THREE STAR
| THREE STAR | |
|---|---|
| |
| Founded: | 1934 |
| Founder: | Wu Gengmei |
| Headquarters: | Shanghai, China |
| Key People: | |
| Products: | Pencil |
| Website: | N/A |
History
1934-1966
In the 1930s, China's light industry was so backward that it could not make its own pencils. In 1934, Wu Tongmei, a Chinese student in Japan, returned home to start construction of a pencil factory, the first pencil factory in China, the Chinese Standard Pencil Factory, which went into operation in August 1935. The first product was named 'Fei ji'.
Then, in 1937, the factory launched its new product, 'Ding', the first advanced drawing pencil. The pen is made entirely of Chinese ingredients: clay from Suzhou, China, birch from northeast China, graphite from Hunan, China. After the outbreak of the Anti-Japanese War, the factory turned to Wuhan, Yichang and many places, and finally landed in Chongqing.
During the Anti-Japanese War, the leadership of the factory split, General Manager Zhang Weiss, engineer Guo Zichun suggested that the factory move back to Shanghai, and Wu Tongmei factory director did not agree, and then Zhang, Guo two left the factory.
After the victory, Wu was received by Mao Zedong during the Chongqing talks. In 1946, the factory moved back to Shanghai to resume work, and the factory was on the verge of bankruptcy because of high inflation in the KMT-ruled region at the time.
In 1949, the factory sent several technical backbone, carrying equipment to Harbin, China, to build a factory, this is Shanghai's first private enterprises to foreign public-private joint venture plant. In September, director Wu Tongmei attended the Chinese the First Congress of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference.
In May 1950, China Standard Pencil Factory realized a public-private partnership. In 1954, several pencil factories in Shanghai, including the China Standard Pencil Factory, merged into the China Pencil Company. In 1955, the whole of Shanghai pen industry merged into Shanghai Pen Industry Company. One of the pencil factory into NO.1 Factory, NO.2 Factory, Beijing THREE STAR Pencil Factory.
1966-1993
In 1966, the public-private partnership of the factory was completed and officially became a state-owned enterprise. In 1968, in order to save timber resources, the factory developed its first mechanical pencil named 'THREE STAR 101'. In 1978, the factory developed its first leadholder mechanical pencil named 'THREE STAR 105'. Both housings are plastic and use a 2.0mm lead core.
In 1979, as china-Japan relations heated up, the Ministry of Light Industry of the People's Republic of China led a delegation to Japan and brought back several 0.5mm fine line mechanical pencil. In 1980, China's first fine line mechanical pencil 'THREE STAR 700' was successfully developed. Over the next two years, 720,721,740,750,702,703 grades of mechanical pencils were made.
From the mid-1980s to the early 1990s, factories began to develop Auto-Advance mechanism pencil, introducing products such as the A701,705. So far, China NO.2 Pencil Factory reached its peak.
List of The Name of The Factory
| Name | Year |
|---|---|
| Chinese Standard Pencil Factory/Shanghai Pencil Factory | 1934-1950 |
| Public-private partnership with China Standard Pencil Factory | 1950-1954 |
| Public-private partnership with China Pencil Co. | 1954-1955 |
| Public-private partnership with China NO.2 Pencil Factory | 1955-1966 |
| China NO.2 Pencil Factory,Shanghai | 1966-1993 |
| Shanghai Three Star Stationery Enterprise Co.,Ltd. | 1993-Now |
Models
| Model name | Additional Features / Informations |
|---|---|
| 101 | Pen case. |
| 105 | Lead-Holder |
| 700 | The first fine line mechanical pencil in China. |
| 701 | |
| A701 | Auto-Advance mechanism |
| 702 | |
| 703 | |
| 705 | Auto-Advance mechanism |
| 707 | |
| 708A | |
| 709 | |
| 720 | |
| 721 |
| First released | Discontinued | Pen length | Pen weight | Material | Mechanism | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| THREE STAR 700 | 1980 | 2000 | 132 mm13.2 cm <br />5.197 inches <br /> | 18 g0.018 kg <br />0.635 ounces <br /> | Stainless steel | Ratchet-based mechanism |
| THREE STAR 701 | 1983 | 1993 | Ratchet-based mechanism | |||
| THREE STAR 702 | 1985 | 2000 | Ratchet-based mechanism | |||
| THREE STAR 703 | 1980 | 1993 | Ratchet-based mechanism | |||
| THREE STAR 705 | 1985 | 1987 | 135 mm13.5 cm <br />5.315 inches <br /> | 23 g0.023 kg <br />0.811 ounces <br /> | Stainless steel | Auto-Advance mechanism |
| THREE STAR 720,721 | 1980 | 2000 | Ratchet-based mechanism | |||
| THREE STAR A701 | 1984 | 1993 | 143 mm14.3 cm <br />5.63 inches <br /> | 16 g0.016 kg <br />0.564 ounces <br /> | Stainless steel Plastic | Auto-Advance mechanism |