Page 94 - How to Develop A SUPER-POWER MEMORY

98 Some Pegs for Emergencies
had a list of ten pegs to which to associate any other ten
objects. But, it is a bit difficult to memorize ten completely
unassociated items to use for a peg list; and, in this case,
would hardly be worth the trouble.
However, as I mention elsewhere in the book, it was
Simonides who first used the rooms of his house, and the
furniture in the rooms as a peg list. And, this idea will work
just as well today, except that it is a bit limited. Also there
is too much sameness in pieces of furniture to make a use-
ful list. There is the possibility of becoming confused, and,
it would take time to know which number each piece repre-
sented.
There have been a great many ideas thought up on how
to devise peg lists. I've heard of one man who used twenty-
six women that he knew, whose names each began with a
different letter of the alphabet. This gave him a list of
twenty-six pegs. If he wanted to remember that, say, type-
writer, was #16, he would associate typewriter to Pauline.
This will work; but again—too much sameness; each peg
must create a distinctly different picture in your mind if it
is to work properly.
There are some ideas besides the phonetic alphabet
which can be used just as well, except that they are limited
in length. For instance, I have had occasion to need a few
short peg lists to help me recall up to twenty or twenty-six
items. Well, there are two methods that I've used quite
often. The first is to use the twenty-six letters of the alpha-
bet. All you have to do is to make up a word for each letter
which sounds like the letter itself. Look at this list:—

A — ape N — hen
B — bean O — eau (water)
C — sea P — pea
D — dean Q — cute
E — eel R — hour (clock)