Schwabach
4.75"x3.25"x.5"

Anton Franz Mörtel founded his factory in 1870 and it is still owned by the Mörtel family. It began as a chalk factory outside of Nürnberg but then moved to Schwabach after WW II as their factory was destroyed during the war. They added industrial crayons and other dynamic products in the 60s. Oil pastels were developed in the 20s in Japan in reaction to the educational theorist Kanae Yamamoto's suggestions on the need for color and individual expression in the classroom. This suggestion did not go down well with the Japanese authorities as they preferred a tamer environment and stuck to colored pencils, which by the way, are a German invention.