#2 yellow pencils

Following up on the recent post about vanished recent concepts such as “the den” in a house, consider the case of “#2 yellow pencils.” I only thought of them because I’m playing DJ Spooky at the moment and they show up in his lyrics at one point.

#2 yellow pencils used to be a pretty standard piece of academic equipment, needed to complete a number of tasks. But their functions have all been entirely replaced on line, as far as I know.

In fact, I think the last time I was asked to use a #2 yellow pencil was when I took the GRE’s in October 1989, in that primeval era when all standardized tests required you to fill in bubbles with a #2 pencil, whether yellow or not.

They were a pretty handsome artifact in their day. Few things would give you more of a sense of academic preparation than to get your hands on a whole box of unsharpened #2 pencils, shining in the light as you opened the box.

Other lyrics from that same DJ Spooky song:

“I’m seeing objects, objects…

I’m seeing objects, objects…”

The song is called “Objects Unknown.”