
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: FRIDAY, June 25, 1993                   TAG: 9309240341
SECTION: EXTRA                    PAGE: 1   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: Almena Hughes
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Short

PENCIL THIS ONE IN

Back around 1564, when the pencil as we know it first came into being, its British inventors probably had no idea of the instrument's potential impact. Yet, here we are nearing the 21st century, with sales of pencils in the United States exceeding 2 billion annually.

Surveys find pencils are the number one choice for taking messages, making lists, doodling and - among wimps - doing the Sunday crossword puzzle. We also borrow, lose, chew on and stick behind our ears the cedar, graphite and rubber concoctions, which not coincidentally are often painted yellow.

It is written that during the Civil War, pencils were the writing instruments of choice, presumably because they more easily fit into a knapsack than a quill and inkwell. In current times, though, despite writing well upside down, pencils lost out to pressurized-ink pens for note taking in outer space. Something to do with graphite flaking in an enclosed space and the pull of gravity.

Which brings us to a newly discovered use for pencils that at the very least makes you wonder how people discover such things. The July issue of "Longevity" magazine features the editors' choices for the 20 best bodies in America. One of them belongs to 47-year-old actress Goldie Hawn, who the magazine says has a "gravity-defying behind" that can still pass "the pencil test." (If you can hold one between your thigh and cheek, you fail.) Now, Ann Landers' pencil test for needing a bra was one thing. (Come on, use your imagination.) But really , have we now hit bottom or what?

by CNB