Jack o' Lanterns

Jack o' Lanterns

What Is a Jack-o-Lantern? Carved pumpkins are called jack-o'-lanterns. Jack-o'-lanterns are popular decorations around Halloween. Simple jack-o'-lanterns are carved with spooky faces or a toothy grin. People started carving pumpkins more than a hundred years ago. Stories say the jack-o'-lantern tradition began in lreland before that, though. People in Ireland carved turnips or potatoes instead,

How did the jack-o'-lantern tradition begin? A common fable from the nineteenth century may answer this question. The fable tells the story of a man named Stingy Jack. He was cheap and liked to play tricks on everyone. When he died, he was cursed to walk in darkness forever. He carved a turnip and put a light inside to show him the way. People in Ireland called his ghost " Jack of the Lantern, " and then " Jack-o'-lantern. "

Modern Jack-o'-Lanterns The Stingy Jack tradition later became part of a night called All Hallows' Eve. All over Europe, people lit huge fires and wore costumes to keep away ghosts. In lreland, people carved scary faces on turnips and potatoes and placed lights inside.

Soon, others started to follow this tradition in Scotland and England. The English used beets for their jack-o'-lanterns. All Hallows' Eve later became known as Halloween. People from these countries brought the jack-o'-lantern tradition to the United States. They soon found that pumpkins worked well as jack-o'-lanterns. By the 1920s, pumpkin carving became popular across America.

Today, carving jack-o'-lanterns is an important part of Halloween. Every autumn, people visit a pumpkin patch or a farm to pick the perfect pumpkin. About1. 5 billion pounds (more than680 million kg) of pumpkins are grown in the United States each year.