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The Portuguese Pencil Factory Portugália was founded in 1907 in Vila do Conde and bought by Manuel Vieira Araújo after several twists of fortune. The factory was reborn as Viarco in 1936 in São João da Madeira. Using graphite, clay and cedar wood, it still produces 6.5 million pencils per year, ranging from graphite to colour and including some specific pencils for industry and trade that became traditional and are still well known: the two-coloured Olympic, Carpenter, Commercial, Industrial, Purple Copy or Pastel. The only Portuguese pencil factory, it has celebrated its 70th anniversary with an exclusive re-edition of products and historical pencil boxes for A Vida Portuguesa, specially dedicated to the several generations of students who have learnt to write and count using Viarco pencils.