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"THE
IABTI BOMBER" LOGO - REVISITED. Some
additional insight.
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The caricature has also been called The Mad Bomber by some technicians, while others; (especially Canadian and British) refer to it as Guy Fawkes. Fawkes, 1570-1606, was an English conspirator executed for the attempted assassination of the king (King James I) and the assembled parliament, in an incident that later was to be referred to as the "Gunpowder Plot. This plot was in retaliation for increasing repression of Roman Catholics in England. Guy Fawkes Day is commemorated on November 5 in the United Kingdom with many bonfires, the burning of effigies, and various other celebrations. It is also celebrated on the same date in Canada where it is known as Bonfire or "Bombfire" Night. The
logo was printed and used on Christmas Cards sent by Linville and his
original Metropolitan Police Bomb Unit partner in 1972 to numerous associates in
military and police bomb units. Shortly
after that time, many EOD technicians were observed sporting various versions of
"The Bomber. In all fairness,
it must be stated that others may have already been using various derivatives of
the symbol. Keith Lahey, a bomb
technician with the Ontario Provincial Police, recounted to the author that he
had observed a similar design on a WW II bomber, and had developed it into use
as a symbol for Canadian bomb technicians.
Others have also reported similar caricatures used by various U.S.
military groups during WW II and later. A
rather dissimilar yet somewhat analogous character also appeared in a
"comic" strip, called Spy vs. Spy, published in Mad Magazine and in
paper back books published by the magazine in the '60s and '70s.
These figures were rather grotesque with a beak type face.
The most prominent similarity was the floppy hat and the black clothing.
Research states that this strip was developed as an anti-Castro cartoon
by Antonio Prohias in the early '60s. Some
units may have developed their symbol from that source. The
logo symbol was printed on business cards, stationery, memo pads, greeting
cards, and checks for personal use by Larry Linville.
It was replicated in a lapel or tie tack type pin form in two separate
and distinct designs that were
commissioned.
The first was a black and white; cloisonné enameled metal pin in outline
shape (early '70s). The second was
a pewter-type metal, three-dimensional sculptured form, die cut to a special
shape outline, gold, or silver plated with a dark oxidized finish (1981). It was then made into decals and adhesive backed stickers,
and reproduced as a patch type emblem. The
first patches featured a black and white figure, with a circular blue background
with a dark border edge. They were
followed by red, white, and silver-grey background versions.
A few were made with a red outer border with a diagonal stripe running
through the bomber figure as a type of international halt or stop sign.
Some of these items were given to friends and associates, others were
traded, and a few were sold at the "cost price" to other technicians.
They became very highly sought-after items.
The logo was duplicated on belt buckles, mugs, glasses, ashtrays, and
other items. The design was also directly embroidered on golf-type shirts and silk-screened on a variety of tee shirts. One of the first tee shirt orders had a large bomber figure on the front, with the legend.... Oh Lord It's Hard to be Humble above the figure, and Bomb Unit below the figure. Another version had the legend, Master of Disaster printed beneath the figure. The emblems were also sewn on baseball caps, and on soft-sided briefcases and luggage. A Virginia City, Nevada goldsmith was commissioned to cast a charm out of precious metal, and he produced a mold for that use. It was intended to eventually have gold and silver versions made with ruby, sapphire, or emerald eyes. During
Linville's
tenure as Chapter Director and Region IV Director,
he frequently used the
symbol on stationery, training programs, brochures, and other promotional
materials. He also requested
that the logo
be used in The DETONATOR, as an
identifying mark with the "BITS & PIECES" column that he
was then writing.
A remark made by a Canadian Bomb Technician related to the propriety of
the use of emblem by "Yanks". Glenn
Wilt, the then
Executive Director of the IABTI, and Editor of The
DETONATOR,
wrote to the Canadian Government for guidance regarding the
use of the emblem in the Association publication.
The Director of Patent Administration, National Defence, in Ottawa
replied in a letter dated 5 November 1979, that "This Department has no
Trade Mark registration of its "Guy Fawkes logo, and basically there is no
objection by this Department to your adaption (sic) of a similar logo."
