Why Do We Carve Pumpkins?
Every October, perfectly respectable adults purchase large orange fruits, cut faces into them, put lights inside them, and display them proudly on their porches.
When you think about it, the jack-o’-lantern is a rather strange tradition.
And its story didn't begin with pumpkins.
Before the Pumpkin
The tradition that eventually developed into pumpkin carving has roots in Ireland and Britain, where people carved faces into root vegetables such as turnips.
These carved vegetables became associated with folk traditions surrounding spirits and the supernatural.
One famous Irish folktale tells of a troublesome character known as Stingy Jack, whose story became connected with the name “jack-o’-lantern.”
Exactly how old customs, folklore, and later Halloween traditions blended together is more complicated than one neat origin story. Traditions change as people carry them from one generation-and one country-to another.
And that is where the pumpkin enters the picture.
A Much Better Vegetable for Carving
When Irish immigrants came to North America, pumpkins were readily available.
And if you have ever tried to hollow out a turnip, you can probably appreciate what happened next.
Pumpkins are larger.
They're hollow enough to work with.
Their walls can be carved.
And they provide a wonderfully large surface for a face.
The pumpkin eventually became the star of the American jack-o’-lantern tradition.
Pumpkins Were Here Long Before Halloween
Pumpkins and other squashes are native to the Americas and have been cultivated for thousands of years.
Indigenous peoples grew squash long before Europeans arrived.
So when an Old-World tradition involving carved root vegetables encountered a New World crop, something new developed.
That makes the jack-o’-lantern an interesting example of how traditions evolve.
The object we now consider inseparable from Halloween is actually the result of different histories meeting.
From Frightening to Funny
Early carved faces weren't necessarily the cheerful, toothy pumpkins we often see today.
Jack-o’-lanterns could be deliberately eerie or frightening.
Now anything goes.
Pumpkins grin.
They scowl.
They have enormous teeth, tiny teeth, cat faces, fairy faces, cartoon faces, and occasionally designs so elaborate that it's difficult to believe somebody created them with a carving knife.
Traditions keep changing.
Look at Your Jack-o’-Lantern Differently This Year
When the pumpkins begin glowing on porches this October, take another look.
Behind that familiar orange face is a surprisingly long journey.
Ancient, cultivated squash.
Old folklore.
Carved root vegetables.
Immigration.
Changing traditions.
And eventually the pumpkin on your porch.
That's quite a story for something we usually scoop out, carve up, and stick a candle inside.
The twins Alpha & Beta have a story coming soon!
