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Patrick M. Torre
This article was developed by the Kentucky Bar Association (KBA) Intellectual Property (IP) Section. To learn more about the KBA IP Section, visit https://www.kybar.org/page/intellectualproperty.
Halloween and Kentucky Intellectual Property Month coincide in October, and to celebrate here are a few Halloween-themed patents and inventions for your entertainment.
The Ouija board, or “talking board” as it was called by spiritualists of the day, is a game purporting to allow a player to receive communications from the dearly departed. The first Ouija board patent, US Patent No. 446,054 for “Toy or Game,” issued in 1891. Then as now, utility of an invention had to be established as a prerequisite to obtaining a patent and the applicants knew they would have to demonstrate that the board worked. The chief patent examiner purportedly stated that he would allow the patent application to proceed if the Ouija board could accurately spell his name which was supposedly unknown to the applicants. According to lore, in what may have been the most unique in-person interview of a patent examiner on record the parties sat down with the board and reached out to the great beyond, the board duly spelled out the examiner’s name, and the amazed examiner allowed the claims of the application. The fact that one of the applicants was also a patent agent or attorney who possibly had familiarity with the examiners was evidently not raised.
Back in the day, premature burial was apparently a concern - not the most ringing of endorsements of the medical professionals and morticians of the time. To address that problem, US Patent No. 465,548 issued in 1891 for “Annunciator for the Supposed Dead” describing to a coffin or receptacle for a body having a cylindrical tube extending upwardly above ground, through which a wire was passed, connected to an alarm and a valve at one end and to a finger of the coffin’s resident at the other. If the “supposed dead” were to suddenly revive, the movement of the connected finger would complete a circuit causing the “annunciator” to sound an alarm, and also open a valve to allow airflow into the coffin. The risk of a false alarm sounded by the recently raised undead to gain their release from the coffin was not addressed.
Halloween is of course a time when ghouls, ghosts, and monsters of all stripes emerge to prey on the living, or at least to harass them for candy. One would not want to risk being unprepared and unarmed for the arrival of the armies of the undead. Addressing this problem, see US Patent No. 5,109,896 for “Machine for Sharpening Wooden Stake,” issued in 1992. By the described machine resembling an outsized pencil sharpener, the sharpening of stakes for personal defense against vampires and other fiends suffering from wood allergies is conveniently automated.
Carving pumpkins into jack-o-lanterns is a beloved tradition deriving from Irish folklore and the Celtic festival of Samhain when carved vegetables with lit candles inside were placed on stoops on All-Hallows Eve (contracted now to Hallowe’en or Halloween) for protection from wandering evil spirits. Of course hand carving is an option. However, if protection from evil spirits is needed and time is not a factor, see US Patent No. 2,096,507 for “Forming Configurations on Natural Growths,” issued in 1936. The patent describes a mold (Figure 1) including an interior design or pattern desired to be placed on the pumpkin exterior. A pumpkin or other gourd is placed in the mold and allowed to grow. Once the pumpkin has grown to a sufficient size (Figure 4) the mold is removed, revealing a decoration with no carving skill required (Figure 5). Presumably the interior has to be scooped out and a light added for full compliance with all requirements for spirit warding.
Although it may not have originally been intended as a Halloween decoration, see US Patent No. 112,550 issued in 1871 for “Creeping Doll,” showing this terrifying toy. Nightmares included.
Finally, October 30 is National Candy Corn Day in the US and any discussion of Halloween-themed inventions would be incomplete without mention of that most polarizing of Halloween traditions. Candy corn is loved by many, while others consider it to be corn kernel-shaped sadness and a criminal misuse of sugar. Both sides defend their position vigorously.
The true origins of candy corn are something of a mystery, but one story is that George Renninger of the Wunderle Candy Co. of Philadelphia invented the confection in the 1880’s. The white, orange, and yellow tri-colored candy (made to evoke fall harvest colors and the general appearance of a corn kernel) was revolutionary in its day as most candy was made by hand at the time and a multi-colored candy was difficult to produce commercially. Renninger developed a method of making the candy by layering differently-colored ingredients into a single mold. The product gained popularity when the Herman Goelitz Candy Co. (now Jelly Belly® Candy Co.) began manufacturing and selling it a decade later, and became associated with Halloween in the 1950s. Various alternative flavors/themes of candy corn have been introduced over the years, including peppermint, pumpkin spice, red velvet cake, fruit punch, and (not misprints) hot dog, hamburger and turkey dinner + apple pie and coffee.
The National Confectioner’s Association estimates that more than 35 million pounds of candy corn are sold each year. According to a 2021 survey of candy corn aficionados conducted by the Association, approximately 52% of those surveyed eat the entire candy corn kernel at once while approximately 31% eat the white end first. Approximately 17% (we’ll call them chaos agents) eat the yellow end first.
Happy Halloween!
