The carved pumpkin is probably the most famous icon of the Halloween holiday. If you have never carved a Jack O'Lantern as part of your Halloween festivities, let this year be the first.


The History of the Jack O'Lantern

The ancient origin of hollowed-out gourds came from the Celts of Northern Europe. Find the story here.

A newer version comes from Irish Folklore:  a man named Jack, who was well-known as a drunkard and a trickster, tricked the devil into climbing a tress, then trapped him there by carving a cross in the trunk. He made a deal with the devil.  When Jack died, he was denied entrance to Heaven because of his evil ways, but also denied entrance to Hell because he had tricked the devil.  To help light his way through the darkness, the devil gave Jack a single glowing ember; Jack placed the ember in a hollowed-out turnip to protect it from the wind while he carried it.  For centuries, this was a bedtime story for Irish children.

The Irish honored Jack's heroic deeds by using turnips as "Jack's Lanterns" originally, and when they immigrated to America during the Irish potato famine (around 1850), they brought their Halloween traditions with them. They found that turnips were harder to find and that pumpkins made a good replacement,  and the name "Jack O' Lantern" evolved. The tradition may have been brought by the English before the Irish migration, and the custom was not associated with Halloween until the  mid to late 19th century.




Pumpkin Facts

Pumpkins are a fruit, members of the Cucurbitacae family along with gourds, other forms of squash, cucumbers and melons.  The pumpkin originated in South America and have been grown in the Americas for 5,000 years. The Native American Indians treasured both the pumpkin and its seeds for both dietary and medicinal purposes.

The name "pumpkin" comes from the Greek word "pepon" which means large melon. The pumpkin is 90% water. Pumpkin flowers, like squash flowers, are edible.

The largest pumpkin ever grown weighed 1,226 pounds.





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