Martha Rial, Pulitzer-prize winning photojournalist for the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette caught Teresa wearing her pickle at a campaign appearance in the Lawrenceville section of the 'Burgh on October 4. It appeared in the paper on the following day.

6,000 pickle pins were sold in the two months leading up to the election. Collectors include former president Bill Clinton, who picked one up from a supporter who came to his book signing at Squirrell Hill's Barnes & Noble prior to the election.

the pin design...version 1 (& 3, but with incorrect ground color)

the pickle pin: it's a burgh thing

The Pickle Pin sold in Pittsburgh at a variety of local outlets, and by mail from the person who commissioned the design, Erik Marchbein. He also attempted to sell the pin on E-bay, until Heinz threatened to sue E-bay for copyright infringement.

Friday, July 30 I recieved an email from Eric. The text of the message read as follows:

HJ Heinz Co. has claimed that the Kerry Picklepin infringes upon their trademark and has demanded that eBay withdraw the listing for the picklepin. eBay has complied. I intend to seek legal redress to have the listing restored.

I find the trademark infringement claim interesting. I was very conscious in the design of the button. The pickle used in the picture is not the Heinz pickle. The font used is not the Heinz font. (The Heinz font does not exist in the public domain -- I looked for it out of curiosity and discovered what other designers have discovered: the font is not available for public use.) Nowhere on the button is the Heinz name mentioned. And, the original pin was a sculptural object that ranged in size depending on the vintage of the pin.

*************

A brief history of the Kerry Picklepin

1st Edition came out in July, 2004- The first order of 2500 was rushed to be in time for the Democratic Convention. As a result, the background color was not the deep ketchuppy maroon of the original artwork but the combination of pickle green and raspberry was quite attractive.

The 2nd Edition arrived in August, 2004. 2500 picklepins bore the correct color and a new inscription- Pittsburgh, Pa!

The current edition, the 3rd and most likely the last before the Novemebr 2 Election arrived in September,2004. It has the original inscription of the 1st edition and the correct ketchup-red background of the 2nd Edition. There are 4,000 of them. (Edited to add: Erik ordered an additional printing, and sold through a total of 6,000 pins.)

*************

so, what's up with the kerry pickle pin?

recently my friends claire & eric came up with a great idea for supporting the john kerry campaign here in western PA. the pin is for people who grew up in the greater pittsburgh area. when claire asked me if i knew what a pickle pin was, i said, 'huh'? (i grew up in wisconsin).

1893: the birth of the pickle pin

invented by company founder Henry John Heinz, the company introduced these promotional pins in 1893 at the chicago world's fair. the company still gives away these pins shaped like a pickle with the heinz name on it. sculptural pickle forms with a brass pinback, people in this region of the country know them well.

the original pins were made of gutta-percha, a tough pseudo-plastic material that, in the 1890's, was also used to fill cavities. these days, the company claims to distribute some 57 Heinz pickle pins every 30 minutes...a number that suspiciously fits with the 57 varieties of products they advertise on their ketchup bottle...for more about the history of heinz's advertising strategy and as a processed food company of integrity, click here to read an article from forbes magazine.

2004: the kerry pickle pin

eric thought it would be neat to make a john kerry version, and worked on a fimo/sculpey one. it worked out very well...and he managed to hand one to the man himself when kerry was in pittsburgh to announce the john edwards v.p. nomination. kerry smiled, and handed it to teresa, who pinned it on her jacket. (yay!)

eric wanted to mass produce these pins to give/sell at cost to pittsburghers as a teeny fundraiser and a major consciousness-raiser. however, mass producing hand-sculpted pins was totally impractical. claire thought i'd give him a good consultation. eric came down to the knit shop where i worked at the time and dropped off samples of original Heinz pins and what he had made. later that day we sat down to talk about it. the 1.5 inch button became the solution. i volunteered my design skills, and offered to create this page on the web so former pittsburghers (there continues to be something of an exodus from our corner of the US) could connect with them.

i volunteered because i believe there is no better man for the presidency than john kerry. period.

************

for info about eric, click here

for info about me (jessica fenlon), click here

*************

claire thinks that the pickle pin is a generational phenomenon. i disagree. my informal polling of 20-30somethings raised in western PA shows that 100% of them know what a pickle pin is. it's remarkable.

*************