Ink colours in the past.

You are pulling our legs right?

--
Best regards,
Free Citizen
Rambling Snailer

"Dave" wrote in message
...
In article ,
Garglemonster wrote:

Free I haven't seen a purple colour pencil before but I have seen
Free double coloured leads. Red on one end and blue on the
Free other. How they were used I do not know.

probably for editing and accounting.

Or for use with one of those special double-sided tables, the so-called
"Sandwich Table" of the 1880's and '90's. The writing surface of the
upper table faced downward, parallel to the ordinary-looking lower
table. With such a table, you could write with both ends of a pencil at
once - the inter-table height was adjustable with a screw mechanism to
accomodate longer and shorter pencils.

For a while in the mid to late 1890's, there was a fad for writing on
the two tables with two different colours - hence the red/blue pencil.

These "Sandwich tables" were especially popular in Sweden, where they
were of course known as the "Smorgasbord". (That name, as we know, came
into use in a more general way later on, long after the special writing
tables were forgotten. This also explains the origin of the quaint
Swedish tradition of children not being allowed to sit at the dinner
table unless they are carrying a pencil sharpened at both ends.)

David

On Thu, 26 Aug 2004 11:06:14 +0800, "Free Citizen"
wrote:

I haven't seen a purple colour pencil before but I have seen double coloured
leads. Red on one end and blue on the other. How they were used I do not
know.

In school! We used them for correcting papers. I think they're still
sold.

Just a quick note. If the two color pencil has a black body with one
red and one blue twist tip on each end and is stamped Skillcraft,
it's a standadrd military issue pencil. Most often used on the flight
line by an individual called a "Crew Chief". Aircraft maintenance
check lists have red check items that mean the plane stays on the
ground till they get fixed.


On Fri, 27 Aug 2004 23:18:44 GMT, R. Paul Martin
wrote:

On Thu, 26 Aug 2004 11:06:14 +0800, "Free Citizen"
wrote:

I haven't seen a purple colour pencil before but I have seen double coloured
leads. Red on one end and blue on the other. How they were used I do not
know.

In school! We used them for correcting papers. I think they're still
sold.

Really? I have seen those for quite sometime now.

--
Best regards,
Free Citizen
Rambling Snailer

"R. Paul Martin" wrote in message
news
On Thu, 26 Aug 2004 11:06:14 +0800, "Free Citizen"
wrote:

I haven't seen a purple colour pencil before but I have seen double
coloured
leads. Red on one end and blue on the other. How they were used I do not
know.

In school! We used them for correcting papers. I think they're still
sold.

that is interesting. I always thought they were used either by accountants
or for stock take.

--
Best regards,
Free Citizen
Rambling Snailer

"radarman" wrote in message
...
Just a quick note. If the two color pencil has a black body with one
red and one blue twist tip on each end and is stamped Skillcraft,
it's a standadrd military issue pencil. Most often used on the flight
line by an individual called a "Crew Chief". Aircraft maintenance
check lists have red check items that mean the plane stays on the
ground till they get fixed.


On Fri, 27 Aug 2004 23:18:44 GMT, R. Paul Martin
wrote:

On Thu, 26 Aug 2004 11:06:14 +0800, "Free Citizen"
wrote:

I haven't seen a purple colour pencil before but I have seen double
coloured
leads. Red on one end and blue on the other. How they were used I do not
know.

In school! We used them for correcting papers. I think they're still
sold.

nt

"Free Citizen" wrote in message
...
Really? I have seen those for quite sometime now.

--
Best regards,
Free Citizen
Rambling Snailer

"R. Paul Martin" wrote in message
news
On Thu, 26 Aug 2004 11:06:14 +0800, "Free Citizen"
wrote:

I haven't seen a purple colour pencil before but I have seen double
coloured
leads. Red on one end and blue on the other. How they were used I do not
know.

In school! We used them for correcting papers. I think they're still
sold.

On Wed, 25 Aug 2004 17:28:03 -0400, "kmk" wrote:

If thirty years ago is the past. When I attended University in Germany green
ink was reserved for the professors.


Regards

Kurt



Hmm. In Agatha Christie's "Hickory Dickory Death" much of the
novel took place in a boarding school for college students. One of
the students used green ink because he liked to **** people off.
He spoke of special ordering purple.

Part of the plot involved pranks played on the students, including
stealing the green ink and soaking another students notebook with it.
So ink played a significant if minor role. One of the students also
reffered to Quink ( "I've run out of Quink").