The Yellow No. 2 Pencil and Its Newmarket Story

A yellow pencil might seem like an unlikely place to discover local history. It is an everyday object: tucked into a school bag, sharpened over a wastebasket or left beside a half-finished crossword. Yet the Dixon Ticonderoga No. 2 has a connection to Newmarket, Ontario, that reaches into the town’s manufacturing past.

For decades, Newmarket was a place where pencils were made. Behind that familiar writing tool were factory workers, an established woodworking business and a community whose industrial history deserves to be remembered.

A Familiar Pencil with a Long History

The yellow No. 2 Ticonderoga pencil was introduced in 1913. Its eraser was originally secured with a brass ferrule—the small band connecting the eraser to the wooden barrel. Wartime material shortages later prompted changes that helped establish the recognizable green-and-yellow design (Ticonderoga, n.d.).

Its Canadian manufacturing story found a home in Newmarket.

From Woodworking to Pencil Making

Dixon’s Canadian division established itself in Newmarket in the early 1930s, taking over the existing Cane pencil operation at 531 Davis Drive. The company’s historical account dates its arrival to March 1931 and identifies the premises as the former William Cane Woodware Factory. The operation produced graphite pencils, coloured pencils and smaller bridge pencils (Dixon Ticonderoga, Inc., n.d.).

Dixon was building on a local tradition. Historian Richard MacLeod (2023) records that the Cane business began making pencils in 1920, before Dixon arrived. The transition connected an existing woodworking enterprise with a company whose name would become familiar in classrooms and offices.

The factory connected Newmarket to a much wider market for writing supplies. For local families, it was also a workplace—a place where manufacturing skills and daily routines formed part of the town’s working life.

An Ontario Connection at Its Core

There was an Ontario connection inside the pencils, too. A provincial report on mineral production in 1934 described Dixon’s Newmarket operation using graphite from the Black Donald mines near Calabogie. The report credited a specialized pulverizing process with helping make Canadian graphite suitable for pencil cores (Ontario Department of Mines, 1935).

Behind a simple line on paper was a story involving natural resources, experimentation and manufacturing knowledge. The pencil offers a way to explore how materials and skilled work came together to produce something used every day.

Part of Newmarket’s Working Life

Dixon belonged to a wider industrial landscape. MacLeod (2023) identifies the pencil company alongside businesses such as Davis Leather and Office Specialty as important parts of Newmarket’s economic history. These workplaces helped shape a community that changed as development, population growth and new forms of business transformed its surroundings.

The pencil factory’s manufacturing chapter ended in 1990. MacLeod (2023) records its closure on September 30, with 60 employees losing their jobs. A sales and distribution office remained on Pony Drive. The former factory was demolished in 1991 and replaced by a medical building, changing the physical landscape where the business had operated.

What Remains When a Factory Disappears

The building’s disappearance makes surviving records especially meaningful. Photographs preserve its brick walls and prominent company signs. Product packaging, catalogues, invoices and staff records can reveal other details: what was produced, how the business presented itself and who helped keep it running. Personal recollections can add the experiences that formal records leave out.

This is part of the value of business archives. They connect products with people and places. An old pencil box can become evidence of local industry; a workplace photograph can preserve a connection to a family member’s working life.

Local History in an Everyday Object

The Ticonderoga brand has a history that extends well beyond Ontario. Newmarket nevertheless holds a meaningful place in its Canadian story. The familiar yellow No. 2 offers a small, tangible connection to that past—and a reminder that local history can turn up in the most ordinary objects.

Sources:

Dixon Ticonderoga, Inc. (n.d.). Dixon Ticonderoga, Inc. Allbiz. https://5442-ca.all.biz/

MacLeod, R. (2023, August 12). Remember this: Once sleepy Newmarket village became thriving town. NewmarketToday. https://www.newmarkettoday.ca/remember-this/remember-this-once-sleepy-newmarket-village-became-thriving-town-7392226

Ontario Department of Mines. (1935). Preliminary report on the mineral production of Ontario in 1934 (Bulletin No. 98). https://prd-0420-geoontario-0000-blob-cge0eud7azhvfsf7.z01.azurefd.net/lrc-geology-documents/publication/B098/B098.pdf

Ticonderoga. (n.d.). History. https://weareticonderoga.com/history