By
Mary
Bellis
Carving pumpkins has long been one
of the several ways in which Halloween is
celebrated and a variety of pocket pens and kitchen knives have long been
used to carve faces and other designs into pumpkins creating the familiar
Halloween Jack-O-Lanterns. However, inventors have patented dedicated tools
made solely for carving. In fact, inventor John Bardeen of Denver
believes that his father Paul Bardeen is behind the "development of intricately
carved pumpkin designs."
Both Bardeens are the inventors of
dedicated pumpkin carving kits that make carving very complex designs into
pumpkins a snap. Safety engineer and inventor, Paul Bardeen held carving parties in his Racine, Wisconsin, home and in the surrounding community
for many years until his death in 1983. After which his family decided
to turn their jack-o-lantern carving traditions into a family business with son
John patenting his own pumpkin carving kit.
John Bardeen's patented pumpkin carving
kits (an improvement over his father's original design) are manufactured
and sold by the family-owned company Pumpkin Masters, who have had to defend
against potential infringers. Recently, the Denver based Pumpkin
Masters filed a federal lawsuit against Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia
Inc. stating that Omnimedia marketed and sold pumpkin carving kits that
violated their patent**. Pumpkin Masters have also filed patent infringement
suits in the past against Kmart Corp. and Kraft General Foods Inc.
Bardeen's pumpkin carving kits include
specially designed cutting tools, design templates, and an instruction
booklet. The designs one can curve with these tools are very impressive.
Bardeen also holds a patent for a tool to carve pumpkins - U.S patent #4,841,638.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
(Extracts From United States
Patent # 4,828,114 for " Pumpkin carving kits " issued to; John P. Bardeen
on May 9, 1989.)
 USPTO
Patent Drawing*
The present invention is directed
to a pumpkin carving kit useful for carving decorative designs in the fleshy
shell of a pumpkin. The kit includes a combination of tools, decorative
patterns and an instruction book containing instructions that correlate
design features of the pattern to the cutting tools.
Carving pumpkins has long been one
of the several ways in which Halloween is celebrated. Traditionally, carving involves the removal of a portion of the pumpkin shell surrounding
the stem, removal of the seeds and fibers contained in the pumpkin and
carving humorous, grotesque or other decorative features in the pumpkin
shell by removing fleshy portions of the shell to obtain the desired appearance.
Internal illumination is then provided by a candle or by a battery operated
light. This illumination results in a glowing decorative pattern.
In the past, carving pumpkins was
typically accomplished using pocket knives, paring knives and the like.
Due to the size of these cutting instruments, though, the typical carver
was only able to obtain crude decorative features. Since the cutting knives
used in pumpkin carving are difficult to control, any attempt at carving
detailed, intricate design features usually met with failure since the
carver often unintentionally removed portions of the pumpkin shell, which
destroyed the design.
The development of intricately carved
pumpkin designs is believed to originated with Paul John Bardeen, the father
of the inventor of the present pumpkin carving kit. His innovation used
small hand-held saws and spiral drill bits to produce intricately and exotically
carved pumpkins. The present invention is directed to an improvement over
this early system, and the presentation of improved cutting tools and materials
in a kit form for carving pumpkins.
Next
page > The History of Halloween
*The drawings on this page are from
USPTO patents and do not represent the more complex packaging of the actual
products.
** Filed 10/24/02 |
