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History of pumpkin carving
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We carve those orange globes every year for Halloween, but do we really know where the tradition of pumpkin carving started?
The practice began from an Irish myth about a man named “Stingy Jack.” According to the story, Stingy Jack invited the Devil to have a drink with him, and true to his name he didn’t want to pay. Stingy Jack talked the Devil into turning himself into a coin that Jack could use to buy drinks. Once the Devil did this, Jack kept the money and put it in his pocket next to a silver cross, which prevented the Devil from changing back into his original form. Jack eventually freed the Devil, but only under the condition that he would not bother Jack for one year. And, if Jack should die, he would not claim his soul.
The next year Jack tricked the Devil into climbing a tree to pick a piece of fruit. While he was in the tree, Jack carved a sign of the cross into the tree bark so that the Devil could not come down unless he promised Jack he wouldn’t bother him for ten more years. Jack died soon after.
Legend says that God would not allow such an unsavory man into heaven, and the Devil, upset by the tricks Jack had played on him while keeping his promise not to claim his soul, would not allow Jack into hell. He sent Jack off into the darkness with only burning coal to light his way. Jack put the coal into a carved-out turnip and has been roaming the earth ever since.
The Irish began to refer to this ghostly figure as “Jack of Lantern,” and then simply “Jack O’Lantern.”
In Ireland and Scotland people began to make their own versions of Jack’s lanterns by carving scary faces into turnips and potatoes. They placed them into windows or near doors to scare away Stingy Jack and other evil spirits.
Immigrants from these countries brought the tradition with them when they came to the United States and soon found that pumpkins, a native fruit (yes, fruit!) to America, made perfect jack o’lanterns.
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