Why did people used to lick the tip of their pencil before they wrote?

Subject: Why did people used to lick the tip of their pencil before they wrote?

Date: Mon Oct 25 06:36:02 1999
Posted by jim brennan
Grade level: 7-9 School: bokarina primary school
City: sunshine coast State/Province: queensland Country: australia
Area of science: Science History
ID: 940847762.Sh

Message:


Did licking the tip of the pencil make it write more smoothly? Was this 
necessary? I've seen it in a lot of old movies. I assume this was 
dangerous if pencils were made of lead.

Re: Why did people used to lick the tip of their pencil before they wrote?

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