Greetings,

The science fiction short story that you are looking for is: "Or all the seas with oysters" by Avram Davidson (1923-1993), originally published in Galaxy magazine in 1958. It won the Hugo Award for best SF story.

PJ

> > No, no, it wasn't pens, was it? Wasn't it safety pins that turned into clothes hangers?
> >
> > No, really - it was from the SF (ahem, "science fiction") story with the two guys that had the bicycle shop, the bike that repaired itself, and the metamorphosizing household objects, right? Wasn't it safety pins? I only half-remember it from somewhere. Nuts.
> >
> > -Fob"will be trying to remember title, author, and where she read this all day now"ulis
>
> Heh, I wouldn't doubt that there's some SF story somewhere involving the transformation of small metal objects into coat hangers, but while trying to pinpoint a source for this "theory" with a Google search, I came across this quote from a rec.humor.funny post [linked below]:
>
> "[T]he larval form of the coat hanger is the paper clip. It is a zoological curiosity that in this species both the larval and adult forms are sexually active."
>
> -- codeman"paper clips, safety pins, eh, close enough"38