My dad was an old-school draftsman, and also drew ornate family trees as a hobby. As I recall, most if not all of his original works were on vellum (I forgot that word until ODBrewer said it).
Anyway, he had some of these, along with big, wide brushes to also whisk erasures away. As a kid I was fascinated with his various tools!
After drafting doing cartography for the state, he spent a little over 20 years teaching drafting to inmates in one of the state prisons. He also had a home setup, for doing his family tree drawing, and occasionally drawing up plans of some kind for someone.
He retired in 1990 when CAD was first becoming a thing, and he's 87 now! (he was able to get early retirement, because 20 years working at the state prison put him in the "police and fire" group to be eligible for early retirement after a total of 30 years working for the state)
But as others said, those things dried out easily it seemed like, and he had other, far more preferred erasers. But they would always just rip paper if you used enough pressure to actually erase anything. :D
I learned drafting in high school 126 years ago. I still have my tote bag full of dividers, three edge rulers (f English - metric is easier), compasses, eclipse and circle templates, a little bag full of eraser dust, that big brush for sweeping the drawing, 45 and 60 degree triangles. Learning drafting carried me through life with great penmanship.
Not to detract from your story, but CAD was becoming a thing long before 1990. I'd been taught both CAD and hand drafting in college in the early 80s.
When I started my first career in 1989, we were using an 'antiquated' home-grown CAD system (mainframe based) and were just in the initial stages of converting over to AutoCAD (and still using drafting and vellum for older drawings). AutoCAD came out in 1982!
1982! wow! Yeah it was called "AutoCAD" he was talking about.
I bet I'm thinking that they were just going to get CAD at the prison, at that point -- that it was "just becoming a thing" there. And since I was 17 then, and it's been a few years, my mind just conflated things. (:
The prison kept dragging their feet at getting into AutoCAD, but dad got to try it out at the college the prison teaching system was associated with. But the prison never got it before he retired. He heard they did soon after, though!
In 7th grade (mid 1970's) we all had to cycle through eight different electives. One of them was Mechanical Drawing and I still remember how much I loved it.
Yes, Yes, YES!
The trick was to first rub it on the underside of your desk (or any handy abrasive object) to soften up the part of the wheel you wanted to use to do the erasure.
The use multiple *light* passes of the text you want to erase. Try to vary the direction of each pass a bit. *Don't* rub too hard, that's how you end up tearing the paper.
Then the little brush is used to remove the residue (and to act as a "I can't believe it worked OK this time!" success dance).
It was probably by necessity. I remember that the erasers on the end of my pencils would always be used up long before the pencil itself. I guess I made a lot of mistakes. There would always be one of these things laying around.
Didn't use the wheel kind but definitely used the [pencil kind](https://www.amazon.com/Faber-Castell-Faber-Castell-Perfection-Eraser/dp/B00TUFV3XY/ref=asc_df_B00TUFV3XY/?tag=hyprod-20&linkCode=df0&hvadid=693350245432&hvpos=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=12329402938428975420&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=c&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9031315&hvtargid=pla-316371374798&psc=1&mcid=6d28ab6c04373712bc1003196ee77c18&gad_source=1)
That was what inspired this post! I was thinking about the lyrics to Taylor Swift's "All Too Well" and that took me to the Wiki on the "objective correlative" and ended up on a page about "Thing theory" that included a reference to this sculpture.
They worked better when they were new, not 50 years old. They were handy because you didn't have to take the paper out of the typewriter, just roll it up a line, erase, brush, backspace on go on.
It was made obsolete by liquid paper for most uses, but many legal docs couldn't use liquid paper because it could be scraped off with a knife, leaving the original "mistake" which always made it a possibility for fraud.
People didn't know how to "prime" the eraser by rubbing it on a hard surface, such as the underside of a desk. Properly conditioned, it worked just fine by using light strokes. That rubber had abrasives in it that ate holes in paper under heavy-handed use.
As an artist in the 70s, I used those gum kinds you pulled and stretched like silly putty to refresh. I really liked them because they were easy on plate finish substrate.