Accordingly, the logo began appearing as a regular identifying item in my
column in The DETONATOR. Several
other EOD associated
individuals and some bomb units were by then, also using the
emblem as an identifying mark for those in the profession.
Linville
became concerned when it came to
his attention that a commercial
operation had begun to advertise and market items (at rather highly inflated
prices) with the same "bomber"
logo through various "soldier of fortune" type magazines.
Now, it
seemed that anyone outside of the EOD community could easily obtain them.
It was reported that some hats and t-shirts bearing the "bomber"
logo actually appeared on individuals from nations that were notably unfriendly
toward the United States. In an
effort to try to protect the symbol, and to make its use exclusive for law
enforcement, military, and other governmental bomb technicians and
investigators, Linville began an effort to trademark the logo. An
exhaustive (and personally expensive) search of the U.S. Patent and Trademark
Office files and archives revealed that there were no previously registered
trademarks that utilized the same, or similar caricature or symbol.
Accordingly, an affidavit of use
was filed, and confirmed that the
petitioner (Linville) first
personally
used the symbol on 02-01-71, and that
it was first used by in interstate commerce on 12-10-71.
An application for trademark/service mark registration and use was filed
on 11-20-79 and refilled on 04-03-81, serial # 304108. The symbol was officially registered as a "class 42 -
miscellaneous design, service mark, registration # 1194893 dated 05-04-82.
Exclusive permission was issued to utilize the logo "for
recognition, identification, advertising and promotional purposes regarding
consulting, instruction, training, research, testing, and evaluation services
particularly relating to the Bomb and Bomb Disposal Field in interstate, foreign
or Territorial commerce". The trademark was to remain in force for a period of twenty
years, providing that an affidavit of use was filed as required. Over
time, it became apparent that no one individual could adequately
protect the logo or limit its use without incurring significant legal fees.
The Indianhead T-shirt company that had produced the original first
shirts for Linville (under contract and using
the developed logo) sold their company to
a non-EOD, foreign national. The
new owner also began offering several modified designs of "the
bomber" with a variety of unflattering legends. It seemed that everyone, and their brother, was now selling items with
the logo. Many of the items were
crude and rough when compared the original trademarked
version. Other
commercial ventures had also started to infringe upon the use of the logo, using
it as their own corporate identification. Vendors
in Huntsville, and even some of the staff at the Hazardous Devices Division
school at Huntsville had started to market a variety of copied logo items.
Some individuals may have been motivated by profit, rather than providing
an identifiable symbol for bomb technicians.
Several individuals also were also claiming to "own the rights"
to the design. Again,
motivated by a desire to try to protect the symbol, and to make its use
exclusive for bomb technicians and investigators, Linville
sent a letter (6 June 1988)
to Cliff Lund, then
the IABTI Region IV Director,
requesting
him to bring up for discussion at the next
IABTI international
board meeting, the
suggestion that Linville
assign his
rights to the logo to the IABTI. It
was requested that profits from the sale of the item could be
used as scholarship or relief-type funds for children and/or families of bomb
technicians killed or seriously injured in the line of duty.
Eventually the Association Board of Directors voted to accept the
suggestion (with modification) and tasked Joe Doyle with developing suitable
logo items, which would be sold to members. Glenn Wilt, then Executive Director of the IABTI, advised Linville that funds derived from the sale of such logo items must go into the general fund of the Association, rather than being allocated for a specific purpose as originally suggested. It was subsequently discovered that one could not just assign over their rights to a logo to any particular association, company, or group. Linville, then acting on behalf of the IABTI conveyed an application from the IABTI requesting that the service mark to be registered to the IABTI. At the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, Linville officially relinquished his rights, title, and vested interest in the mark to the IABTI. Linville, and a colleague (now deceased), MPO John Mueller (IABTI DSA recipient) of the Fairfax County, VA bomb unit made numerous visits to the various government agencies and offices, hand-carrying all of the paperwork through the various steps of the proceedings. The
Association's application for registration of the mark as an additional mark,
separate from the official IABTI logo was eventually granted and the rest is now
history. The April 1989 edition of The
DETONATOR (Vol. 16, No. 2), mentioned that new "Guy Fawkes" pins, patches, decals, etc. would be available at
the International Training Conference in Tulsa. The August 1989 issue of The
DETONATOR (Vol. 16, No. 4) referred to items with "The
Mad Bomber" logo on them. The
"new" logo was printed on the 1990 International Conference tour
brochure, and began appearing on the logo item page of The
DETONATOR (Vol. 17, No. 3) as "The Mad Bomber" (MB).
