Ever wonder why we carve pumpkins? Leave it to the Irish! It’s all about the legend of Stingy Jack who actually carried around an ember filled turnip but we’ll get to that. So, as legend has it, Stingy Jack or Jack-the-Smith was a no good dirty rotten scoundrel who would lie to his Grandmother, betray his Mother and sell his children if it meant more money for him. So, of course, Lucifer came looking for this silver tongued scoundrel. He was recruiting his soul. Wouldn’t you know that Jack cheated the Devil? He convinced the Devil to let him have another drink before spending eternity in Hell. Well, Jack couldn’t pay so he convinced the Devil to turn into a coin to pay for the drinks. As soon as the Devil did that, Jack placed the coin in his pocket where he had a silver cross (which apparently renders the Devil useless). Jack wouldn’t let the Devil without promising not to take Jack’s soul for at least ten years. Not seeing much alternative to the situation, the Devil agreed. So, ten years later the Devil returned and again, Jack had a request. He just wanted something to eat. Quickly, the Devil found an apple tree which he slithered up quickly to collect and apple for Jack. After ten years, he was eager to claim Jack’s soul. But while he was in the tree, Jack put crucifixes all around the tree so the Devil was trapped again! This time Jack made him promise never to claim his soul. Unhappy about the agreement, again, the (not very smart) Devil agreed. As fate would have it, Jack eventually died of old age. With no Devil to greet him, he found his way to Saint Peter’s Pearly Gates! Guess what? Saint Peter said, “I don’t think so Jack!” So, with no place to go and his tail between his legs, Jack went pandering back to the underworld to ask the Devil to let him in. But the Devil said, “No, I’m going to stick to our deal!” So, Jack had no place to go. True to form, Jack began asking for something. Apparently, he was stuck in the dark with no idea where to go. So, as an ironic gesture, the Devil tossed him an ember from the pits of Hell. Since the ember was too hot to handle (even for a ghost) so Jack carved out his favorite vegetable to hold the ember as a carrying case. His favorite vegetable happened to be a turnip. So Jack was stuck between worlds wandering the earth with his ember filled turnip forever.

So, how does that translate into pumpkin carving? Well, this is an Irish Legend and many Irish people immigrated to America. In American, pumpkins are far more common and people recognized that pumpkins are better for carving than turnips and squash. So, those are the basics. Interestingly enough, pumpkin carving is still predominant in North America. It happens in Europe but it is not nearly as prevalent.

It seems that pumpkin carving was not associated with Halloween until the late 19th century.