The Elvis Pumpkin Carving Contest

If you are a member of Elvis Insiders or have recently checked the news on Elvis.com, you know that EPE is sponsoring an Elvis-themed pumpkin carving contest.  You can carve your pumpkin, post a photo of it on the Elvis Facebook page, and maybe you’ll win $250 worth of merchandise from ShopElvis.com.

You may be surprised to know how popular Elvis pumpkin carving has been even prior to Graceland getting involved.  Elvisblog did a Halloween photo essay of Elvis pumpkins back in 2009.  I didn’t pick a winner at the time, but probably the best of the bunch was this:

You will notice a big difference between these two styles.  The pumpkin on the contest image is what I guess we would call the old-style carving where the knife cuts go all the way through and light from a candle shines out.  The other seems to be the popular style now where only darker, outer skin is carved out to create detailed designs.

Here’s an Elvis pumpkin we featured in 2010 that is a terrific example of a carved-through design.  This is impressive.

And here is a more recent discovery that shows an unmistakable image of Elvis using the outer skin cut out style.

Now, it seems we have reached a new level in pumpkin-carving technology or skill, or both.  It’s hard to believe the vivid images on these next two were achieved by just cutting away the orange outer skin.  Their creators are real artists.

And check out the level of detail on these three.  How do the carvers do it?  I would love to see these pumpkins in person.

And, finally, here is an Elvis pumpkin using another unique technique – carving away all the outer skin and using what’s left as an artist’s medium to create a sculpture with depth as well as detail.

 This one gets the ElvisBlog award for the best Elvis pumpkin of 2012.

Now, just for fun, here is a four-way tie for the worst.

I can’t resist showing the strangest picture that comes up when you Google Elvis pumpkin — some jerk in an ill-fitting Elvis jumpsuit cutting a pumpkin with a chain saw.

Check out the belly showing below the too-small shirt.  And the pumpkin is lop-sided and discolored.  This is just wrong in so many ways.

Here’s something that’s just right.

NEWS FLASH:   Here is the winner of the EPE Elvis Pumpkin Carving Contest:

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