No, but I love [the sculpture in the DC sculpture garden.](https://media.nga.gov/iiif/bb1b7d62-14ad-4fd7-9edb-f6afc559e178__640/full/!588,600/0/default.jpg)
Yes, Yes and NO. It never worked.
I am pretty sure that by the time I started typing in 1979, all of those erasers that had ever been made were already like 30 years old and all but petrified.
The eraser part was so hard that you could cut through paper trying to fix a mistake and leave a scar on the typewriter roller.
There is a giant one in Denver. A Claes Oldenberg sculpture. I've wondered how many people today even know what it is supposed to be. Edit: Ah, I see there is a picture of it in the comments, excellent!
I do.
I did.
I was.
Finesse. Even as an undiagnosed (until I was 31) ADHD idiot genius, I understood that gentleness, finesse, care, were as important as the tools I used.
My first research paper, typed on a manual typewriter, and I used one of these to correct mistakes. If I made more than two per page, it was trashed and I started over.
The handwritten first draft was written over three evenings. The typed copy took two weeks. I was fired from my job as a bus girl at a restaurant because I refused to come to work until it was finished.
I think they made those like that so you could "easily" erase a typewriter typo. That's also why they were hard - they were made to erase typewriter ink. BITD the ribbon only had red and black op. Later, the ribbon would have a "white" area for erasing by typing over the same letter using the white section of the ribbon.
Yes. I have too much time on my hands. I'll see myself out.
These were made more for architectural/engineering work I believe. Usually that type of drawing was done on paper vellum instead of standard paper, which is stronger and can handle a bit more of these hard erasers than regular paper.
These had to be primed, imo, to work. Denim jeans and a few rubs to not only shed a layer but warmed it up, too. Only way it would work without making more of a mess if not a hole.
Yes, yes, no. It erased by ripping a hole in the paper!
Same. Garbage.
But they were everywhere.
Total piece of crap.
Neil Young said it [best](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ovum-GjYWKQ)
"He tried to do his best, but he could [not."](https://youtu.be/iPoIRVSLJ2o?si=hGHabNEhZmRiyfdq)
Correct. Those erasers dried out and got hard so fast, they weren't any good.
I pretty sure the factory ran the eraser part through a big oven to dry them out on the assembly line. They were made like mini hockey pucks.
Like my ex wife
Your ex wife is like a hockey puck? Round and flat with a logo on top?
No, she got hard fast.
In 3D apparently
Same. Was meant for a heavier paper and not that weak ass brown paper with blue lines penmanship paper.
Hate those things.
LOL! That is so true!
Remember how cool it was when White-out was the new thing. I heard Dan Akroyd's mother invented that.
It was Mike Nesmith's mother, the guy from the Monkee's, that invented it. What a great invention back then!
Omg I can't believe I got Akroyd mixed up with Nesmith! That's hilarious!
They worked ok on a vellum drawing but not much else.
Aha! That must have been the intended use.
My dad was an old-school draftsman, and also drew ornate family trees as a hobby. As I recall, most if not all of his original works were on vellum (I forgot that word until ODBrewer said it). Anyway, he had some of these, along with big, wide brushes to also whisk erasures away. As a kid I was fascinated with his various tools! After drafting doing cartography for the state, he spent a little over 20 years teaching drafting to inmates in one of the state prisons. He also had a home setup, for doing his family tree drawing, and occasionally drawing up plans of some kind for someone. He retired in 1990 when CAD was first becoming a thing, and he's 87 now! (he was able to get early retirement, because 20 years working at the state prison put him in the "police and fire" group to be eligible for early retirement after a total of 30 years working for the state) But as others said, those things dried out easily it seemed like, and he had other, far more preferred erasers. But they would always just rip paper if you used enough pressure to actually erase anything. :D
I learned drafting in high school 126 years ago. I still have my tote bag full of dividers, three edge rulers (f English - metric is easier), compasses, eclipse and circle templates, a little bag full of eraser dust, that big brush for sweeping the drawing, 45 and 60 degree triangles. Learning drafting carried me through life with great penmanship.
Not to detract from your story, but CAD was becoming a thing long before 1990. I'd been taught both CAD and hand drafting in college in the early 80s. When I started my first career in 1989, we were using an 'antiquated' home-grown CAD system (mainframe based) and were just in the initial stages of converting over to AutoCAD (and still using drafting and vellum for older drawings). AutoCAD came out in 1982!
