According to Irish legend, there was once a mean and stingy miser by the name of Jack, who, drinking too much one night at his favorite pub, started to leave his body. The devil came to claim him, but Jack was in no hurry to join the devil in hell, so he tricked the devil into giving him money to buy more drinks.
When the devil claimed to have no money, Jack convinced him to turn into a coin. Once he had done so, Jack placed the coin in his pocket beside a silver cross, trapping him. He then struck a deal with the devil - he would let him escape, if the devil promised to leave him alone for one year.
A year passed, and the devil once again came for Jack. As they began their journey to hell, they passed an apple tree with large juicy fruit. Jack convinced the devil to climb the tree to pick the biggest apple, and as he did so, Jack quickly carved a cross into the trees bark, trapping the devil in the tree. He then bargained with the devil again, making him promise to leave him alone for ten years, and to never claim his soul.
A year later, Jack died. Refused at the gates of heaven, he made his way to the gates of hell, where the devil refused him also, keeping his promise to never claim Jack's soul. The devil tossed jack a burning coal from the fires of hell, which Jack placed in a turnip as a lantern. "Jack Of The Lantern" continued to roam the earth, looking for his final resting place.
Irish families would carve their own potatoes and turnips, placing them in the windows to scare the spirits, including Jack, away.
During the potato famine of the 1840s, Irish immigrants flooded into America. They found work here in central Pennsylvania, building canals, and working the mines, bringing their Jack Of The Lantern legend with them. Here they found that the native gourd, the pumpkin was much easier to hollow out than a potato or turnip, and made a much better vessel for their lanterns.
Jack O' Lantern Trivia:
- The term Jack-O-Lantern first appeared in print in 1750. It referred to a night watchman carrying a lantern.
- "Jack" is the common British and Irish slang for a man.
- Before metalsmithing and glass-making became accomplished arts, hollowed out vegetable shells, most commonly potatoes and turnips, were frequently used as lanterns
- Pumpkins are indigenous to the Western Hemisphere, believing to have originated in North America. Seeds from related plants in Mexico date back more than 7,000 years to 5,500 BC
- Pumpkins were completely unknown in Europe before the time of Columbus.
- Indians called pumpkins "isquotersquash". The gourd was a staple in their diet.
- Colonists, once introduced to the pumpkin, sliced off the tops, hollowed them out, and filled them with milk, spices, and honey, baking them in hot ashes. This is the origin of pumpkin pie.
- Today pumpkins are grown throughout the world, on every continent except Antarctica. (Pumpkins are even grown in Alaska)
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