Heute vor 100 Jahren wurde die Marke „NORICA“ für STAEDTLER eingetragen.
J.S. STAEDTLER “Norica” 6045 (1920er Jahre), STAEDTLER norica 132 46 (aktuelle Produktion1)
(Hier stand ursprünglich, dass der Name „Norica“ auf den gleichnamigen Stamm zurückgeht, der im 11. Jahrhundert die Ansiedlung Norimberga (auch „Norenberg“) auf dem Burgberg gegründet hat und daraus die Stadt Nürnberg entstand. Nach einem Kommentar habe ich die Quelle dafür gesucht, aber nicht mehr wiedergefunden; ich kann daher nicht ausschließen, dass meine Information falsch ist.) – Seit 1972 ist die Marke international geschützt.
Danke an Wowter für den aktuellen norica!
- Hergestellt in Thailand.↩
You are more than welcome! These just an exotic, I noticed while shopping ;). Why Staedtler sells Norica here in The Netherlands I don’t understand. It might be the retailer bought these pencils abroad from a foreclosure sale. Some NL firms specialise in such bargains. They don’t have a stable regular assortment. Hard to believe: 5 pencils for 1,69€. Fighting very poor quality with these. I know which I prefer: Staedtler. Do you know what wood was used to make these, Gunther?
Thank you for your comment and the details, Wowter! I assume these were meant for the US market (I have some norica pencils from the USA with ferrule and black lacquer but without item number); STAEDTLER Germany doesn’t offer Norica items. Five pencils for 1.69€ is really a very low price! – The wood looks like white fir (Abies concolor) to me.
Thank you for the identification of the most likely used species. My collection of special wood is getting bigger ;).
I’m happy to hear that! – Regarding wood collection: Until 2012 the STAEDTLER Noris 120 was made of cedar but there were also ones made of jelutong (I assume that this wood was chosen because cedar was not available at the time). After that, there was a switch to white fir but cedar was also used from time to time (possibly for the same reason why jelutong was used), and at the beginning of 2023 STAEDTLER switched to upcycled wood. So it’s possible to have the Noris 120 in four different woods (if you generously count upcycled wood as wood), and if you don’t mind adding a Noris 122 which is currently made of linden wood you have five ;-)
Thank you for the additional information on Noris.
You’re welcome!
Woher haben Sie denn die Info mit dem Norica-Stamm der eine Siedlung auf dem Burgberg gegründet haben soll? Das kann ja wohl nur ein Scherz sein, oder?
Das Wort leitet sich vom latinisierten Wort Noricum für Nürnberg ab.
https://de.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nürnberg#Name
Nein, als Scherz war das nicht gemeint. Ich hatte das damals zum Beitrag „J.S. STAEDTLER Noris 278“ recherchiert, kenne aber leider die Quelle nicht mehr. Gut möglich, dass das falsch ist; ich werde dem nachgehen.
I recently noticed Norica pencils are currently sourced from China (mentioning: Made in China on their packaging). Good quality under surveillance of Staedtler. A new strategy to cater for less expensive pencils. Establishing a new ‘status quo’ ..
Thank you for that additional detail! I’m happy to hear that STAEDTLER has such good quality assurance in production abroad. I’m sure there will be many people who are happy about these inexpensive alternatives to the pencils made by STAEDTLER in Germany but I hope that this doesn’t lead to cannabilisation.
It’s a shame that the current Norica is so bland compared to the original. The original has a lot of charm in its imprint, and the red/gold colourway is lovely.
You’re right – the current Norica is quite bland but with the choice of font it matches the other STAEDTLER pencils. This gives them a consistent appearance, which can also be an advantage. – When I look at some old pencils, I sometimes get the impression that many of them have been individually designed; maybe that’s what makes them so appealing (and some current ones so boring).