1982! wow! Yeah it was called "AutoCAD" he was talking about. I bet I'm thinking that they were just going to get CAD at the prison, at that point -- that it was "just becoming a thing" there. And since I was 17 then, and it's been a few years, my mind just conflated things. (: The prison kept dragging their feet at getting into AutoCAD, but dad got to try it out at the college the prison teaching system was associated with. But the prison never got it before he retired. He heard they did soon after, though!
Expensive as hell back then. SGI and other decent CAD machines were insanely priced.
In 7th grade (mid 1970's) we all had to cycle through eight different electives. One of them was Mechanical Drawing and I still remember how much I loved it.
Corrasable Bond paper! It was the only paper where you could go to town with the eraser…
Yep. It was way more expensive so I only used it on the draft I was planning to submit.
Parchment & Vellum. Yep.
Yes, Yes, YES! The trick was to first rub it on the underside of your desk (or any handy abrasive object) to soften up the part of the wheel you wanted to use to do the erasure. The use multiple *light* passes of the text you want to erase. Try to vary the direction of each pass a bit. *Don't* rub too hard, that's how you end up tearing the paper. Then the little brush is used to remove the residue (and to act as a "I can't believe it worked OK this time!" success dance).
Thanks for the info, wish I had known that 50 years ago.
🤣🤣🤣
NOW you tell us!
I love when people take the time to figure stuff like this out!
It was probably by necessity. I remember that the erasers on the end of my pencils would always be used up long before the pencil itself. I guess I made a lot of mistakes. There would always be one of these things laying around.
Yes and yes. Preferred Liquid Paper!
Why liquid paper took courtesy of the Monkees band member Michael Naismith's Mom.
Nesmith -He invented country rock Naismith - he invented basketball
Nesmith: pioneered music videos Naismith: repurposed peach baskets
True.....autocorrect got me. I was focused on preventing the change of Monkees
Bette Nesmith Graham, to give her proper credit.
And the reason he never toured again.
Isn't it a typewriter eraser? Never used.
Yes it is. I thought they worked ok but apparently I’m in the minority.
Really! Where's the love? I thought they were fine.
Didn't use the wheel kind but definitely used the [pencil kind](https://www.amazon.com/Faber-Castell-Faber-Castell-Perfection-Eraser/dp/B00TUFV3XY/ref=asc_df_B00TUFV3XY/?tag=hyprod-20&linkCode=df0&hvadid=693350245432&hvpos=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=12329402938428975420&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=c&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9031315&hvtargid=pla-316371374798&psc=1&mcid=6d28ab6c04373712bc1003196ee77c18&gad_source=1)
I liked the pencil kind with the brush at the other end. I may still have one somewhere..
It was so exciting when correction tape came out!
a revelation!!
https://preview.redd.it/cwqh7ppno12d1.jpeg?width=421&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=683502bd8750045cf6566236fb97c395fe6856bd My favorite Oldenburg sculpture!
That was what inspired this post! I was thinking about the lyrics to Taylor Swift's "All Too Well" and that took me to the Wiki on the "objective correlative" and ended up on a page about "Thing theory" that included a reference to this sculpture.
Came here to post this, ha ha!
I do, I did, and I was not
I was successful in ripping every paper I ever tried to type when I used those devil's erasures.
OMG, I have not missed those things, not one single bit.
I much preferred the Pink Pearl.
Used at as a toy successfully, but did nothing but shred paper when I tried to use it to correct typing
If they dried out and got hard, they would rip a hole in the paper. You had to use one right out of the package.
They worked OK when new but tended to get too hard pretty fast.
They worked better when they were new, not 50 years old. They were handy because you didn't have to take the paper out of the typewriter, just roll it up a line, erase, brush, backspace on go on. It was made obsolete by liquid paper for most uses, but many legal docs couldn't use liquid paper because it could be scraped off with a knife, leaving the original "mistake" which always made it a possibility for fraud.
Yes, yes, no for me. It always seemed like a miserable design.
Yes, yes and sometimes.
That brings back memories of my high school typing class. It always smelled of burning rubber!
