The Christmas tree is the center of the decorations for Christmas. While the tree brings joy and beauty to the Christmas season, there are many problems associated with this Christmas tradition. Inventors are constantly coming up with new solutions to decorating the tree, watering the tree, and new kinds of Christmas trees.
So it seems that [...]

Thanksgiving is a holiday all about food. Many of the foods we eat at this massive meal have a convenience counter part that was invented by someone or even patented. Some of these foods like cranberry sauce in a can are now part of many people’s holiday traditions.

Cranberry Sauce
How many of us sit down for [...]

The Magic 8-Ball was inspired by fake seances. Mary Carter, a phony fortune teller, created a spirit writing device. Using a slate enclosed in a box, Carter could secretly write and pretend the spirits were communicating with the device. Her son, Alfred Carter, was amazed by the invention but wanted to make a device that [...]

The likeness of Santa Claus has been patented for use on everything from pasta to flashlights. There is even a design patent on just Santa’s foot. Below are some patents in honor of Santa Claus and Christmas.

Santa Shaped Pasta
Patent number: D333546
Filing date: Jun 21, 1991
Issue date: Mar 2, 1993
Assignees: Kraft General Foods, Inc.

Artificial Christmas trees first appeared in America during the late 19th century. German immigrants brought these new types of Christmas decorations with them. These early trees did not resemble live pine trees in the least. Instead, they were made of metal wires covered in feathers of turkeys, ostrich, swan or goose feathers. These feathers [...]

Stove Top Stuffing
U.S. Patent No 3,870,803 was issued to General Foods on March 11, 1975 for Instant Stuffing Mix. Ruth Siems, Anthony C. Capossela Jr., John F. Halligan and C. Robert Wyss are listed as the inventors. The patent was based on the correct size of the bread crumb for successful rehydration. A bread crumb [...]

Question from Christine G.:
I think the inventions where people try to explore “the other side” are pretty interesting – whether they’re a hoax or real or whatever – I just get a kick out of what different people come up with.
Anyway, I was googling around on the subject online, and I found some stuff about [...]

Believe it or not, there are numerous patents for the most popular device supposedly used to communicate with those in the spirit world. The device wasn’t really invented by any of the patent holders, instead it was refined. A Ouija board is used by putting your fingertips on the planchette or indicator and allowing the [...]

Patent #D490905 issued on June 1, 2004 for a Pig Swimming Pool.
The ornamental design for a pig swimming pool.

Patent #276,586 – Toy