Friday, February 6, 2026

Question: How did people remove pencil marks before the rubber eraser?

Answer: In the absence of rubber erasers, which weren’t widely available until the 19th century, people often used bread to remove pencil marks. Thick, soft bread was excellent at picking up graphite from the paper. By simply rolling or pressing the bread over the unwanted pencil mark, the graphite adhered to the bread’s surface, leaving the paper clean.