The Great Pumpkin

"I've learned there are three things you don't discuss with people: religion, politics and the Great Pumpkin."
Linus, Charlie Brown: The Great Pumpkin Patch

Tonight my boyfriend and I carved pumpkins while having Charlie Brown's The Great Pumpkin in the background (hey, it was on tv.. I love Charlie Brown). I made pumpkin pie and roasted the pumpkin seeds as well.

Do you know why carving pumpkins and the jack-o-lantern became a Halloween tradition?

According to history.com the pumpkin is a fruit (not a vegetable) and the story goes like this. . .

Apparently the tradition of carving pumpkins into "jack-o-lanterns" has been going on for centuries and originated from an Irish myth involving a man named Stingy Jack. In the tale, Stingy Jack invited the Devil to have a drink with him, however, when it was time to pay his bill, Stingy Jack didn't want to pay for his drink and pleaded with the Devil to turn himself into a coin in order to provide money to pay. Jack put the money into his pocket, next to a silver cross which prevented the Devil from changing back to his original form. Eventually Jack freed the devil under the pretense that the devil would not bother Jack for one year and would not claim his soul if he should die. After a year had passed, Jack tricked the devil again and this time he made the condition that following his release the devil would not bother Jack for 10 years.


Eventually Stingy Jack died and as the story goes, God disapproved of allowing an "unsavory" soul into heaven. However, the devil would not let Jack into hell because of the tricks he played on him and because he promised not to claim Jack's soul.
The devil sent Jack away with a burning coal to give him light and Jack put the coal into a carved turnip and legend has it that he has been roaming the Earth ever since.
The Irish refered to this ghost as Jack of the Lantern, eventually shortened to jack o'lantern. In Ireland and Scotland people began carving out turnips into scary faces and places them at the door or in windows in order to scare away Stingy Jack as well as other evil spirits that may be wandering around in the dark of night. Immigrants brought the tradition to this country and the people here discovered that pumpkins (a native American fruit) made perfect Jack o'lanterns.