Why don’t they seem to make, or at least widely sell, red lead pencils anymore?
I certain still have use for them. But I can’t find them anywhere now. Why not?
Thank you for the link, DrDeth:). But actually, I already assumed I could probably get it on line (although, I’ve heard that is not the most secure way of doing things).
But my question is more general than that, though. Why don’t they sell it anymore stores? In other words, what gives?
And thank you again, to DrDeth and all who reply:)
Are you searching dedicated office supply stores?
Check teacher supply stores, too.
I saw packages of 10 or 12 of them in some dollar store recently. They’re out there.
@Jim, Honestly, this is making me mad. If you can’t find red pencils where you are, and have to come here, reputably the most brainy of bbs’s ever, you do not deserve red pencils.
Art supply store
Crayola Colored Pencils, Style # 68-4012. Manufactured with recycled plastics and solar electricity, so you won’t be destroying the galaxy by buying them.
Moderator Note
If you have a problem with a poster, take it to the Pit. These types of comments have no place in GQ.
No warning issued, but don’t do this again.
I looked at Walmart & Target and the local $1 store, and nada, so the OP has a point. My SO sez they are at the art store.
I associate red pencils with grading and editing, much of which is now accomplished digitally. The rest of the story is probably simple supply/demand; brick and mortar retailers don’t sell a lot of them so they stop carrying them and opt to fill that space with better selling items. There was probably a time when you could buy a typewriter at Target or Walmart, too, but I doubt they stock them these days.
This. And you can have your choice of a kazillion shades of red.
In my experience, grading and editing are more often done with pen, not with pencil, and red pens are easily found.
Didn’t they go to purple ink to avoid labeling the precious little darlings with the stigma of red?
Or was that just a fad I heard about in the news in 1999?
My principal tried to get us to do it, but I said that the parents who were upset about all the red on the math papers would be just as upset about all the purple or green or whatever on the papers. Fewer mistakes, fewer colored marks.
But I know a lot of teachers who switched.
I was told in an education class not to use red ink for grading, because students dread red ink. Of course, given that the reason they dread red ink is because it’s used for grading, I think it’s a load of hogwash.
Red also used to be used for a lot of office work, now done on computers. Ink for account books, pencils for spreadsheets, where you had to erase and correct the numbers you were working on.
And my boss (who had a wicked sense of humour) explained to me that if you wanted to prank an auditor, you just pulled out your green pen…
When the NSA finds out you are buying red pencils, woe is you. 