Before erasers were invented, people used a rolled up piece of
white bread to erase graphite. Some artists still use bread
today to lighten charcoal or pastel marks. This changed when
Edward Naime, an English engineer invented the eraser in 1770.
The eraser is called a rubber in some places. The story is that
Naime grabbed some rubber instead of bread on accident to erase
something and realized its ability. For this reason it received
its name, because it could rub out pencil marks. It was the
first practical application found for the substance. Rubber,
like bread, was perishable and went bad over time. Charles
Goodyear invented the process of vulcanization in 1839 and made
rubber erasers common. Then in 1858, Hymen Lipman patented
attaching erasers to the ends of pencils. Later the patent was
revoked since it combined two things already invented instead of
inventing something new. Modern erasers come in all types of
colors and shapes. They are now made of rubber, vinyl, plastic,
gum, or other similar materia