CW Pencil Enterprise was founded in late 2014 by Caroline Weaver. Their mission is to "dig up the stories and origins of these objects and make them accessible to those who appreciate them for their functionality, beauty and history as much as we do."




Six-year-old Kimmie is super jealous of thirty-year-old Kimmie right now. Signs of a life lived faithfully.



The shop was such a fun experience! I felt totally welcome and not rushed at all. For much of the time, my butt was parked at the testing station, where a drawer holds sample versions of nearly all the pencils and erasers for sale in the shop.



I ended up bringing one of these white pencils home. My test was a little Ghost Dog homage to my recently-deceased best friend, Tuli Wooferberg, the best cocker spaniel that ever spanieled.



This neat pencil I got (the one with the green cap in the middle of the below photo) has seeds at the end, in lieu of an eraser. The idea is that when the pencil gets small enough, you plant the end. That's some motivation to keep writing, isn't it? Much like the allure of an empty ink converter: things were written and accomplished, and now it's time for a new color. Or in this case, some mint to keep my basil at home company.



I helped them take this photo for Instagram. I guess that photography minor in college and the tricks I picked up taking endless photos of diners in a dark restaurant were good for something.



Brian and I didn't realize until the day after that our visit coincided with our halfaversary. (We have "been official" partners for six months, but penpals for longer.) What a perfect way to commemorate our nerdiness. As if we didn't already have a fountain pen problem...





CW Pencil Enterprise is located at 100a Forsyth Street / New York, NY 10002. Hours are Tuesday-Saturday, 11am-7pm; Sunday, 12pm-7pm; Closed Monday. You can also order online at cwpencils.com.