Sandburg's Pencils
Mr. Sandburg preferred pencils over other writing implements. He sharpened them with his knife and used them to the very stub. Sandburg wrote an ode to the pencil, published posthumously by the University of Illinois Press:

Pencils are to hold when you write.
Pencils come loose unless you hold them.
One pencil writes many thousand words, if
you know the words.
Pencils too pointed break their points and
then laugh at you.
Blunt pencils write big long words for you
even if the words mean nothing.
Proud pencils get furious waiting to be sharpened.
Long pencils say, “I will write and I forget and
leave it to the paper to remember.”
Pencils in pockets and boxes shove each other and
nearly come to fighting.
They wait to be found before they write again—the
lost pencils
Carl Sandburg, Poems for Children Nowhere Near Old Enough to Vote, 1999
Metal, wall paper. H 9.9, Dia 5.4 cm
Carl Sandburg Home National Historic Site, CARL 348

Pencil
Eagle Pencil Company
Carl Sandburg's poems were sometimes typed on newsprint paper or handwritten in his round, strong, readable script. He preferred pencils over other writing implements. They were easy to carry and sharpen with a pocketknife that he always carried.
Wood. L 15.0, Dia 0.8 cm
Carl Sandburg Home National Historic Site, CARL 59688

Pencil
Blaisdell
Wood, paper, wax. L 17.5, Dia 0.8 cm
Carl Sandburg Home National Historic Site, CARL 59689

Pencil
Eagle Pencil Company
Wood, wax. L 15.0, Dia 0.7 cm
Carl Sandburg Home National Historic Site, CARL 59690