The legend of Stingy Jack: carving out the Irish origins of the Jack O’Lantern

Our culture practices Halloween traditions like trick-or-treating, dressing up in costumes and carving pumpkins. But where and how did pumpkin carving originate?

The idea of carving pumpkins came from an Irish tale about a man named "Stingy Jack," according to the History Channel's Halloween Web site. 

One day Jack asked the Devil to have a drink with him. Jack didn't want to pay for his drink, so he convinced the Devil to turn himself into a coin to pay for both of their drinks. 

Jack put the Devil-turned-coin into his pocket next to a silver cross, which conveniently prevented the Devil from returning to his normal shape. Jack eventually allowed the Devil to transform on the condition that the Devil wouldn't torment Jack for one year and that he wouldn't claim Jack's soul when he died. A year passed, and the Devil kept true to his word and did not bother Jack at all. 

After that year Jack tricked the Devil into climbing a tree to pick a piece of fruit. While the Devil was in the tree, Jack carved a cross into the trunk of the tree, trapping the Devil in the tree until he promised not to bother Jack for another 10 years. 

Jack died soon after. According to the myth, God wouldn't allow such a sleazy person into heaven, and the Devil wouldn't allow him into Hell because of their previous deal. The Devil gave him a burning lump of coal and left Jack's spirit roaming the night. The Devil placed the burning coal into a carved out turnip to guide him. Jack has been wandering Earth since. 

The Irish called this phantom "Jack of the Lantern," later shortened to "Jack O'Lantern." 

The Irish and Scottish made their own versions of Jack's lanterns. They carved scary faces into turnips or potatoes and placed them on windowsills to scare away the spirit of Stingy Jack. 

When immigrants from these countries traveled to the United States, they brought their traditions with them, and soon found that pumpkins were easier to carve and made better Jack O'Lanterns.

Now when you display your carved out pumpkin, you know you are scaring away the spirit of Stingy Jack and other evil spirits.