# Before Pumpkins, the Irish Carved Jack-O’-Lanterns From Turnips and Potatoes



## Bretrick (Oct 21, 2022)

The jack-o’-lantern tradition dates back centuries, when people in Ireland decorated turnips, beets, and potatoes to frighten away a mythical character named Stingy Jack. 
Irish immigrants brought the tradition to America, home of the pumpkin, and the popular fruit became an integral part of Halloween.



According to the folktale, Stingy Jack was having a drink with the Devil but didn’t want to pay for his drink. To fix this problem, he persuaded Satan to transform into a coin that Jack could use. However, Jack decided to put the coin in his pocket, next to a silver cross. This silver cross prevented the Devil from changing back. Jack made a deal that the Devil would not bother him for a year and is not allowed to take his soul if Jack dies.



A year later, Jack meets the Devil again. Jack convinced the Devil to climb a tree and pick fruit. Whilst the Devil was up in the tree, Jack carved a cross into the bark of the tree so the Devil could not come down. Jack then made another deal, which stated that the Devil could not bother him for 10 years.
Jack died a while after this. He was going to go to Heaven but God did not want him there, so he was to be sent to hell. However, the Devil was not allowed to claim his soul and didn’t want him anyway, and so he was forced to wander the Earth. The Devil gave him a lump of burning coal, which Jack put into a hollowed-out turnip. The Irish people who saw him would refer to him as “Jack of the lantern”, which was eventually shortened to “Jack O’Lantern”.



People in Ireland and Scotland would start carving faces into turnips and potatoes, to frighten Stingy Jack away and repel other wicked spirits. Immigrants from the British Isles who came to the United States of America bought the story with them. Except they started using pumpkins instead of turnips and potatoes, hence why carved pumpkins are called Jack O’Lanterns.


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## Alligatorob (Oct 21, 2022)

Bretrick said:


> Stingy Jack


Thanks @Bretrick the Stingy Jack story is great.  And he does seem to be the origins of our Jack-o-lanterns


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## RadishRose (Oct 21, 2022)

You mean.... Tatties and Neeps???


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## Gaer (Oct 21, 2022)

@Bretrick,  Fascinating story and pictures.
 Do you  know why they chose that particular date in October?


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## Alligatorob (Oct 21, 2022)

Gaer said:


> Do you know why they chose that particular date in October?


Halloween has a long and interesting history.


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## Lewkat (Oct 21, 2022)

Gaer said:


> @Bretrick,  Fascinating story and pictures.
> Do you  know why they chose that particular date in October?


It probably relates to the fact that Halloween is All Souls Day.  With the Irish superstitions abound, it isn't hard to see how they might relate that story to that day.


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## Alligatorob (Oct 21, 2022)

Lewkat said:


> It probably relates to the fact that Halloween is All Souls Day


It does:

_All-Saints Day, a day to honor the dead, moved from May 13 to November 1 to coincide with the Samhain festival. All Saints Day was also known as All Hallows Eve. All Hallows Eve eventually became Halloween.

“Although All Saints Day is actually on November 1, the Celts began their festivals at sunset, so the holiday began on the evening before (Oct. 31),” says Halloween expert Lisa Morton.

That’s how we settled on October 31st for our yearly Halloween celebrations._

https://www.11alive.com/article/new...er 31st for our yearly Halloween celebrations.


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## Lewkat (Oct 21, 2022)

Alligatorob said:


> It does:
> 
> _All-Saints Day, a day to honor the dead, moved from May 13 to November 1 to coincide with the Samhain festival. All Saints Day was also known as All Hallows Eve. All Hallows Eve eventually became Halloween.
> 
> ...


Which is why we call Halloween All Souls Day as it precedes All Saints Day.


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## Bretrick (Oct 21, 2022)

Gaer said:


> @Bretrick,  Fascinating story and pictures.
> Do you  know why they chose that particular date in October?


Not personally.
Researching gave me this
Celts believed that on the night before the new year, the boundary between the worlds of the living and the dead became blurred. 
On the night of October 31 they celebrated Samhain, when it was believed that the ghosts of the dead returned to Earth


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## hollydolly (Oct 21, 2022)

Yes we did.. we always carved Jack O " Lanterns out of Turnips or Swedes... very difficult to do because the skin is so thick.. I never saw a Pumpkin in real life until about 20 years ago


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## Gaer (Oct 21, 2022)

Bretrick said:


> Not personally.
> Researching gave me this
> Celts believed that on the night before the new year, the boundary between the worlds of the living and the dead became blurred.
> On the night of October 31 they celebrated Samhain, when it was believed that the ghosts of the dead returned to Earth


Wo-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-!  Very interesting!


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