Interest in the logo items continues to grow, regardless of the name
used. Linville
notes
that he never referred
to the
figure as Guy Fawkes,
rather first referring to it as
the Amenable Anarchist, a.k.a. The
Little Bomber, and later naming
it as The
Master Blaster (his personal favorite alias).
Linville
maintains a collection of all of the original correspondence, pictures, copies and
some of the original logo items from the early 70's through the 90's.
These include
a number of the original printed
greeting cards first used in 1972.
(The card commemorated its twenty-fifth, silver anniversary in 1997.) There
has been
some questions
concerning whether the logo is left or right-handed.
The items that
were originally fabricated, and the subsequent IABTI items have
the
figure left-handed (holding the bomb in the outstretched left hand).
The Montreal Section Technique logo was also left-handed.
Two
of the early Canadian pins (early 70's) in
the collection
are round, approximately 18 mm, or 7/8 inch diameter.
They have a blue cloisonné enameled background with a gold figure
holding the bomb in his left hand, although he is looking to his right.
That pin is surrounded with a thin gold border. The
January-February 1992 issue of The
DETONATOR (Vol. 19, No. 1) carried an advertisement (page 24) for a pewter
plaque with a "bomber" caricature available from the Canadian Bomb
Data Center. There are some
differences in the cloak or coat of the figure and he is holding the bomb in his
right hand. John Kynor did a very
comprehensive article with accompanying photos regarding some varieties of the
emblem in the September-October 1995 issue of The
DETONATOR (Vol. 22, No. 5), pp. 39-40. A
subsequent issue of The DETONATOR (Vol. 23, No. 1 - Jan./Feb. 96) contained a letter
from Yves Pelletier. Pelletier,
then associated with the RCMP Explosives Disposal and Technology Section, and a
former Ammunition Technical Officer from EOD Centre # 6 in Quebec, shedding
more
light on the varieties of decals and items produced in Canada, and the
subsequent reversing of the left-handed version to the right-handed version.
The article also contains the Canadian Notice of Copyright and the usage
of the Guy Fawkes name. The
intention of the copyright was to eternally safeguard the Guy Fawkes name and
design for the exclusive use by qualified EOD/IED bomb disposal personnel,
individual members and groups, military or police who are active or retired, and
may be used in any manner which will bring credit to members in this field as a
whole. It
seems that the Canadian and the United States intentions are analogous.
The figure is the symbol for bomb, explosive, EOD, or IED technicians,
and will undoubtedly be around for years to come.
Each issue of The DETONATOR
usually carries a listing of officially approved Association items. The profits derived from their sale benefit our association
and members. There are several
other related items available from Canadian sources. The
March/April 97 edition of The DETONATOR
(vol. 24, No. 2) page 26 [and many subsequent editions] carries an advertisement
from Prestige Pewter of Canada offering a detailed miniature (8") figure in
a bomb suit, suitable for collections or special presentations.
Their catalog also lists a number of items in the Guy Fawkes and Bomb
Technician collection series, and states that other related items are in the
works. The
Prestige Pewter, Guy Fawkes items are right-handed.
Their catalog advises, "Since May 6, 1982, Guy Fawkes has been the
registered mascot of all Canadian police and military explosives technicians
under serial number 316155. The Guy
Fawkes emblem was originally designed by Mr. E. Kew of Borden, Ontario, Canada. The copyright was witnessed by Mr. Max Newhook (retired
military) and Mr. Ron Madore (retired Royal Canadian Mounted Police)".
The catalog also lists the intention of the copyright as being the same
as mentioned in the letter of Yves Pelletier in The
DETONATOR (Vol. 23, No. 1 - Jan./Feb. 96). This article was originally prepared for the IABTI publication, The Detonator. It was intended to shed a little more light on The Bomber.
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© 2000-2004 by Dr. Larry Linville. All rights reserved. Last revised 03-30-2004. |
