The folklore of Stingy Jack
The story of the jack-o'-lantern comes from ancient Irish folklore, and the main character is named Stingy Jack; Jack was a cunning drunkard who tricked the devil many times; after Jack died, his behavior kept him out of heaven, and the devil had promised not to take his soul to hell
With nowhere to go, Jack could only wander in the dark night; the devil gave him a burning ember, and Jack put the ember into a hollowed-out turnip to light his way; from then on, he forever carried this lantern and wandered the world; the Irish called his ghost the Jack of the Lantern, or Jack-o'-lantern for short; local people would carve scary faces into turnips, beets, and potatoes to ward off Jack and other wandering spirits
The earliest carvings were not pumpkins but turnips
In Ireland and Scotland, pumpkins were not a native crop; turnips and large beets were readily available, firm in texture, and could hold embers or candles, making them the earliest jack-o'-lantern material; but turnip flesh is hard, making carving very laborious
How pumpkins became a Halloween staple
In the 19th century, Irish immigrants brought the legend of Stingy Jack to North America; they found that pumpkins were widely grown in the US and Canada; pumpkins were larger and softer, easier to hollow out and carve than turnips
Immigrants gradually replaced turnips with pumpkins; by the end of the 19th century, pumpkin carving became a mainstream Halloween custom; round, bright orange pumpkins were perfect for lighting candles as decoration, and they perfectly matched the autumn harvest holiday atmosphere
