CalCedar has a multi-generational family history in the pencil industry as a technical leader and market innnovator

California Cedar Products Company has a rich history now in our third & fourth generations of family ownership and stewardship. With roots dating back to 19th century Bavarian pencil makers, the Berolzheimer family has been involved in the production of pencils or pencil slats for seven generations. In 1855, Daniel Berolzheimer and his partner Leopold Illfelder founded Berolzheimer und Illfelder Steam Pencil factory in Fürth, Bavaria near Nuremburg.  In 1859 after Daniel’s unexpected death, he was succeeded by his son Heinrich.  Heinrich soon built a factory in New York to pursue the growing U.S. market establishing the Eagle brand. Eventually, the factory in Germany closed and in 1882 Heinrich acquired his partners interests and the business was renamed Eagle Pencil Company. Thereafter Heinrich’s sons, Emil and Philip, emigrated to the U.S. and built Eagle Pencil into one of the leading US producers under the watchful eyes of Heinrich who remained in Germany until his death in 1906.

History1

During the mid 1800’s into the early 1900’s the primary pencil wood in the United States was Eastern Red Cedar, which grows throughout the southeastern states. Given the critical importance of wood supply to the company, Eagle established several mills in the region to provide pencil slats for the New York factory, including in Cedar Key, Florida.  Eastern Red cedar was also being exported to European producers.  The continuous growth in pencil demand through this period placed increasing pressure on Eastern Red Cedar supply causing the industry to focus on new alternative wood species for pencils.

By 1910 Eagle Pencil’s subsidiary, Hudson Lumber Company, had established the industry’s first sawmill and slat factory in San Leandro, California to produce slats from Incense-cedar.  Incense-cedar, which grows abundantly in California and Oregon forests, was an ideal substitute for Eastern Red Cedar as a pencil wood due to the ease of machining, sharpening, lacquering and imprinting.  Others followed Hudson’s lead including a new independent startup California Cedar Products Company, founded in 1917 by California lumbermen W.B. Thurman and F.F. Sayre.

In the mid 1920s, the Berolzheimer family pursued separate paths as the next generation of family members began entering the business following Emil’s death in 1922.  Emil’s children retained ownership of Eagle Pencil Company which eventually was renamed as Berol Corporation.  They remained in the industry until 1985 when Berol was sold to Empire Pencil Company at a time of increasing industry mergers and acquisitions. (Today the Eagle and Berol brands and thier well known Mirado and Prismacolor pencils are part of Newell Rubbermaid Corporation)  Meanwhile, Philip sold his interest in Eagle to his nephews, retired from active business life and paved the way for his son Charles to continue the family tradition of heading west to pursue new pencil industry opportunities, serving as advisor and coach until his death in 1942.

Supported by his father Philip and now partnering with former Hudson manager, O.F.  Chichester, CalCedar patriarch Charles Berolzheimer moved from New York to California and in 1927, at the age of just 24, purchased California Cedar Products Company. Charles dedicated the rest of his professional life to developing Incense-cedar slat products and manufacturing processes and to establishing CalCedar’s slats as the premier wood-casings used in the pencil industry.

A modern day Renaissance Man, Charles spoke seven languages, had a keen interest in people and traveled extensively throughout the world establishing lasting relationships with pencil manufacturers. Today the vast majority of Cal Cedar slat sales are outside of the United States, reflecting the globalized nature of the industry. One of Charles Berolzheimer’s greatest interests was in the area of research and development. He made many important contributions to the technology of pencil slat manufacturing, including the development of our uniquely efficient saws and sawing system and advancements in pressurized emulsion treatment of slats, adding wax and stain for uniform coloration and improved wood machining during pencil production and sharpening of finished pencils.   His technical and values based leadership of the company continued into his early 90’s until his death in 1995 contributing greatly to CalCedar’s culture of quality and innovation and the establishment of the company as the world’s leading slat producer and of Incense-cedar as the preferred specie for pencil manufacturing.

During the 1960’s, Charles’ sons, Philip and Michael, entered the family business and became deeply committed to continuing its growth and development over the next 30+ years.   In 1969, they established P&M Cedar Products, Inc. to focus on the overall sourcing and merchandising of Incense-cedar into a variety of products to meet the growing market needs for cedar pencil slats and other cedar building materials.  Eventually P&M operated 5 sawmills and related remanufacturing operations throughout California and Oregon.  In the early 1980’s P&M’s product ranges expanded to include CedarPro® siding and decking, this innovation introduced a branded marketing approach with premium product quality standards and performance to a market segment traditionally traded as simple commodities under very general industry grade rules.

Also in 1969, CalCedar introduced the California Cedar Firelog to the marketplace.  Later renamed as Duraflame®, this first ever wood-wax blend extruded firelog was developed to make the best possible use of cedar waste from slat production thus inventing a whole new category of consumer hearth product.  The company’s technical expertise in manufacturing, product formulation and quality supported the continual growth and development of the manufactured firelog category.  First under Michael’s, then Philip’s leadership Duraflame® built it’s position as the firelog market and brand leader.