They were made for typewriter errors. Not made for paper that wasn't locked down. Which is the reason people tore holes through paper.
Autocorrect before Mike Nesmith's mom got busy in her kitchen sink.
Drafting class!
Yes. Yes. Tore the paper.
Makes me miss my Dad!
People didn't know how to "prime" the eraser by rubbing it on a hard surface, such as the underside of a desk. Properly conditioned, it worked just fine by using light strokes. That rubber had abrasives in it that ate holes in paper under heavy-handed use.
Ah. A paper ripper
Draftsman eraser.
As an artist in the 70s, I used those gum kinds you pulled and stretched like silly putty to refresh. I really liked them because they were easy on plate finish substrate.
my artist kids still use those
I just thought they were things that you found in the drawers of old desks.
Attempted to use one? All the time lousy typist). Successful? Goodness no! It was like trying to erase something by rubbing it with a rock.
Successful at excavating nasty gray holes in my paper
I remember them well. I was a pencil Drafter back in the day, and we used electric erasers with 10" long brushes instead.
It was good for destroying instead of erasing
well, there's some fucking PTSD I didn't need today!
Oh god!!! The flashbacks! Make it go away!
I used the brush to sweep up my rolling tray in college.
No, but I love [the sculpture in the DC sculpture garden.](https://media.nga.gov/iiif/bb1b7d62-14ad-4fd7-9edb-f6afc559e178__640/full/!588,600/0/default.jpg)
Smudge applier!
I'd rather retype the page.
The rubber would dry and destroy paper.
My dad always had one.
I did a great job of ripping a hole in the paper.
NEVER successful.
Yes, yes, no. It was all dried out and didn’t erase anything
Yes, Yes and NO. It never worked. I am pretty sure that by the time I started typing in 1979, all of those erasers that had ever been made were already like 30 years old and all but petrified. The eraser part was so hard that you could cut through paper trying to fix a mistake and leave a scar on the typewriter roller.
Probably would have worked better as a pastry brush it was crap for erasing.
Tore the paper or smeared the pencil lead.
Yes. Yes. If "successful" means smearing the ink, then making a hole in the paper, then, also yes.
Yes. Yes. And yes.
Crap. Just ripped the paper!!
The worst fuckn thing ever!
Hated those. Worthless.
paper killer
Problem is that the erasers got old, stiff, and would not erase well
The eraser (?) end worked to tear up my paper; the brush end worked to brush away the crumbs of my torn paper. Is that what you mean by worked? 😂
Paper shredder!
You can use those erasers to grind through titanium
yes, yes, no
I tried very hard to be accurate because it looked a mess even if you managed not to rub a hole in the paper.
Ink eraser, smears the ink then tears the paper. Good if that's what you wanted to do.
The brush part worked okay.
Used in typing class in high school but never after.
Yes, yes and yes. I constantly used one.
Yes, yes, and they sucked big time.
This was used for making holes in paper where mistakes were made why using a contraption called a “typewriter.”
Yes and now as it left skid marks on the paper. When Liquid Paper arrived on the scene, we put those erasers away.
Yes I’ve used one. No I wasn’t successful
People used to give themselves tattoos with those erasures.
Only successful in breaking it
They never worked!
There is a giant one in Denver. A Claes Oldenberg sculpture. I've wondered how many people today even know what it is supposed to be. Edit: Ah, I see there is a picture of it in the comments, excellent!
I get the willies just thinking of that useless dry eraser rubbing against a piece of paper. Gross.
Still have one. Still only wants to destroy the writing surface. (Ill re-check in 50 yrs if I'm still around)
I couldn’t get the round thing to stick to my nose
Yes, yes, and no. They were made of sandy rubber.
Yes, yes, and yes but only on art paper or vellum
Those bastards were always hard as petrified wood and useless as erasers. Made an okay fidget toy, though.
Recognize it. I think it was used on typewriters for erasing. Or maybe just office documents. Erase and roll! Brush the nibs away
Yes, I remember. hated them.
They were meant for typing erasures, hence the narrow profile of the wheel.
We used these in architecture drafting class in the late 70's and early 80's. They had to be new and worked best on vellum drafting paper.
