Ticonderoga #2

Granted, this post is a little early as National Pencil Day is not celebrated until March 30th, but pencils in general got a shout out on the morning news and I thought I would go with it.  The discussion this morning was actually centered around the mixed reviews of taking the SAT College Entrance exam digitally.  It seems some members of the Class of 25, find entering their answers on an IPad difficult.  Wait, what?  My grand kids were swiping before their first birthday!  Right or wrong?  Who knows, but it is a topic for another day as today is Pre-National Pencil Day.  The panelists then recalled the challenges of using a pencil to fill the proper little answer bubble completely with a #2 pencil.  They were all encouraged to use Ticonderoga #2 pencils.  There were never enough to go around to those who failed to bring one to the test as per-instructed.  

I laughed at the memories this conversation conjured around pencils in my life.  Yes, I know, pencil memories?

Our childhood was filled with a lot of things but one of the big unspoken life lessons was always "maintain control."  Although the word control was not used, it was demonstrated in our daily life.  The best illustration can be found in the almost weekly/monthly cry that went through the house - "Who took my pencils?  I don't have much to call my own and now you take my pencils too?"  We would quickly survey the usual "writing" areas (mine was the window sill in the dining room even though there was always a little kids table close by).  I think I usually had the pencils, but we would all look out of fear that this outburst would escalate.  It just depended on how much control was needed or lacking that day.  

I really don't know now why she always needed pencils.  I just remember my mom sitting at my dad's desk which was strategically located to allow her plea for the pencils to be heard in every corner of the house.  Was it to write on the budget envelopes, adjust the grocery list, or to maintain a pristine check register?  Those were all areas of control in her life and evidently the pencil was her safe writing instrument. I should have helped everyone out and heeded the cry.  I was just one of those kids.

Jimmy Hart also comes to mind when I think about pencils.  Jimmy was in my third grade class at a time when we were still more trusted with a "lead" pencil rather than a ballpoint pen.  All of us except Jimmy.  Jimmy would chase kids trying to poke them with his pencil.  I didn't know then why Jimmy was hell bent on poking people with his pencil and I certainly can't find an explanation as I think of it now.  I just remember running or ducking whenever possible because we all believed we would die of lead poisoning, immediately, right there in school, if he did indeed get us.  They were called lead pencils after all and lead poisoning was a thing.  Little did I know that Ticonderoga has used graphite, not lead, for many years.  Also, I believe death by lead poisoning is a very long process.  It is also worth noting Jimmy Hart has no face in my memory - he's just an unkempt boy running around with his combat weapon of choice.  I wonder if he matured, got help, or is still out there with some sort of weapon?  I bothers me there is not a face in the memory!

As an adult, I have shopped for endless school supplies, exactly as defined by the district and the current year teacher.  The one item that is listed at the top each year?  #2 pencils.  Over the years that coveted first spot morphed into "Ticonderoga #2."  Not just any #2 pencil and god forbid not a Ticonderoga #1,  Just stick to the list.  The vast pencil research performed this morning, before getting all of this off my chest, reveals why a Ticonderoga #2 is important and the favorite for the schools.

• A Ticonderoga #2 can write 45,000 words.  Yes!  An unfathomable 45,000 (no wonder my mom wanted to hold on to her prized-possession)
• T#2 require less sharpening and make fewer shards, when sharpening is needed, due to superior graphite.
• T#2 include a well-developed eraser.  It is harder to break and it doesn't leave a lot of eraser dust.
• A T#2 is coated in a hard covering to prevent slivers and help reduce breakage.  

Who knew I had this much to say on pencils?  Certainly not me.  I do think it would be nice on this Pre-National Pencil Day to acknowledge the huge contribution of the Dixon Ticonderoga Company who conceived the idea of a pencil in 1812 in order to aid with the silliness around the use of quill pens as the most used writing implement.  Where's Jimmy Hart when you need him? If I could draw, I would include a cartoon of Jimmy running with a quill pen.