(RI photo)
A central Iowa man hopes to break the Guinness World Record for the largest pencil collection today.
Aaron Bartholmey of Colfax estimates he has about 70,000 pencils in his collection, which he’s been growing for 30 years. The current record sits at just over 24-thousand. He says he mostly collects wooden advertising pencils. “I love the history aspect of it, from the small businesses and the tiny little towns that are on some of them,” Bartholmey says. “World War Two there was just all of this patriotism and propaganda that was on the pencil, so you could just learn a lot about history by doing this.”
He says he started collecting pencils when he went to flea markets with his grandfather about 30 years ago. “My favorite pencils are the ones with with dates on them, because it helps you date the pencils,” he says. “There’s a lot that do that, from town celebrations to a lot of small towns would put out their yearly football or basketball schedule is printed on the pencil, and so there’s just a neat little glimpse of history there.”
Bartholmey will be holding a public counting for his pencil collection at the Colfax Historical Society beginning at 8 a.m. Saturday for his attempt to break the world record. He says fellow members of the American Pencil Collectors Society will be there to help.
(By Catherine Wheeler, Iowa Public Radio)