The Amazing Eraser

Imagine this: It’s the year 1625. You’re writing a letter to a friend. But then . . . oops! You make a mistake. You head to the kitchen and tear off a chunk of old, stale bread. But why?

People have been using erasers to fix their mistakes for hundreds of years. But early erasers were very different from today’s: You could eat them! In the 1600s, people rubbed crumbs from stale bread on paper to fix an “oops.” 

Around 1770, a man in England accidentally grabbed a piece of rubber to erase his writing. The rubber worked a lot better than breadcrumbs. People started selling erasers made of this material. 

Then, in 1858, an inventor wanted to make erasers easier to use. He glued a small rubber eraser to the end of a pencil. Writing and erasing could now both be done with one simple tool!

Today erasers come in many shapes, colors, and sizes. There are scented erasers that smell like strawberry, chocolate,  bubble gum, and more. There are erasers shaped like animals, astronauts, and food. Some even glow in the dark. 

Many modern erasers also include a special ingredient: a rock from volcanoes! It helps lift pencil marks from the page. 

So the next time you grab your favorite eraser, just be glad it isn’t made from bread!