How things have changed: Pumpkin carving then, and now.

Last night, we watched “It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown”, a movie made in the 1960s. Linus insists that the Great Pumpkin will arise out of the pumpkin patch and bring toys to all good kids. While he and Sally are waiting around in the pumpkin patch, the other kids are having a fun Halloween party.

While at this party, Lucy carves a pumpkin. Just look at her carving tool!

Lucy carving her pumpkin

What’s the first thing you think of? “Be careful with that big knife!!!”? No parent today would let their kid near that carving knife, would they? So, in these days of Perpetual Safety Culture, this is what is sold as a “pumpkin-carving kit”.

Pathetic. This kit is totally pathetic! I should know, since I bought one once and tried to carve a thick pumpkin. The so-called “saws” are flimsy metal, no match for the meat of any pumpkin worth the name. They bend, and break, and are absolutely useless. In the name of “keeping kids safe”, the utensils provided are not even worth what you pay for them, which is not much.

But do today’s kids even do the carving at all? Actually, I don’t have kids, so I don’t know. Help me out here, followers!

And Happy Halloween to all!

7 thoughts on “How things have changed: Pumpkin carving then, and now.

  1. This, I can help with!

    Those kits are not really for hard-core carving; they’re like an accessory kit for carving, and assume store pumpkins.
    You chop the holes out with a knife, and get the basic cleaning done, and then use all the silly little tools, a grown up or someone with a lot of time and effort could get the fancy carving done.

    Usually, we carve pumpkins; didn’t, this year, and I’m not very fancy. Mostly the silly little saw gives the kids something to do while I get the big chunks cut out and help on the other kids’ stuff.

  2. D’Nanda Panda

    Hi and Happy All Hallows’ Eve to you RB, Foxfier, and KayofMT! So true re: carving Jack o’ Lanterns. Our kiddos carve with supervision/assistance here; I’ve seen stencils and colored pencils as kits, too. I admire the Lucy Van Pelt method: knife and newspapers on the floor.🐼

  3. accordion2ray

    Shades of Psycho. I think it might have been intentional. Charlie Brown TV audience is sophisticated. The soundtrack is jazz.

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