History of Pumpkin Carving & Jack O’Lanterns

The history of jack-o-lanterns and pumpkin carving begins with a little fable.

The Irish told a story of a drinking chap who was a little on the shall we say, cheap side. In fact, he was notorious for not wanting pay for his ale and trying to trick others into buying, so he was nicknamed Stingy Jack.

Stingy Jack met the Devil one cold night and invited him along for drinks. It didn’t matter to Stingy Jack whether this was the Devil or not, he wasn’t going to pay. He actually convinced the Devil to become a coin so that Jack had money for their drinks. Unfortunately, Stingy Jack just decided to keep the money and not free the Devil. Supposedly, he thought better of the situation and agreed to release old Scratch on the condition that the Devil not seek any kind of revenge for a year and that if Stingy Jack died, the Devil wouldn’t keep his soul.

Oddly enough, Stingy Jack and the Devil had a couple more encounters and each time, Jack got the better end of the deal. Of course there is a reason for the term “there will be Hell to pay”. When Jack finally died, God wasn’t too keen on taking such a swindler into Heaven. The Devil didn’t want him in hell either because he was angry at being tricked.

The Devil got his revenge by forcing Stingy Jack to wander the earth forever in the dark. He was given a burning piece of coal as his only light. Jack carved out a turnip and put the coal in it to guide his path. It was Jack’s lantern. If you see Jack some lonely night or this Halloween, ask him if he’d like a beer.

FUN FACTS:The first jack-o-lanterns were actually carved turnips with candles lit inside. They were placed outside to ward off evil spirits, particulary at the time of Halloween.

Pumpkins and pumpkins seeds used to be used to cure snake bites.

PUMPKIN CARVING SITES
I found some really cool pumpkin carving sites for you to check out:
Zombie Pumpkins
Extreme Pumpkins
Spookmaster