Opie Taylor, Mongol user

[“Opie’s Ill-Gotten Gain,” The Andy Griffith Show, November 18, 1963. Click for a larger view.]

Opie Taylor (Ronny Howard, not yet a Ron) is doing his math homework with a Mongol pencil. This episode’s title might lead you to suspect that the ill-gotten gain is the Mongol itself — it’s a fine pencil for a young ’un, mighty fine. Did Opie steal that Mongol from Walker’s Drug Store? Or from a classmate? No. The Mongol is not the ill-gotten gain. The ill-gotten gain is the new bicycle that Pa will give Opie as a reward for straight As. Why ill-gotten? Because Miss Crump wrote the wrong grades on Opie’s report card. WTF, Crump! Opie in fact has an F in math. And a new bicycle. And a Mongol, which did nothing to help him with his math.

The Mongol was the pencil of my childhood too. It’s still my favorite all-around pencil. It’s a fine pencil. Mighty fine.

Related reading
All OCA Mongol posts (Pinboard)