My sister and I share a distinct memory of visiting beach shops when we were kids. We’d run to the racks of personalized pens and magnets and keychains and tiny license plates to see if maybe, just maybe, THIS would be the store that had some item with either of our somewhat unusual names on it. There might occasionally be a Regina, or a Ginny, or a Jean, but alas, no Gina. Sam, Samantha, Sarah, but no Sally.
My smart grandmother (who often seemed to be in tune with the funny things that delight kids) bought us a treasured gift to put in our stockings one year: a pile of colorful pencils, all personalized with our first, middle, and last names! I made those pencils last for years, until a sharpening would finally start to whittle the “G” off my name.
So I can’t say it surprises me that such a simple thing as personalized pencils has become one of our best sellers! We’ve engraved everything from inside jokes and funny nicknames to stern warnings not to steal the teacher’s pencil. Pencils for school kids and pencils for weddings. Pencils for all the kids who will never find their name on a souvenir. Personalized pencils for everyone!