Thursday, October 28, 2004
Dear Yahoo!:
How did the jack-o'-lantern originate?
DanCleveland, Ohio
Dear Dan:
We thought the Yahoo! Halloween > Jack-O'-Lanterns category might shed some light on this strange custom, so off we went.
The first site listed, Jack-O-Lantern.com, promised us history, so we clicked away and found a virtual cornucopia of information. The history link took us to a page outlining an entertaining old Irish folktale about "a stingy drunkard of an Irish blacksmith named Jack" who outwits the devil.
At the end of the rather involved tale, Jack is denied entrance into heaven and hell and doomed to walk the earth until Judgement Day with only a turnip housing a burning coal to light his way (hence the name jack's lantern, later changed to jack-o'-lantern).
The upshot of the tale was that people would dress up in costumes, leave treats, and carve turnip lanterns to both appease and scare away wandering spirits on All Hallow's Eve.
When the Irish Potato Famine (1845-50) devastated Ireland, over 700,000 fled to America, bringing the carved-turnip custom with them. Unfortunately, turnips were not as readily available in their new home. Pumpkins, however, could be found in abundance and were a whole lot bigger and easier to carve.
We consulted several sites in the Halloween > History category and they all offered similar stories.
This Halloween, just be thankful you don't have to tackle a turnip. And, if you don't like the fuss and mess involved with a real pumpkin, you can always carve a virtual pumpkin.
Email this page - View most popular
How did the jack-o'-lantern originate?
DanCleveland, Ohio
Dear Dan:
We thought the Yahoo! Halloween > Jack-O'-Lanterns category might shed some light on this strange custom, so off we went.
The first site listed, Jack-O-Lantern.com, promised us history, so we clicked away and found a virtual cornucopia of information. The history link took us to a page outlining an entertaining old Irish folktale about "a stingy drunkard of an Irish blacksmith named Jack" who outwits the devil.
At the end of the rather involved tale, Jack is denied entrance into heaven and hell and doomed to walk the earth until Judgement Day with only a turnip housing a burning coal to light his way (hence the name jack's lantern, later changed to jack-o'-lantern).
The upshot of the tale was that people would dress up in costumes, leave treats, and carve turnip lanterns to both appease and scare away wandering spirits on All Hallow's Eve.
When the Irish Potato Famine (1845-50) devastated Ireland, over 700,000 fled to America, bringing the carved-turnip custom with them. Unfortunately, turnips were not as readily available in their new home. Pumpkins, however, could be found in abundance and were a whole lot bigger and easier to carve.
We consulted several sites in the Halloween > History category and they all offered similar stories.
This Halloween, just be thankful you don't have to tackle a turnip. And, if you don't like the fuss and mess involved with a real pumpkin, you can always carve a virtual pumpkin.
Email this page - View most popular
