Who discovered/invented the rubber eraser?
In 1770, the noted scientist Sir Joseph Priestley (discoverer of oxygen) recorded the following, “I have seen a substance excellently adapted to the purpose of wiping from paper the mark of black lead pencil.” Europeans were rubbing out pencil marks with the small cubes of rubber, the substance that Condamine had brought to Europe from South America. They called their erasers “peaux de negres”. However, rubber was not an easy substance to work with because it went bad very easily — just like food, rubber would rot. English engineer, Edward Naime is also credited with the creation of the first eraser in 1770. Before rubber, breadcrumbs had been used to erase pencil marks. Naime claims he accidentally picked up a piece of rubber instead of his lump of bread and discovered the possibilities, he went on to sell the new rubbing out devices or rubbers. In 1839, Charles Goodyear discovered a way to cure rubber and make it a lasting and useable material. He called his process vulcanization, a
Prior to using rubber, white bread (without crust) was used to erase the mark of graphite pencil and charcoal. It is still sometimes used for that by charcoal artists. In 1776, scientist Joseph Priestley noted, “I have seen a substance excellently adapted to the purpose of wiping from paper the mark of black lead pencil.” Also in 1770, Edward Naime, an English engineer, is credited with creating the first rubber eraser, and reportedly was selling natural rubber erasers for the astonishingly high price of 3 shillings per half-inch cube. According to Naime himself, he inadvertently picked up a piece of rubber instead of breadcrumbs, discovered rubber’s erasing properties, and began selling rubber erasers. Incidentally, this was the first practical application of the substance in Europe, and rubbing out the pencil marks gave it its English name. However, rubber in its raw form shared the same inconveniences as bread, since it was perishable and would go bad over time. In 1839, inventor Ch
1770, the noted scientist Sir Joseph Priestley (discoverer of oxygen) recorded the following, “I have seen a substance excellently adapted to the purpose of wiping from paper the mark of black lead pencil.” Europeans were rubbing out pencil marks with the small cubes of rubber, the substance that Condamine had brought to Europe from South America. They called their erasers “peaux de negres”. However, rubber was not an easy substance to work with because it went bad very easily — just like food, rubber would rot. In 1839, Charles Goodyear discovered a way to cure rubber and make it a lasting and useable material. He called his process vulcanization, after Vulcan, the Roman god of fire. In 1844, Goodyear patented his process. With the better rubber available, erasers became quite common. The first patent for attaching an eraser to a pencil was issued in 1858 to a man from Philadelphia named Hyman Lipman. This patent was later held to be invalid because it was merely the combination of t
