Pencil Anecdote of the Day

Today, Gmail's usually-rubbish little targeted links thingy, in a sudden stroke of genius, directed me to this fantastic story in the Orlando Sentinel about the Cumberland Pencil Museum. As well as brightening my day and leading to a new resolution to visit said Pencil Museum when we go to the Lake District this summer, this provided me with a really groovy Pencil Anecdote to share with my beloved readers of my slightly-less-beloved blog! (Is there no end to the joy this little escapade provides?) Anyway, I suppose I should get on to the Pencil Anecdote - because let's face it, if I didn't you'd only skip ahead anyway, what with Pencil Anecdotes being so irresistably exciting and all. (I'm choosing to ignore the fact that most people will probably have read it already, as I so conveniently provided a link. Silly me.)

Pencils with a Point*

"During World War II, a small group of Cumberland pencil factory employees were enlisted to work on a top-secret project: They made special pencils to be delivered to Allied prisoners of war in Nazi POW camps.

Hidden under the ferrule -- the crimped metal tube that holds the eraser -- was a tiny but functional compass. Rolled tightly inside the pencil was a tissue-paper map to aid any prisoners able to escape.

Oh, and you could also write with it. It was a pencil, after all."

* Please note I accept no responsibility for that awful, awful pun. It was the subheading on the article in question, and any complaints about the quality of the pun should be directed to Mr John Kelly of the Washington Post, whoever he may be.