What Does A Jack-O-Lantern Have To Do With Halloween?

By: Nick Estes

Edited by: Grace Pilkay

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ When we think of Halloween, we think of going trick or treating, dressing up, and making a Jack-O-Lantern. Well, what if I told you carving pumpkins had much more meaning behind them than just being a decoration? The original idea of the Jack-O'-Lantern was that they would scare away evil spirits. The Irish would set the carved pumpkins, or at the time carved turnips as well, by their doors and windows in hopes that they would protect them. The Irish carved pumpkins to keep away “Stingy Jack”, which is how we got the name Jack-O-Lantern. Stingy Jack was a character from old Irish folklore who was a poor, dirty man who was often drunk. It is said that he outsmarted the devil at least three times. However, now pumpkin carving is done by families for pure entertainment.