Eraser

An eraser, called a rubber in British English, is used to remove pencil marks. Before erasers made of rubber, people rubbed out pencil with breadcrumbs, using moist bread pressed into a ball. In 1770 the English scientist Joseph Priestley noted that a piece of the new substance from South America, India rubber, was excellent for rubbing out pencil marks.^[1] The material was then named after the job. It is the only substance on Earth named after what it does to drawings.

The bread years

According to one story, an English engineer, Edward Nairne, picked up a piece of rubber by mistake around 1770 while reaching for his bread, and found that it worked better. Whether or not that is exactly how it happened, Nairne did sell rubber erasers soon after.^[2]

Bread is still used by some artists to lift charcoal and soft pencil gently from paper. Few of them eat it afterwards, which is the main difference between an art class and lunch.

How it works

An eraser works because its rubber is slightly stickier to graphite particles than paper is. As it is rubbed, it picks up the particles and crumbles away, taking them with it. An eraser is therefore designed to wear out, and every rubber crumb on a desk contains a small piece of a mistake.

• Before 1770: bread.
• After 1770: rubber.
• In between: whatever was nearest.

See also

• Drawer – where it is usually lost
• Pink – a traditional colour for it
• Toaster – another use of bread
• Crossword – what erasers are mostly for

References

1. Crumb, C. (1770/1998). Before Rubber. Fictional reprint.
2. Nairne, E. (2003 edition). “I Meant to Pick Up the Bread”. Anecdote.
3. Smudge, S. (2011). A Small Piece of a Mistake. Desk Books.