By the mid 1990’s, California Cedar Products Company, P&M and to some extent Duraflame began to face a series of challenges due to changing competitive and regulatory environments.  Increased environmental activism and new restrictions on West Coast timber harvesting lead to declining Incense-cedar supplies and higher rates of raw material cost inflation.  These forces coupled with increasing global competition in the pencil industry and pencil slat business as new Asian producers introduced cheaper substitute products, often from unsustainably harvested wood species.  Meanwhile both the pencil manufacturing customers and retailers of office, school and art supplies experienced an increasing rate of consolidation and concentration.  As a result the company’s core wood slat business came under increasing pressure soon after the death of the family and company patriarch, thus setting the stage for important industry and company structural and marketing focus changes over the following decade and beyond.

One important innovation during this period was CalCedar’s introduction of the world’s first FSC Certified pencil slats within our Incense-cedar product line. Given increasing public concerns about global forest management practices and our own commitment to supporting sustainable and environmentally sound forestry of our timber suppliers, the company dedicated itself to offering and promoting an increased adoption of third party forest and supply chain certification within both our company’s product range and within the Pencil Industry as a whole. The company subsequently introduced ForestChoice®, the world’s first brand of Certified Wood pencils, and today offers a broad range and ever increasing proportion of our sales in certified slat products which are actively promoted to the industry, the trade and end consumers.

In 1999 Cal Cedar acquired the slat production assets of a key competitor, Hudson I.C.S. (a former subsidiary of Berol Corporation, the successor to Eagle Pencil company), gaining access to additional market share and use of their EcoSlat® brand of slats made from species other than Incense-cedar. Then in 2000, the P&M sawmill and lumber operations were reintegrated into California Cedar Products Company to further improve cost efficiencies.

At this time members of the 3rd generation of the Berolzheimer family assumed leadership at CalCedar and within just a few years also at Duraflame.  These transitions lead to a significant re-evaluation of the various businesses and restructuring of the company’s global supply chain and manufacturing operations over the next several years.  Ultimately, the decision to close U.S. based pencil slat manufacturing in Stockton, CA in favor of a new facility located in Tianjin, China.  In June 2001, Tianjin Custom Wood Processing, Co. Ltd, a wholly owned subsidiary of CalCedar (which formerly produced Basswood window slats for P&M), processed its first CalCedar® brand Incense-cedar and EcoSlat® Basswood pencil slats in China.  By April 2002 all pencil slat production had been transferred from California to China initiating a new era of global manufacturing strategy for the company.

Subsequently the remaining Stockton, CA firelog manufacturing operations and all remaining administrative and technical support for the firelog business were transferred from CalCedar to the Duraflame organization.  This enabled both the slat and firelog business segments to focus independent resources on their respective markets.  Duraflame now operates as a fully independent company within the Berolzheimer family ownership group, and continues to innovate new products including entry into firestarters, charcoal, matches and other heating and cooking fuels and related products.  Meanwhile CalCedar has continued to evolve over the past 20 years with some of the following key developments:

  • In 2008 the old Incense Cedar Institute Pencil website established in the mid 1990s was re-launched as Pencils.com. An e-commerce store and online Pencil Community, Pencils.com was designed to further expand awareness of wood cased pencils and build a following among pencil enthusiasts.  During this period, the Palomino graphite pencil range began to develop a following among fans of the discontinued but well loved Blackwing 602 pencil.
  • Responding to growing interest among enthusiasts in Palomino pencils and repeated requests for the revival of the Blackwing pencil, Cal Cedar secures the rights to the Blackwing brand name and re-introduces Blackwing pencils in the fall of 2010.  Marketing of the product focuses on use of the latest social networking and promotional tools and the broad range of creative users and it’s many famous users.
  • In Fall 2011 the company introduced a new stylish notebook, sketchbook and journal range.
  • Responding to ongoing pressures on Cedar, Basswood and world wood supplies for other pencil wood species, in Fall 2011, after over a year of development and testing with our supplier and customers, CalCedar introduced the new Ecoslat® Pacific Albus® pencil slat range to growing adoption and interest among customers.  This is a 100% FSC certified wood produced from a series of specialized hybrid poplar clones in a short rotation plantation in Oregon.
  • In July of 2015, Blackwing launches it’s “Volumes” program, with a limited edition run of pencils that pay tribute to Bob Dylan’s iconic performance at the 1965 Newport Folk Festival. The pencil has the same sunburst finish as the Fender Stratocaster guitar that Dylan played that night. The Volumes program quickly grows to over 5,000 subscribers and hundreds of retail stores across the U.S.
  • In 2017, Cal Cedar celebrates it’s 100th anniversary with several festivities and educational workshops to honor its long time customers and heritage.
  • In 2019, Cal Cedar makes the strategic decision to shift focus away from slat manufacturing toward the rapidly growing Blackwing lifestyle brand, now one of the top selling cedar pencil brands in the United States.
  • In 2022, Blackwing introduces a custom product program that quickly leads to collaborations with the likes of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, Obey Giant, Delta Airlines, Adobe and many others.
  • In February of 2024, the Wall Street Journal produces a short film telling the Blackwing story, introducing Blackwing pencils to tens of thousands of new customers.
  • As of July 2024, Blackwing products have been sold in nearly1,500 retail stores across the U.S. and Canada, and in 14 countries worldwide while collaborating on projects for such cultural icons as John Lennon and Paul McCartney, John Steinbeck, Corita Kent and Joe DiMaggio.