Off to the Races

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There’s an old joke about a farmer who advertised a rooster for sale for a million dollars.  When another farmer was later seen with that same rooster, he explained that he didn’t pay a million dollars - instead, he traded two hens worth half a million dollars each for it. 

Today’s pencil wasn’t like that, really, but Richard Vacca has had it on his display for quite some time.  The price had always been just a bit higher than what I could justify paying, so it wasn’t until the Baltimore show, when Richard needed some lead from my table, that I had enough hens to finally bring this rooster home:

“Horse pencil,” the tag read.  No markings, trademarks or anything to go with this one.  I got nothin’ except for an intriguing observation someone made when they noticed this unusual item being shown off: maybe it isn’t supposed to be a horse at all.  Notice the sticker on the side?

A horse might seem random in connection with Washington, DC, but a donkey would make some sense – particularly if there’s a matching blue pencil out there with an elephant clinging to its barrel.

We’ll see what surfaces in the future.  If this is supposed to be a donkey, it’s the worst depiction of one I think I’ve seen – it looks a lot more like a giraffe than a donkey (or a horse, for that matter).   Imagine what that elephant will look like if the same designer depicted it!