Pencil thereby pushing a new tip to the top. Invented by Harold Grossman for Empire Pencil Company in 1967 and subsequently improved upon by Arthur D. Little for Empire from 1969 through the early 1970s; the plastic pencil was commercialised by Empire as the "EPCON" Pencil. These pencils were co-extruded, extruding a plasticised graphite mix within a wood-composite core. Residual graphite from a pencil stick is not poisonous, and graphite is harmless if consumed. Although lead has not been used for writing since antiquity, lead poisoning from pencils was not uncommon. Until the middle of the 20th century the paint used
Lead-in Lead-in A lead-in is a short phrase, usually five words or less, that starts off a photo caption in a newspaper, high school yearbook, magazine or other publication. Lead-ins (a.k.a. "kickers") are used to catch the reader's attention and "lead in" to the main caption. These phrases widely range from common phrases to song lyrics, and are written appropriate to the subject matter of the photograph. Examples of lead-ins include the following: Editors and caption writers tend to "avoid" using clichés and obvious lead-ins (e.g., "Two heads better than one," "Whistle while you work," etc.); and also prefer varying lead-ins