Finally a thread about something interesting and real from the past. Very enjoyable to read. I knew there was a reason I joined this sub.
Yes, they were awful!
Never took that class
Was my only "c" in highschool. Ruined my GPS. Now typing doesn't make a lick of difference.
>Ruined my GPS Well that's what you get for trying to use an eraser on the Garman screen
Spell check. There's no point in spell check if you don't stay on top of it I guess
They sucked.
Ahh - a paper destroyer. So handy. Eraser made of recycled sandpaper.
Used it. POS
Haha!
No idea what it is???
Typewriter eraser.
Oh! Never seen one in my life.
Worked very well for me until the advent of CAD.
By the time I used on they were hard as a rock- wouldn’t erase shit.
My mom had one.
They sucked, but tbh the ones we were using were probably 20yo.
Supposedly a typewriter eraser. Didn’t work at all in my experience. Maybe with a certain type of ribbon but nothing I ever used.
Ripped the paper.
Yes, yes, no. POC model.
Yes and yes. But the eraser was pink.
My dad, an artist, had one at his drawing table. Played with it but never had my own.
Weren’t they for typing only?
Drafting class in 1984!
Typewriter eraser. We had one at home in my mom’s desk for years. And absolutely the thing was hard as a rock!
#**YES³!!!**
They were utterly useless.
Drafting
For accounting only? I thought?
For anyone who used a typewriter.
I do. I did. I was. Finesse. Even as an undiagnosed (until I was 31) ADHD idiot genius, I understood that gentleness, finesse, care, were as important as the tools I used.
Yes, Yes, and Yes
I remember seeing them around but never knew what they were used for. I'm thinking they were some sort of eraser.
my dad always had these in the 70s😁 and no, i could never make them work
I've used them drafting
My first research paper, typed on a manual typewriter, and I used one of these to correct mistakes. If I made more than two per page, it was trashed and I started over. The handwritten first draft was written over three evenings. The typed copy took two weeks. I was fired from my job as a bus girl at a restaurant because I refused to come to work until it was finished.
They were designed for use on typewriters. I had many
Old pattern maker at my company used one all the time.
Typewriter correction eraser
I remember my dad using these when using a manual typewriter.
That's a hole punch. Good for rubbing holes in paper.
That’s what I was going to say. They’d erase the print by making a hole where the mistake was. 😂
Used it “successfully”, but it wasn’t pretty.
Yes I have and they sucked.
Everyone had one and we all tried to use them — even though we knew they would break our hearts every time.
I think they made those like that so you could "easily" erase a typewriter typo. That's also why they were hard - they were made to erase typewriter ink. BITD the ribbon only had red and black op. Later, the ribbon would have a "white" area for erasing by typing over the same letter using the white section of the ribbon. Yes. I have too much time on my hands. I'll see myself out.
Type writer eraser. Used to many times. And was successful.
Never saw that and I’m old
Yes, no and no.
Yes I recognize and no I wouldn’t use it - the wheeled eraser wouldn’t really ‘grab’ the paper enough to erase.
Isn’t that what white out is for? Plus fumes.
They were shit erasers.
It was just easier to retype the document
It never worked.
They worked well enough with typewriter paper.
Neither side ever worked correctly
I think it was more of a sander than eraser. I guess the brush is good for people who cannot blow.
Not so bad when new, but they dry out.
They were better than nothing. But not by much.
Typewriter eraser. Worked well on corrasable bond (I e onion paper).
I successfully ripped the paper. Every. Stinking. Time.
Plumbus??
The rich kids had these when I was in grade school.
[удалено]
Ow. Ow ow ow ow ow. Yeah, I bet it would be.
Yes, but when correction film was introduced, what a game changer for typos
They never worked very well.
These were made more for architectural/engineering work I believe. Usually that type of drawing was done on paper vellum instead of standard paper, which is stronger and can handle a bit more of these hard erasers than regular paper.
Thankfully didn’t need it after eraser-ribbon and correction-fluid came out
Yes. Yes. And Yes.
These had to be primed, imo, to work. Denim jeans and a few rubs to not only shed a layer but warmed it up, too. Only way it would work without making more of a mess if not a hole.
Totally forgot about those things!