Topical Guide 80
Mark Dorset
Carpenter’s Pencil
Sometimes he would underline something with a flat red carpenter’s pencil.
Little Follies, “The Static of the Spheres”
A carpenter pencil (carpentry pencil, carpenter’s pencil) is a pencil that has a body with a rectangular or elliptical cross-section to prevent it from rolling away. Carpenter pencils are easier to grip than standard pencils, because they have a larger surface area. The non-round core allows thick or thin lines to be drawn by holding the pencil slightly rotated. Thin lines are required for high precision markings and are easy to erase, but thick markings are needed to mark on rough surfaces. The lead is strong to withstand the stress of marking on such surfaces. The pencil is robust to survive in a construction environment when carried together with heavy tools. The core is typically stronger than in other pencils. Carpenter pencils are used by builders because they can mark on surfaces like concrete or stone. This shape and lead density aid in marking legible lines with a straight edge that are clear and easy to follow with a saw blade. Carpenter pencils are typically manually sharpened with a knife, although special sharpeners can be used.
Wikipedia, “Carpenter Pencil”
Food: Onion Sandwiches
Gumma and I worked together on lunch. We made Guppa’s favorite, raw onion sandwiches, on toast, with butter.
Little Follies, “The Static of the Spheres”
In his letters to Lorna from the hospital [in France, during World War I], Herb began to devote more space to matters other than business, including personal matters:
A lot of the other guys complain about the food, but I’ve had worse. We generally have boiled potatoes and onions, and sometimes we have rice or stew. Breakfast might be just crackers and coffee, but it wasn’t many years ago that I didn’t have any breakfast. Lots of times, when I went to school, for lunch I would just take a potato. Sometimes I’d have an onion sandwich, which didn’t make me too popular with the other kids! I used to sell papers on the street and also a thing that my buddies and I called rat pie. We got these pies at a bakery so we could sell them, and we used to joke that they were made of rat meat. I think all of us thought it was probably true. If a rat pie got wet in the rain or if somebody dropped one on the pavement, I’d take it home, and we’d have that for dinner. Many nights we’d have just potatoes. So I don’t mind this food at all. In fact, sometimes when we have just bread and onions I make an onion sandwich and it reminds me of home. The truth is, I like onion sandwiches.
Herb ’n’ Lorna
[more to come on Thursday, September 2, 2021]
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