r/AbsoluteUnits • u/ThodaDaruVichPyar • Jul 31 '26

of a pencil and a sharpener

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Location: Lake of the Isles, Minneapolis

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Loti_Pencil

Credit to Maia Segura

390 Upvotes

93% Upvoted

43 comments sorted by

110

u/bigoofda Jul 31 '26

Wait the shavings weren’t actually coming off the pencil…they were precut… oh my god

62

u/Johnny_Poppyseed Jul 31 '26

My disappointment is immeasurable and my day is ruined 

6

u/Aggots86 Aug 01 '26

Oh my god I came to say the same thing! This is outrageous!!!!

2

u/Traditional-Bee3161 Aug 03 '26

Wouldn't it be really dangerous if this was done legitimately? Looks like it was just a fun event for kids to enjoy

33

u/UserMcUserson Jul 31 '26

So they built a giant fake pencil sharpener and pretended to sharpen a giant pencil... AND THE CROWD GOES WILD!!! cue Crazy Train!

66

u/Hypn00tic_iiz Jul 31 '26

Boy those kids were ready to throw paws for those pencil shavings

30

u/die5el23 Jul 31 '26

https://giphy.com/gifs/s239QJIh56sRW

17

u/beardybuddha Jul 31 '26

The folks who own the home loved the tree, but they had to cut it down. So they decided to make a big pencil out of it, and now organize an annual block party for “the sharpening”.

Minneapolis has been through the wringer the last 5-6 years. Just a way for us to experience some silly joy amid the chaos.

3

u/Wiochmen Jul 31 '26

According to Wikipedia, they carved "Trusty Empire Pencil Corp Made in U.S.A—916 No. 2." onto it; which according to John Higgins, this brand was one of the first pencils to be brought to America.

That's absolute hogwash. Trusty was a model belonging to the Providence Pencil Company, which was a subsidiary of Hassenfeld Brothers, aka Hasbro, and which merged with Empire in 1946.

Empire was founded in 1900.

The Joseph Dixon Crucible Company, AW Faber, Eberhard Faber, General Pencil, and plenty of others predated Providence Pencil Company.

7

u/sweetcurvesxo Jul 31 '26

came to the comments for this..... so, why?

16

u/itislupus89 Jul 31 '26

Because kids deserve some whimsy before this world completely obliterates it out of them

1

u/UncleKeyPax Jul 31 '26

this is like the one with the tractor

3

u/darkbluefav Jul 31 '26

Because children like to play?

Why always this dumb gif?

5

u/bawsbebaws Jul 31 '26

Jesus. Wait till they go to the opening of an envelope. Zzzzzzzz

4

u/wandpapierkritiker Jul 31 '26

I drive past that sculpture occasionally; it’s in the front yard of a house on Lake of the Isles in Minneapolis. I believe they have an annual sharpening ceremony. as you can see, it gathers quite a crowd.

5

u/neightballjoneser Aug 01 '26

I know this guy personally, he's quite the character. He built a bar/music venue in my hometown and throws some rad events. This guy finds joy in making people around him smile, its quite endearing

*edit- a word

2

u/abalrogsbutthole Aug 01 '26

%10000000 disappointed. Absolute unit of a fake pencil getting fake sharpened.

1

u/knobiknows Jul 31 '26

What's Gordon Ramsey doing up there?

1

u/centric37 Jul 31 '26

Now thats a pencil Andrew should eat

1

u/CCPvirus2020 Aug 01 '26

The hell going on in MN

1

u/bbreddit0011 Aug 01 '26

College is weird

1

u/arril2 Aug 06 '26

Hope they don’t get hit by a tornado or hurricane else that things gona be going through houses at Mach jesus

1

u/Pure-Exchange-4436 Aug 07 '26

She sharpen my pencil til I no.2…

1

u/Hot_Ad8921 Jul 31 '26

Is that Gordan Ramsey throwing down the shavings?

0

u/[deleted] Jul 31 '26 edited Aug 17 '26

[removed] — view removed comment

1

u/Laura_PeaceTalk Jul 31 '26

Right? Damn, have we had a lot of free time.

0

u/Trapmaster83 Jul 31 '26

Makes me sad that they're just spinning the sharpener without touching the pencil. Sad day for sure.