Past Forward: When Electrification Came for the Eraser

In 1953, the Loren Specialty Manufacturing Co. introduced its first electric eraser for pencils and ink pens. By then, inventors had already been patenting such devices for several decades, and other companies were selling a variety of electric erasure products. But what was so problematic about the humble eraser that it needed electrifying? In the days before computer-aided drawing and the ease of the undo command, erasing could be a delicate operation. To make corrections to a hand-drawn map, for example, two engineering professors in 1930 suggested first picking off the ink with a sharp knife, placing a hard surface beneath the map, and then rubbing it with a pencil eraser. The Presto Model 80 electrical eraser [above] was marketed to draftsmen, librarians, and artists. Held in the hand like a pen or pencil, the eraser vibrated to abrade a small area in need of correction. Today, some artists still use electric erasers for fine details in their drawings.