Lifestyle Key: Why do we carve pumpkins for Halloween?

I’ve never known the origins of Jack-O-Lanterns, so I did some quick internet research and it turns out that they were brought to America by Irish, Scottish, and English immigrants.

The folktale of “Stingy Jack” dates back to the 1500s. Jack tricked the Devil and made a deal with him that he wouldn’t take his soul to hell when he died. However, when Jack died God didn’t think he was worthy of heaven, so Jack was stuck. The Devil gave him a lit piece of coal and Jack put it into a carved turnip (so scary!) to light his way through the nights. Jack-O-Lantern was shortened from “Jack of the Lantern”. As immigrants arrived in America, they discovered pumpkins we perfect for carving and adopted them.

Happy pumpkin carving! We’re going to the pumpkin patch on Friday, so our pumpkins will be a little last minute this year. Share photos of your pumpkins (carved or not) in the comments.