Stationery has been produced in Zagreb since the start of the 20th century, when Slavoljub Penkala patented and started manufacturing the first mechanical pencil and fountain pen in a small industrial plant. Shortly afterwards, the first ink and chemical products factory began its operation.

The Penkala factory produced a variety of drawing and writing supplies, but it closed in the 1930s. Its range of products was later taken over by the Zagreb Pencil Factory, now known as ‘TOZ Penkala’. This company was founded in 1937 under the name ‘L. L. C. Hardmuth, Koh-i-Noor’, and specialized in the production of wooden pencils and pastels. Its product range expanded in the 1950s, and the company has been named ‘Grafos’ ever since.  

The company Günther Wagner, which manufactured ink and other office supplies, was established in the 1930s as a branch of the German company Pelikan. From the early 1950s, it operated under the name Karbon.

The packaging reflects the changes in the production of writing supplies. In the 1970s, fountain pens were modernized and increasingly filled with ink cartridges, with the use of ink from bottles becoming less common. Today, ballpoint pens have largely replaced traditional graphite pencils and fountain pens.