Pencil

Name/Title

Pencil

Entry/Object ID

2012.68.7

Description

Red pencil, with an eraser, that has never been sharpened. Printed on the side is an advertisement for a business -- "House of Lloyd Toys & Gifts, Margaret Rooney, (802) 479-3196, 30 Bailey St., Barre, Vt 05641."

Context

This pencil apparently promoted a home-business operated by Margaret Rooney, who likely changed her name to Margaret Ferguson after a divorce. A feature article about her can be found in the Times Argus from 2018 at https://www.timesargus.com/news/margaret-ferguson-named-home-based-business-champion/article_57042487-5447-540e-949a-258daa65be21.html Her home business at one point was House of Lloyd gifts, a company started by Harry J. Lloyd (1926-1997) in Missouri. Below is an account of his business career from Wikapedia. "Harry Lloyd began his business career as a youth with a small fireworks stand in front of his house. Lloyd continued his fireworks business throughout his time in college and grew to dozens of fireworks stands by the end of the 1980s. Lloyd expanded his business to begin selling toys and gifts, and he founded and led the Grandview, Missouri based House of Lloyd as the gift business grew. House of Lloyd became a highly successful multi-national company in the gift industry that served more than 13 million customers. Lloyd's gift business grew rapidly through the 1980s via a large network of home demonstrators, featuring Christmas Around the World and Gifts by House of Lloyd. By 1989, House of Lloyd had $400 million in revenue, a sales force of 100,000 independent contractors, and saw itself as a $1 billion a year company in five years. The company had two large warehouses: a 699,452-square-foot (64,981.2 m2) facility on Grandview Road and a 524,800-square-foot (48,760 m2) facility on Botts Road. The company was sold in 1999 to an investment group headed by Joel Kier.[2] House of Lloyd eventually filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in January 2002."

Dimensions

Length

7-1/2 in

Diameter

3/8 in

Material

Wood, Metal, Rubber

Relationships

Related Person or Organization

Person or Organization

Shirley Campbell Prushko

Related Places

Place

City

Barre City

County

Washington County

State/Province

Vermont

Country

United States of America

Continent

North America