Theory 23… The Pumpkin Carving Technology Theory

This Halloween marks the first time in several years that I’ve actually carved a pumpkin…. actually I’ve done two just in the past few days. I’ve got to say… I’m really impressed with the great advances that have been made in pumpkin carving technology. My theory is there must be good money in pumpkins… because there always seem to be new and exciting pumpkin carving tools hitting the market.

I’m just old enough to remember the primitive days when pumpkin carving was done with a steak knife. It was far too dangerous an activity for any kid under the age of 12. Sometime in the mid-eighties (probably about the time I was 10 years old) some genius invented the dull-edge-orange-handled pumpkin carver (was that his biography listed in the Forbes 500 last month?). I still swear to this day the first time I ever saw the infamous dull-edge pumpkin carver was on a Saturday afternoon infomercial. I remember how AWESOME it was to use that pumpkin carver… Mom and Dad didn’t even have to help! Up until that point in my life… coloring Easter Eggs was always more fun then carving pumpkins… That year Halloween eclipsed Easter in coolness for the first time!

So this past week my friend brought up his kids we all sat down and started carving out our pumpkins. All the sudden somebody pulled out a whole kit of carving tools and some nifty carving templates. AWESOME! For the next hour I was busy carving out a Jack Sparrowesque skeleton with a wicked cool carving tool about the size of a Q-tip. Just call me Picasso of the Pumpkin patch. We’ve sure come a long way since those steak knives!