History and Weird Facts About Pumpkins and Halloween

by desertsister in Holidays, September 17, 2009

Interesting pumpkin facts and history, especially about Halloween Jack O’Lanterns.

Have you ever wondered where and why we decorate and cut out then light us pumpkins at Halloween? Well, I wanted to know why this was such a traditional October and Halloween custom. Hope the following information enlightens you!

You can find written references to the garden gourd pumpkin that goes back quite a few centuries:

It seems the word pumpkin derives from the Greek word for “a big melon = pepon”….

Then the French transliterated “pepon to pompon”…

The English changed the word to “pumpion” [even Shakespeare talks about the “pumpion” in his

The Colonists of the New World (in America) changed the word to what we know today as “pumpkin” (found in such written works as The Legend of Sleepy Hollow, Peter—Peter Pumpkin Eater and Cinderella).

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The American colonists found that Native Americans had many uses for the big orange gourd:

--- they would dig out the shell, cut it in strips and dry the pieces and use them in rugs and mats

---- sometimes they would slice strips of the pumpkin flesh and roast them over open fires to eat

---- they also cooked the seeds and ate them

The colonists found another way to eat the pumpkin gourd, by digging out the pulp and seeds, filling the inside with milk and spices…then placing the pumpkin in the ashes of the pit fire; they would cook the gourd and ultimately eat the baked “pumpkin” (first pie of sorts).

It is said that the Irish brought the tradition of the Jack-o-Lantern to the New World and made it an annual Halloween tradition in many households. People have used hollowed, dried and carved gourds for centuries in their ritual practices and cultural customs, but this Irish myth is many times associated with the origin of the name Jack-o-Lantern. It is the tale of “Stingy Jack” that may have birthed the term Jack-o-Lantern.

The myth says --

Stingy Jack asked the Devil to sit and drink with him. But, Stingy Jack didn't want to pay for his drinks, so he tricked the Devil into turning himself into a Stingy Jack decided to keep the money left from the drinks. He put the left over change into his pocket next to a silver cross, which kept the Devil from changing back into his demon form. Jack freed the Devil, with one condition, that the Devil would not bother Jack for one year and should Jack die during the year, he would not try to claim Jack’s soul.

The year passed and Jack went up against the Devil once again. This time they were to climbing into a tree to pick a special piece of fruit. While Jack and the Devil were in the tree, Jack carved a sign of the cross into the tree's bark. He did so to stop the Devil from getting down until the Devil promised Jack he would not bother him for ten more years.

Jack died before the ten years passed. The legend says God would not let him into heaven, due to his sly, stingy and specious soul. The Devil was totally done with Stingy Jack out foxing him and would not let him into Hell, either. Instead the Devil gave Stingy Jack a piece of burning coal to light his way through the dark the hinterlands between Heaven and Hell. It was said Stingy Jack carved out a gourd and placed the burning piece of coal in the big orange gourd (pumpkin) and began roaming the world.

Many Irish folk began reporting his ghost carrying his carved gourd across the moors and hills during the night…..and called the figure they saw “Jack of the Lantern”, which became “Jack O’Lantern”.

Eventually people began to hollow and carve faces on turnips, potatoes and upon arriving in the colonies they used pumpkins, which they lit with candles at night, placed at doorways, to keep the ghost of Stingy Jack and other ghouls from entering their home. [The History Channel]