History of the Jack-O-Lantern

The glowing faces of jack-o-lanterns adorn front porches and windows as Halloween decorations, continuing a centuries old tradition from the British Isles. European literature and poetry from the early 1800s mention vegetable lanterns with lights called jack-o-lanterns, usually made from turnips, pumpkins and mangelwurzel. However, the history of the jack-o-lantern began many centuries before.

The name "jack-o-lantern" originally meant a man with a lantern. Irish legends tell how a farmer named Jack tricked the Devil in a series of adventures and eventually into sparing his life. When Jack finally died, God would not let such a tricky man into heaven and the Devil did not want him in hell. Because Jack was not allowed into heaven or hell, his spirit was forced to wander the earth with a burning ember, straight from the fires of hell, held within a carved turnip. Jack used this unusual lantern to light his way as roamed the land.

The mysterious figure and his eerie light became known as "Jack of the Lantern" or Jack O'Lantern." Irish peasants carved lanterns of their own out of turnips, gourds, beets and potatoes to keep Jack and other evil spirits away. Because Jack and other evil spirits were the strongest on All Hallow's Eve, later to become Halloween, people did everything they could to protect themselves on that spooky night.

Originally, the vegetable lanterns were simply carved with holes to let the light shine through. Later, scary faces were carved into the veggies to create a scary deterrent for wandering spirits. Eventually, the vegetable lanterns became known as jack-o-lanterns. When Irish immigrants arrived in America, they used pumpkins as jack-o-lanterns, a large North American vegetable that was easier to carve and perfectly ripe at Halloween.

Today, jack-o-lanterns are one of the most common Halloween decorations and can be found on everything from private porches to store windows. While the history of the jack-o-lantern reveals that they were once used to scare away ghosts and goblins, today's Halloween decorations light the way for costumed children to trick-or-treat.